day one
Explored D's hometown of Stuttgart (rice and duck capital of the world, no less). Saw the rice fields and mills, D's childhood church and school, and took in the slower pace of a smaller town. Even went to Mack's Priarie Wings - sponsor of the World's Championship Duck Calling Contest at Stuttgart's annual Duck Festival. Had some local insight in finding the best BBQ - Craig's BBQ in DeVall's Bluff. The secret is ordering the sliced BBQ pork sandwich (medium) paired with the cheeseburger. Both come with Craig's apple slaw...just wow.
// Must remember to work out when we get home.
day two
Ventured out to Arkansas Post National Memorial in Gillett to check out the first European settlement of the lower Mississippi (and home to Quapaw people, whom Arkansas was named for). Quick run-down of Arkansas Post's history: founded in 1686 by French explorer Henri de Tonti, Spanish gained control in 1763, U.S. took ownership as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1804. Voila! And not to be overlooked, we ate catfish steaks and hush puppies in DeWitt at The Catfish Shack. Cornmeal breading, big pieces of fish, creamy slaw and tartar made for a perfect lunch stop.
The Potlach Conservation Center was next on the agenda. This place is special because of a teeny tiny little bird that they band and release - hummingbirds! We were able to talk with Tana, one of the educators and leaders of the banding program. Can you imagine the patience involved in catching and tagging these quick little guys?
Another southern meal at dinner - hot n' spicy shrimp boil at a local cajun joint. The waitress meant it when she said "don't let 'em touch your lips"! Another awesome meal, this time topped off with a shake at Stuttgart's Sonic. Perfect small town night. // Must remember to work out when we get home (again)!
day three
Off to Little Rock for some history and hiking. But first, a quick donut and coffee fuel-up at Stuttgart's Daylight Donuts for my fave apple fritter. Then on the road!
Poked around the Arkansas State Capitol (reminded me of Wisconsin's) while the General Assembly was in session. A beautiful building finished in 1915. From there we popped over to the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. The nine students enrolled into LRCHS in 1957 by the NAACP, after the Supreme Court's Brown vs The Board of Education, changed the course of civil rights history. Even with the 101st Airborne at their side, those students endured taunting, abuse and worse for the span of their enrollment at LRCHS. Shows how far the US has come with equality and upholding the 14th amendment, and how far we still have to go.
The SoMa area of Little Rock is a new, downtown, urban district that is ready to explode with sustainable restaurants, art installations, community shops, and local flavor. We met a friend for lunch at farm-to-table Root Cafe and followed up with a scoops of sweet corn ice cream at Loblolly Creamery at the soda fountain in the Green Corner Store. Couldn't think of better fuel for our afternoon adventure...hiking at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.
The West Summit Trail rises to just over a 1,000-foot elevation in a three-quarters-mile ascent. Another puffer! It's a rocky path, but very well-maintained and very well-traveled (yep, spring break week means lots of families). Even the pup was able to scramble over the rocks to get the top. The views are breathtaking - Little Rock, Lake Maumelle, Arkansas River Valley and Ouachita Mountains. If we didn't have to scoot back to Fayetteville, we would have started later to see sunset. Instead we had time to toss the frisbee and play a little bocce ball before hitting the road. But in true explorer fashion we needed to make one last culinary pitstop at Arkansas' original Whatta-Burger, Feltner's. Fun spot, good burger, shake and fries!
