Little Rock

The 1994 song Little Rock by Collin Raye is far more depressing than the real place, though it had its moments.

<<Intermission from the co-pilot - I note that there was no mention in yesterday's blog about an incident at the National Civil Rights Museum  A certain person was asked if they were over 55, and he is, and was allowed seniors discount of $1 in visiting the museum. I'm not sure Mr B wanted to be told he was a senior!!>>

Having arrived in the Legacy Hotel in Little Rock we got into the room and planned our afternoon. During a road-trip like this we regularly plan a stops which are more than overnight. Having left Washington on Tuesday we planned this weekend to be our first. In booking a hotel in Little Rock I looked at Hotwire, a hotel booking service we had used last year to book some luxury hotels at reasonable prices. During our trip last year the gave us a $50 voucher to be used within 12 months. So we booked this hotel with the £50 discount. The Legacy is a old Little Rock hotel built in 1913 and claiming many famous guests. So we are here for two nights.

Most of the sites in Little Rock close at 5.00 p.m. so we decide on a walk to familiarise ourselves with Little Rock. Drew decided to plan the route while I posted on the blog. Drew looked at the map and announced that the best thing to do would be to go to the State Capitol building, which is just up the road, and then on to the River which is four blocks away. So we headed off.

The State Capitol Building is just at the top of the same road as the hotel and this was a simple, but eerie walk. I say eerie, because apart from ourselves the streets were deserted, no people, no cars, not even any cats or dogs. It was like a scene from I am Legend. Had the town been closed without anyone telling us? Had there been an evacuation order? As it turns out it was neither of these. Little Rock, like Memphis earlier in the day, has a population which lives out of town not in it. The eeriness was emphasised by things which implied large numbers of people - large car parks, lots of little coffee shops - all being empty or in the case of the latter closed because it is Saturday. The townsfolk were at home, so like Atlanta back in 2002, it appeared as if Little Rock was closed!!

We walked on, and quickly discovered, something that I thought I already knew - don't trust Drew with maps. The river was indeed about four blocks from the State Capitol, but over a steep bank and across an Amtrac railway line with no crossings. In fact we needed to walk 22 blocks back before we got to the actual river walk way. Now walking is good, but (a) the town was deserted (b) apart from us only people sleeping on the streets were out (c) I'm not good in heat and it was 91 degrees F (d) Drew is not good in high humidity and it was at 85%. We were hot and bothered when we got to the Old State House, so it was a delight to sit in the garden and enjoy the cool breeze from the fountain. 

We walked a little further and came to one of the few places open - 4Square Cafe and Gift Shop where we had a lovely cool drink in a air-conditioned environment. After about 30 minutes we worked up the energy to walk back to the hotel. While the route was only four miles I think we expended the energy and sweat for 10. This is the route we followed:

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We always have one of these random, exhausting walks on holidays, so I'm glad we have got that one over with. We also say 'never again' until the next time. The moral of the story is that Little Rock is not like Washington, New York or San Francisco (people towns) but is a typical US City (car towns). 

Back at the hotel we washed and changed (our clothes being somewhat damp with the heat and humidity). We looked online for places to eat and only found a few that were open over the weekend. The nearest of these was called Ciao, an Italian restaurant only 1 block by 2 away. However by this time the thunder storm had turned the air black and it had started to rain, so we took the car and managed to park right outside the restaurant, we were lucky we did.

The restaurant was nicely laid out and traditional Italian in style. Drew opted to start with a favourite, Tomatoes and mozzarella. This was large pieces of buffalo tomato and mozzarella served over a bed of salad leaves. For me it was beef ravioli with marinara sauce. The marinara was lovely, but to my surprise the ravioli were fried. Who would take a well cooked ravioli and fry it until it was hard and crunchy, certainly no one in Italy. So clearly this was an American invention. The ravioli were well flavoured, but a fried bread texture didn't work for me in my pasta. 

For mains Drew had Fettuccine Alfredo with added shrimps. The fettuccine was perfectly cooked and while I would have found the sauce to creamy it suited Drew well.  I opted for one of the meals from the specials board: Pasta Michele, this was penne in a pesto sauce with chicken and shrimp. The sharp basil and pine nuts coated every piece of penne and it was delicious. Drew did not feel up to dessert.

By the time we had finished our meal the threatened storm had arrived. The lightning  both fork and sheet, was consistent with thunder following in seconds. The rain had converted the road into a river, the water being up to kerb level in these streets which have high kerbs. We were grateful we had thought to bring the car as we would not have got back otherwise. Even so getting to the car meant jumping across 2 feet of water. But we made it and got back to the hotel safely.