Why Not Arkansas?

Hot Springs/ Little Rock, AR (April 2016)

(Disclaimer: At the time of this trip, I was new to snapchat; therefore, took a lot of pictures with wording on them- SORRY!)

Well, I was trucking along last year doing the normal work work work work work! (I know you’re singing Rihanna in your head right now!) And I decided that I wanted to take a quick trip. I wanted to get out of town for maybe a long weekend; however, I didn’t want to have to pay airfare prices, etc. So the next best thing was… how about a road trip?

Now, there’s one thing that you need to understand about me. I live in the great state of Texas! The reason why it is called the great state, is because it’s about the same size as Russia. For example, I live in the DFW Metroplex. This is not a criticism against San Antonio (because I love that city), but there are only so many times that you can visit San Antonio.

It takes three hours, headed east, to reach Louisiana. It takes about an hour and 1/2 north and you’re in Oklahoma. It is 5 ½ hours heading west to reach New Mexico. And finally, it is 8 hours to be south of the Border. You’re welcome, now you are all familiar with where I live in Texas!

The more I struggled with my location, the more I debated where should I go? All of a sudden it hit me! I always drive through Arkansas but hardly ever stop. Back when I was a little kid, my parents would stop in Arkansas to visit our Pastor’s family. I think we stopped twice in Arkansas to see The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs on our way to Branson, Missouri. (Maybe we only stopped once, I’m not sure. I just know that as a child the majority of my travel consisted of camping at Lake Whitney and this one {maybe two} trips to Missouri. Once we were old enough to stay by ourselves, my parents hit the road and traveled like crazy. Do I sound bitter about this?)

However, as an adult, I had never stopped in Arkansas. I called up my cousin Tracy (who lives in San Antonio) and asked her if she wanted to go to Arkansas for an extended weekend. She ecstatically exclaimed’ “yes!” Now, here’s something you need to know about Tracy. She is married to my cousin Lyndon and a mother of four children. Her oldest son is married and lives in Minot, North Dakota. He serves our country in the United State Air Force. Her second child is her son that lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Her final two children are twin girls that started their college career at Texas A&M University in the fall of 2015. Therefore, we are talking about an empty-nester who was just dying to do something. She jumped on the idea of taking a trip! (Granted, I am sure she was also excited about spending time with me!) That=shameless plug!

We decided to go to Hot Springs, AR for two days and then travel further north to Little Rock, AR for two days. We assigned ourselves a city each. I started doing research on Hot Springs while she worked on Little Rock.

Hot Springs

Hot Springs, AR is a tourist destination. I will say that I struggled a little bit trying to find the right hotel for us to stay. I don’t want this to sound “boujee” (as my friend Gus would call me), but I am picky when it comes to accommodations. I made the reservation for the Embassy Suites by Hilton. It was a fairly nice hotel, but still not phenomenal. It was the best they had. I will pause here to mention also that the only other hotel I would recommend for Hot Springs would be Staybridge Suites on the lake. My co-worker stayed there and enjoyed it.

I learned a lot about this little town on our extended weekend trip. Just imagine lush Ozark Mountains. This city is named from the naturally thermal hot spring water found here. The springs flow at a temperature of 143 degree Fahrenheit. You can see citizens of the town on Main Street patronizing the public access to the water stations to fill up their weekly jugs. Let me tell you something! You can say anything you want to say about whether this water is different or not; however, everything related to water that weekend was incredible! For example: (#1) the coffee that we made in our room from those makeshift coffeemakers was incredible, (#2) my hair never felt so good after a shower, (#3) my skin felt amazing after washing it. So yes, Tracy and I drank the Kool-Aid, bought plastic jug from Walmart and took home several gallons of this water. (See it does pay to drive places sometimes.)

This town has an interesting history as it relates to the mobsters of the 1930’s. Bathhouses were built down Central Avenue and the city became a haven and resort location for the mobsters. Illegal gambling and corruption transpired in the city; therefore, attracting a lot of these mobsters.

