Month: November 2018
Location: Little Rock
Back in March 2017, I went to
Charleston, South Carolina
with my friends Lisa, Lloyd, Lisa and Dustin, who I had met during a
“walking tour” in NYC.
That turned out to be one of my best visits and
I attribute that to going there with my friends.
Subsequently they came to visit me in Chicago
and this time their other son Dylan joined with his wife Brooke.
That was another fun weekend, where we did a
“walking tour”, played an
“escape game” and enjoyed some excellent
food and drinks.
We had discussed the possibility
of doing another state together, but I was running out of places.
I had finished planning my remaining visits
very early on in 2019, but when Lisa saw that I was going to Little Rock in
November, she said that they would try to make it work.
That they did and so Lisa, Lloyd, Dylan and
Brooke would be joining me for the weekend. Furthermore, two of Lisa’s friends
would also be with them. Dustin and Lisa had just had their second daughter and
as much as they would have wanted to come, it wasn’t feasible.
But, even without them, I was excited to
explore another new city with my friends.
 |
| View from my room |
I had booked my hotel months ago and Lisa found rooms in the
same place. I was going to be in Little Rock by noon on Friday, but Lisa
said that they were planning on visiting the town of Hot Springs that morning,
and so would see me later in the afternoon.
I took a flight that connected in St. Louis and arrived just before noon
at ‘Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport’. I’m quite sure that the second name was added
recently. In fact, as I would learn over
this weekend, most of the things in this town were named after the
Clinton’s. I took a ride into town and
my driver was enthusiastically pointing out some of the spots in downtown
for food and drinks. The street that we
were on – ‘President Clinton Avenue’
– was where all the restaurants seem to be located. I liked the small, but quaint, downtown,
which was located by the ‘Arkansas River’. Plus, there was a “streetcar trolley”, instantly elevating this town in my esteem.
 |
| Downtown Little Rock |
I was staying at ‘Little
Rock Marriott’ which was across ‘Capital
Hotel’, that looked like a historic landmark. Reading more about it, I learned that it
opened in 1877 and was the first hotel to have electricity, and an elevator
that could fit a horse. Now, why you
would wish to take the horse to your room was beyond my understanding! My hotel looked quite modern and was busy
with weddings. I dropped off my
stuff and set off to get some food. The
place in question was a couple of blocks away called ‘@ The Corner’ because, well, it was at the corner of two streets. On the way there I saw a couple of bars that
I wanted to visit during my trip here.
It was nice little restaurant which seemed to attract a fairly young crowd and seemed to be operated
and run by young folks as well. I sat at
the counter and ordered “Cowboy Breakfast
with Biscuits and Gravy, Fried Chicken and Eggs”, because I could. It was heavy and all kinds of satisfying.
 |
| The main room of 'Hinderliter Grog Shop' |
I had time before my friends would get here, and so I went
to the nearby ‘Historic Arkansas Museum’. I reached an open field which seemed to have
some “historic buildings”, meaning
this place had recreated 19th century settlements. I went inside the main building and
fortunately was right on time, since a tour of the outdoor grounds was about
to start. There were just two other
folks besides me and the guide and our first stop was at a building from 1827
called ‘Hinderliter Grog Shop’. It was Little Rock’s oldest surviving
building and besides being a home for the family that lived there, it was also a bar and an inn for
travelling folks, most of them headed to the “promise land” in the West.
