A quick 3 hour drive south of Branson is Little Rock, AR. I have a strong memory of driving through Little Rock around 1980 and seeing a large home fully engulfed in flames. It was the first structure I’d ever seen on fire in person. It made an impression on me, much like coconuts. We saw no fires this time in Little Rock. However, we did have another rendezvous with our friends the Fotos from Baton Rouge. Here’s the girls with JoJami:
Jimmy, their dad, is active military so they stayed in a fabulous 2 bedroom apartment on Little Rock Air Force Base. We stayed at Riverside RV Park in North Little Rock – just across the Arkansas River from the city and the Clinton Presidential Library – but more about that later. We arrived the day before the Fotos so we took an amazing 16 mile bike ride along the river trail and across the Murray Dam 8 miles northwest of the city. Returning from the dam on the city side of the river, we passed through parts of downtown.
That’s me on my cruiser bike with the water bottle – gotta stay hydrated!!! It was a really nice biking path and made a great first impression on us as newbie Little Rock visitors. We spent the next afternoon with the Fotos visiting this replica of an old mill:
It was commissioned by a local developer in 1933 and the artist who built it was a magician with concrete. The bridges, etc. that look like tree limbs are actually formed cement – very impressive! And how about this fun fact: this mill replica was in the opening credits of Gone With The Wind !
Those hollywood guys sure are something!!
Later that day we took the walking bridge across the Arkansas River to visit the Clinton Presidential Library. I’d never been to a President’s library before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The design of Clinton’s library struck me as rather appropriate:
When we arrived, a very nicely dressed volunteer (he looked Republican) greeted us and told us of the endless items the library archives. I had to bite my tongue to not ask if they had Monica’s dress. To be honest (and let me first say that I’m a Libertarian) I found Clinton’s library long on pizzaz and sort of short on substance. But hey, maybe pizzaz is all the folks really want!
239 Beans 
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