Tracy and I took the time to experience the Bath Houses with each one of us having a private bath at Buckstaff Bath House. https://www.buckstaffbaths.com/ Now, I know what you’re thinking…. A private bath at the bathhouse? Let me just say this: on our way to our private bath experience, we walked past the public bath area. We saw a large group of people (in swimsuits) basically in a large pool that was hot from the springs. I personally would feel weird about experiencing that like a big public hot tub. (But to each his own.) We experienced our own personal rooms, with our own personal “bath tub” that had the hot natural spring water flowing through it. It was so relaxing and so nice. (Especially to the skin)

I could talk for a lot longer about Hot Springs, but I’ve spent too long here with your education of the city. Go visit the Arlington Hotel where there is an Al Capone suite. Go visit Rolando’s Restaurant and sit at the outside patio. Eat cheese and sit at the window to watch people at Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery. Go up in the Hot Springs Mountain Tower to see an incredible view of the Ouachita Mountains. And finally, you MUST take a hike on the many choices of natural trails available in Hot Springs.

Little Rock

Once we made our way to Little Rock, AR, we stayed at the Little Rock Marriott. It was a beautiful hotel in downtown. One of my favorite things that we did in Little Rock was visit The Little Rock Central High School. You know this high school. It’s the location of the infamous “Little Rock Nine” that transpired during the Civil Rights Movement in the 50’s. It was the site of the forced school desegregation after the US Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Here is the interesting thing about this school. The school is fully functional as a high school currently, as well as, it is a part of the National Parks System.

We made reservations to take the park’s tour of the high school. Once we showed up, literally standing before us was this African American woman in her early thirties wearing a park ranger outfit like you would see at Yellowstone. This young lady BLEW MY MIND with all of her knowledge as it related to the “Little Rock Nine.” She walked us over to the gas station that has been fully restored as it was in the 50’s and is now used as a part of the park system. She explained this was the location where the press was organized. If you read your history related to this story, you will learn the treatment of the Little Rock nine was perpetuated mainly due to the “press” around the situation. Our guide explained that this fueled it. She took us around the campus and explained every aspect of it. She explained how some of the Little Rock nine were tortured and treated. Around every corner was another story. I was mesmerized by this. We were taken into the school, while class was in attendance, and took us to the different areas of the school. We started in the auditorium, went down hallways, and found our way to the cafeteria. In each nook and cranny, there was a story of injustice.

We left the school and headed across the street to the Central High Commemorative Garden. I want to mention something and set the mood. There were about ten of us on this tour. Tracy and I were probably the youngest (and we are both old or, at least, we think we are). Everyone on the tour was white. While we were in the garden, as a collective group, I said to our tour guide, “I want to ask a question that may come across strange, but I’m curious. Everyone in this group is white. Do you experience more white people going through this tour as opposed to African Americans?” I was curious. Is this something that African Americans don’t want to acknowledge or don’t want to remember? Are the older white individuals that are in our group going through it because they feel bad for how they may have felt in the past, or are they angry like I am about the injustice? The answer from our guide was interesting… she said, “No, I get just about as many African Americans as I do white people; however, it always seems to be all African Americans or all white people. Very seldom do I have a mixed group.” There was this sorta hush over the group and it felt a little awkward for a moment. So, of course, Kim had to fix this. I looked over at Tracy and said, “Did you sign us up for the white tour?” – Everybody laughed and the mood was broken!

I could talk for a lot longer about Little Rock, but I’ve spent too long here with your education of the Little Rock Nine. Go visit the 109 and Company in downtown Little Rock and ask about egg whites. Go to the Brave New Restaurant and sit on the balcony and have some cheese. Go to The Root (Cool “joint” with amazing food) for lunch. Go to the Lost Forty Brewing for some incredible BBQ. Go eat breakfast in the downtown diner At the Corner. And last but NOT least, you MUST go visit The Old Mill at Fairway Ave. & Lakeshore Dr. This place is gorgeous and if you know anything about “Gone with the Wind”- it’s the Mill that is used in the opening credits for the movie.

Note: Bathhouses don’t have to be a gross thought and/or scary thought!

Lesson: Visit those little towns, (or states for that matter), that you may dismiss.