The sleeping chamber, which today would be suitable for 1-2 people,
sometimes housed as many as 10 or more, depending on how busy they were and how
little money these people had. Speaking
of money, I finally learned the meaning of “bits”
as in “its not even worth 2 bits”. Having a “silver
dollar” made you rich and things were far less expensive than that. So, people usually cut them into 8 wedges and
each wedge was a “bit” or 1/8th
of a dollar. I saw some examples of that
in the big dining room, which also had a caged section in the corner, which was
the bar. I suppose the bartender stood
behind the cage for his safety, though ‘The
Aviary’ in Chicago also has a cage, which serves as a novelty…I think. There was a more colorfully painted room in
the back for ladies, who were supposedly more civilized. I am sure this place has seen a lot of
stories.
 |
| The interior from 1800's |
We continued walking through this “campus”, visiting another building called ‘Brownlee House’. This was
from late 1840s and was built by a Scottish “stonemason” for his brother and
sister-in-law. Apparently, he led quite
an interesting life, building the ‘State
House’ a few blocks away, and then going to California for the 1849 “gold rush”. One of the ugly truths about the South in
that era was slavery. So, almost all
wealthy people “owned” slaves. Brownlee’s were no exception and so besides
their house, we also saw their slave, Tabby’s house. It was interesting to see some of the things
in her place, especially her kitchen stuff, her tools for making “wax candles” – which was one of her
main duties – and her bed, which looked like it was made with tightly wound
ropes. The interesting part was that
there were hooks on the sides, which could be used to wind the ropes when the
bed starts sagging. Everything in this
modest house was homemade, economical and highly functional.
 |
| This is how the "Arkansas Gazette" was printed |
There were couple of other buildings that we visited, like ‘McVicar House’ from 1840 and ‘Woodruff Print Shop’, which had a
demonstration for us. This is where in
1820s, Arkansas’s first newspaper was printed – “Arkansas Gazette”. A
replica of the original press was used to recreate the process for us, and I
even got to keep a postcard as a souvenir.
We returned inside and I continued a solo exploration of the galleries,
which included a section on the “Bowie
Knife” or “Arkansas Toothpick”,
which apparently is quite popular. There
were over 100 different knives which were quite impressive. I walked through the other galleries and it
was still early when I finished. My
friends were still on their way back from Hot Springs, so I went back to my
room for a bit.
 |
| Evening in Little Rock |
Around 5 pm I was getting ready to go to a nearby bar that I
had found during my research, when I got a text from Lisa saying that they were
downstairs in the lobby bar. So, I went
over to join them and saw that they had settled in a corner table which was
perfect, since it was away from the crowd and allowed us to catch-up. It was wonderful seeing Lisa, Lloyd, Dylan
and Brooke again and it was as if no time had passed since our last meeting,
which had been over a year ago. Couple
of Lisa’s friends – Tina and Cheryl – were joining us on this trip and they were
a pleasant addition to our party. We
ordered some “Margarita’s” – there
was a happy hour deal on them – and discussed our plans for the evening.
 |
| All the restaurants were getting busy |
We decided to go for a walk in the downtown area and see
what caught our eye in terms of dinner destination. It was a nice evening as we walked down the
main street, looking through the windows of various business’ and the menus of
various restaurants. While most of the
restaurants looked busy, but uninspiring, we did spot an interesting coffee shop and an
ice cream place. We finally settled on a
place called ‘Flying Saucer Draught
Emporium’ and while it was full, that was a mirage if I ever saw one. After 50 visits, I am confident in stating
that this was the worst food that I have had during these travels and barring
an utter fiasco over my last visit next month, this will be the “winner” in that category!
 |
| Our abysmal dinner at 'Flying Saucer Draught Emporium' |
They claimed to be famous for their beer and I ordered
something called “North Coast Scrimshaw
Pilsner” which was from their “Transcendent
20 Beers” list. Now, I am not a beer
aficionado, so cannot speak to that. I
can however comment on the food, which was atrocious. The server recommended a “Saucer Dip Sandwich”, which was tasteless and came with a side of,
well, potatoes I guess; though they were buried under so much water that it
could have been a broth. And it wasn’t
just me. Others were having a similar
experience, none worst than an order of “Nachos
and Dip”, which was essentially cheese mixed with water. We seriously thought that there must have
been some sprinkler malfunction in the kitchen for everything to be drenched in
water.
 |
| The much better 'Lost Forty Brewing' |
With this terrible dinner done, we decided to wash off the
bad taste by going to a brewery, about a mile away. Tina and Cheryl decided to retire for the
night, so the 5 of us called a ride and went to ‘Lost Forty Brewing’, which was supposedly one of the top places
around here. I was glad that I was in a
group, because if by myself, I would have decided to walk, and it wasn’t quite
a well-lit road. But then again, if by
myself I would probably be at a cocktail lounge than a brewery. It was in a building in an open lot and the
interior was like a typical “bier hall”. There were community tables where several
locals were enjoying the offerings. We
found a few spots on one of the tables and I ordered a beer called “Easy Tiger Mexican Lager”. Between us we also ordered some desserts,
including a brownie and a pie. This
experience was much better than what we had to endure over dinner, and I liked
the vibe of this place. We chatted with
some of our fellow patrons and learned about their “Sunday Brunch”, which apparently is so popular that people wait
for hours to find a table.
 |
| The elegant 'Capital Hotel' |
We left after one drink, but not before Lisa had bought a “Lost Fort Brewing Cap” as a
souvenir. My friends were tired after a
long day and so we headed back to the hotel.
They retired for the night and since it was still early, I went across
the street to the ‘Capital Hotel’ for
a nightcap. I liked this place, which
looked elegant and hosted a “fine dining”
restaurant. They had two bars, one which
looked small and quiet and other one was bigger and livelier. Typically, I would have picked the former,
but the hostess recommended the later, so I went into the busy ‘Capital Bar and Grill’. I found a place at the bar and ordered a
drink called “Suburban”, which was
quite good. The place was a popular
dinner spot with several busy tables, probably owing to the wedding weekend.
 |
| The best cocktail bar in the city |
During my usual research, I had found that the top cocktail
bar in the city – by unanimous choice – was ‘109
& Co’. When I had looked at
their website earlier, it had advertised a special alumni event for the night,
so I had postponed my visit for tomorrow.
However, it was just a block away and so I decided to walk by it. I am glad that I did, since the event was in
the back room and the bar area was still open for regular visitors. Now, this was my kind of cocktail place,
which checked all the boxes – dark cozy interior, a great looking bar area and
a robust cocktail list. I ordered a
drink called “1876”, which was their
version of “Rum Old Fashioned” and
very well made. As relaxing as this
ambiance was, I was tired and so headed back to the hotel, just as the parties
were starting around me.
 |
| The fantastic 'Nexus Coffee Creative' |
Next morning as I was getting ready, Lisa texted me saying
that they were headed to the coffee shop that we had spotted yesterday, ‘Nexus Coffee Creative’. It was a short walk to get there and I was
enjoying the beautiful fall day. I met
up with the group at the coffee shop, which was quite charming, as independent
places like this usually are. Plus, my
drink, “Dark Chocolate Mocha”, was
outstanding. These folks knew how to do
coffee well. And that wasn’t all that
they did, serving food and wine as well – though the latter would have to
wait. We planned out our morning and of
course, the first stop would be for food.
We selected a place called ‘The
Root Café’, which had gotten good reviews. Lloyd and Dylan had gone to the airport to
exchange the rental car and they returned with something that could have passed
for a mini bus. It had three rows with
comfortable seating for all of us and equipped with all the comforts and
luxuries.
 |
| The outdoor seating area of 'The Root Cafe' |
The restaurant was located outside of the downtown area,
which wasn’t that big to begin with. But
the drive there allowed us to get a look at the city in daylight. The place looked like a suburban house with a
front yard and there was a long line waiting to get in. There were tables set up outside, amongst
some shrubs and we were lucky to get a couple of tables together for all of us. While Lloyd and Dylan held on to the tables,
the rest of us got in the line to order.
As we got closer, more things on the menu appeared appealing. Particularly interesting was their “Side of Bacon”, which both, Lisa and I
ordered. I also got “Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit”, which I made into a “Mountain”, meaning it was smothered in “gravy”.
Once again, I did it because I could. We came outside with our food and it was nice
to sit in the garden – though the ground was uneven, especially since it was a
nice morning. The food was much better
in print than in reality, as was the drink that I had ordered, “Vanilla Cream Soda”. Man, we were striking out with our dining
options!
 |
| The incredibly functional "Green Building" |
Our main activity for the morning was visiting ‘William J Clinton Library and Museum’,
which of course, was on “President
Clinton Avenue”. We drove to a very
modern looking building at the edge of downtown and next to the river. The description of the place said that
besides exhibits, the museum also housed archival collections such as papers
and photographs. But the most interesting part was an
apartment on the roof, where the Clinton’s stayed when in town. We got our tickets and the first stop was a
full-sized “Green Building”,
showcasing how it was possible to integrate sustainability in everyday life. There was a lot of information as well some
interactive exhibits for people to learn about sustainability and renewables,
especially to educate kids. But what I
found to be most interesting, was the actual layout of the house. It was smaller than my studio, but impeccably
arranged and decorated, making everything functional.
 |
| Model of the "Cabinet Room" inside the 'White House' |
As we walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor, we
saw a full-sized “Presidential Limousine”
and although it was from just 20 years ago, the model looked dated and
old! Upstairs, was where the story was
really being told, and we started with a short film in a theater. It started with Bill Clinton's childhood and
upbringing, leading up to him becoming the “Governor”
of Arkansas and finally the “President”. It concluded with his post-President life and
the establishment of this place. Outside
the theater the rest of 2nd floor was a giant hall, with lot of
panels, arranged by years and showcasing his accomplishments and examples of
letter and documents. Apparently, there
are enough documents in the vault to keep historians busy for the next 20
years. We learned about his role in
restoring the economy, war and peace efforts and other contributions towards
science and environment. There was also
a full-sized recreation of “The Cabinet
Room”, with chairs having names of the various “cabinet members” and their sitting position during meetings.
 |
| The collection inside the library |
The 3rd floor focused on his life in the “White House”, including pictures of
various “State Dinners”. I enjoyed looking at how a typical dinner
table would look like, including plate settings and menus. On this floor was also a full-sized
recreation of the “Oval Office” and
once again, it was interesting to see how some of the office equipment such as
telephones has evolved in the last 20 years.
One of the docents told a story how one evening the guard was walking
through the hall and saw someone sitting on the couch in the “Oval Office”. The guard was about to throw them out when he
realized that it was in fact Bill Clinton himself! He was in town and had come down from his
apartment to read. I liked this place
and having been to equally impressive “Lincoln
Presidential Museum” in Springfield, this one was a worthy addition. Plus, I loved the architecture, with wide
halls and windows overlooking the downtown and the river.
 |
| Downtown Little Rock from the library |
Outside the museum there was a small pedestrian bridge going
across the river. It was called ‘Clinton Presidential Park Bridge’, and it
presented nice views of the river, the downtown as well as the museum,
especially the apartment on the roof. The paved path had several engraved
names, of all the volunteers that helped the “Clinton Campaign”, and there were a lot of them. We took some pictures on the bridge and then
got in the car to go for a drive. Our
first stop was the historic ‘Little Rock
Central High School’, which was located outside of downtown, and was a key
location in 1957, when it was desegregated during the “civil-rights movement”. The
desegregation led to protests and armed guards had to be called in. Little Rock was after all, deep south. We did not get out of the car but took some
pictures of the beautiful building.
 |
| The 'State Capitol' |
Next, we drove to ‘Arkansas
State Capitol’ and once again, took some pictures without exiting the
car. If by myself, I would have gone in,
since I do like to compare the interiors of the “Capitol” buildings that I have seen during these travels. We then drove to a park on the river to a
place called ‘Big Dam Bridge’,
another scenic attraction. Well, it
really wasn’t much to look at, though the park area was quite pretty. We saw a lot of folks running and biking on the
trail and since we were doing neither, decided to head back to the hotel. It was still mid-afternoon, so rather than going back to our rooms, we went for a walk on the main street instead.
 |
| Inside 'Ottenheimer Market Hall' |
Next to our hotel was ‘Statehouse
Convention Center’ and in their garden we saw a “gate”, typically associated with ancient “Oriental” architecture. It
was called ‘H.U. Lee International Gate
& Garden’ and was “South Korean”
in its design. It was a tribute to late
Haeng Ung Lee, who apparently had a huge influence on “martial arts” as we know them.
We took some pictures and continued to the ‘Ottenheimer Market Hall’, which was an indoor food court with
multiple vendors, though at this time of the
afternoon it was empty. Behind the
food hall, on the river, some sort of festival was being set-up, with live
music and spirits tasting. We
decided to return back to the coffee shop that we had liked so much, ‘Nexus Coffee Creative’.
This time I got “Honey Brown Sugar
Latte”, while some of the ladies ordered wine. We also got a “charcuterie and cheese plate”, and for the next hour, just sat
there chatting. This is something I
never get to do if I’m by myself – go to a local coffee shop and just hang out.
 |
| Dinner at 'Table 28' |
We also planned for our dinner destination and after last
nights fiasco, we wanted to do our research.
The common consensus was a place called ‘Table 28’, which was upscale and highly recommended. Luckily, we managed to secure a table for all
of us at 6 pm. We headed back to the
hotel to get ready and by this time the wedding people had taken over, with
crowded lobby and even a line for car pickup.
The restaurant was in a good-looking residential neighborhood, inside a
hotel called ‘The Burgundy Hotel’. As we parked, we saw some “supercars” in the lot. This did appear to be a classy place. The interior was quite well done, and the
menu looked good. In fact, it looked so
good that we ordered a bunch of stuff, including things like “Bone Marrow” and “Chicken and Donuts”. I also
got a drink named “Thank You Mr. Lee”. Initially we had the area all to ourselves,
but very soon the room as well as the rest of the restaurant got full. We enjoyed our time here and finally, we had
picked a place which showed that Little Rock had good dining pedigree!
 |
| The spooky location for "Mystery Mansion Escape" |
There is one activity that we always do when we get together
– play an “Escape Room Game”. In fact, we plan our itinerary around
this. So, it was no surprise that the
first thing that we had booked weeks ago was a game for this evening; and this
one was called “Mystery Mansion Escape”. Our booking was for 9 pm and we arrived at
the location which was a very spooky looking house. Unlike some of the locations that I have been
to, in “industrial lots”, this place was
in a residential neighborhood. As we
entered inside, it did appear like a house that someone lives in, with a
sitting room, dining room etc. We were
early and so waited in a sitting area and tried not to fall asleep. Tina and Cheryl had not done one of these
before and were highly skeptical, even apprehensive, about the experience. But we assured them that once inside, they
would have the time of their lives. What
wasn’t helping was some weird and scary sounds that were coming from a room
in development, which was being tested.
 |
| The interior was like a house |
Just before 9 pm we were taken to another room, which was a
larger hall, and given our assignment, which was the usual “Find xyz before the time runs out blah blah”. Once inside, we dove right in and for the
next 60 minutes, worked extremely well as a team to unravel some complex clues
and puzzles. Tina and Cheryl were having
a blast, especially Tina, who was completely engaged. At one stage we felt that we had solved a
clue, but nothing happened and the lady who was managing us and watching on the
monitor outside had to come in and reset the prop.
But other than that, it was a fantastic experience and despite being one
of the more challenging rooms that I have done, we managed to escape before the
clock ran out. We were all feeling the
adrenaline rush of finishing a game and talked about it on the way back to the
hotel. But then the fatigue hit us all
and while I had planned on going back to ‘109
& Co’ for a nightcap, I settled for a beer at our hotel bar before
calling it a night.
 |
| Brunch at 'South of Main' |
As I came down the next morning to check-out, I saw a lot of
the folks from the wedding parties that were definitely feeling the effects of
the previous night. One of the restaurants
that came highly recommended for brunch was ‘South
of Main’ and we were headed there.
But before that, we dropped off Tina for “Sunday Services” and I was astonished to see the Church
building. I was expecting something that
looked like, well a church, but this one could have passed off as a “Modern Art Museum”. We drove to the restaurant which, was in the “SoMa” district i.e. “South of Main” and appeared to be a
location for trendy places. The
place was quite empty, and the presence of a stage indicated that these folks
probably had “live music” in the
evenings. I ordered a “SOM Bloody Mary” and “Biscuits and Gravy with Egg”, and a side
of “Cheese Grits”. It was fine, without being spectacular. To be fair to them, we were told that the
regular chef was missing today and so under the circumstances, they did a
decent job.
 |
| Our ride for the afternoon |
My friends were headed to Memphis, though there was still some time left, so we decided to go for a ride on the “Metro Streetcar Trolley”.
The trolley covered the entire main street, went all the way to the “Presidential Library”, then back to
cross the river, do a round there, and return to downtown. The entire trip would take approximately an
hour and we had nothing better to do.
There was an app to locate the stops and a tracker. A couple of times we thought that we were in
the right location, but soon were running up and down the street to make it to
the stop on time. We got on the trolley
and the good thing was that you did not need to get tickets ahead of time but
could pay for it on board. With the fare
paid, we were underway.
 |
| The charming interior |
The interior was charming with big, open windows and wooden
benches. Plus, the conductor was a tour
guide and described what was passing by on the outside. I suppose more people are like us, taking the
trolley for the tour, rather than as means of transportation. When we reached the end of the line, there
was no place to turn around. So, the
driver crossed the length of the carriage and took over the controls on the
other side. I was wondering if we would
now be having our backs to the direction of travel. But no, our guide asked us to stand up and then
flipped the seats so that we were now facing forward. We crossed the river and went over to the
other side, which was another neighborhood with its own set of restaurants and
bars. After a while, we turned around
again and headed back to downtown, to get off where we had boarded.
 |
| The historic 'Old Statehouse Museum' |
The whole trip had taken just under an hour and it was time
for my friends to leave. Once again, it
had been fantastic to do this visit with them and we promised to get together
soon for another adventure. I still had
some time before I had to leave for the airport, so I was going to ‘Old Statehouse Museum’. But first, I had to stop at what had become
my favorite place in Little Rock, ‘Nexus
Coffee Creative’’, for a cup of “Dark
Chocolate Mocha”. The museum was
right next to my hotel and it looked “stately”
with white pillared entrances like the "other house" of that color in DC. There was also a cannon in the yard to remind
us of the “civil war”. This was the original “State Capitol” of Arkansas and had a long history since 1833 till
1911, when the new ‘Capitol’
that we had seen yesterday, was inaugurated. Subsequently
it was made into a museum and placed on the “National
Register of Historic Places”.
 |
| I liked this museum |
As far as “State Museums”
go, this one was really good. Besides the history of the state, it has
several exhibits ranging from stories of the elected representatives, gowns worn by the “First Ladies” of the state as well as
dresses worn by “Miss Arkansas”. There was an exhibit on quilts made by local black artisans, and grand halls and recreations of ancient rooms and chambers. I walked through the building for an hour and
then returned to collect my bag and leave for the airport. This visit had been unlike some of my other ones, but coming here with Lisa and her family had made it
fun. I’m sure my experience would have
been very different were I here by myself, but I wouldn’t choose that over this
weekend with my friends. It had been great
catching-up and exploring the city…not to mention our traditional “escape game”. I left Little Rock with 50 visits
in the book. One more to go.
