Feeling Presidential in Little Rock

After visiting family in Alabama during the warm days of September I needed some cooler fall days. So I headed north. Having never been to Arkansas before, I was excited to be able to add another state to my "places I've been" list. My first stop had been Vicksburg before I continued north on US 65. Most of the day's drive was on two-lane highways through white, fluffy cotton fields. I loved it! My favorite rest stop was at Lake Village in Arkansas. It was right on Lake Chicot, had a nice welcome center and a very large wooden deck built over the lake. It was beautiful. I imagine that in the summer it is a very busy place but since I was here off season, I had the place to myself. During a conference call with my Young Living team at 11:30, I sat on the deck and ate my lunch. If you are ever in Arkansas, I highly recommend this part of the state for a scenic drive.

My first stop as I headed north to the Ozark Mountains was Little Rock. The drive from Vicksburg is around 250 miles which I discovered is my preferred limit for a day's drive. The other thing I realized is that I need to stay at least two nights. This gives me a one day break from driving and time to do a little sightseeing in the area. For Little Rock that meant visiting the Clinton Presidential Library. The library highlights the Clinton family and their different election campaigns and the people they worked with over the years. My favorite parts of the library were the Oval Office and the Cabinet Conference Room. Yup, you guessed it. I am a total history geek, especially American history, and I love imagining things. So, I did a little imagining that I was the Secretary for Education and I sat in the Cabinet room chair and attended my first "presidential meeting".

After visiting the library I walked around downtown Little Rock. There is a nice walking path along the river and some interesting things to see, like this memorial garden dedicated to the Korean martial arts master, H.U. Lee. The garden was small and quiet and I ate a snack that I bought at the River Market. The market is an indoor warehouse sort of building with lots of different ethnic restaurants. The atmosphere isn't much but the food choices were fun. For a better atmosphere and a great staff, I recommend eating dinner at the Argentinian grill and cafe, Buenos Aires. The steak was great and the chimichurri sauce reminded me of my time in Nicaragua. I got some empanadas to eat for lunch the next day. The best, in my opinion, are the cheese and onion! Amazing.

Overall, I think the two night stop at Little Rock was just enough time. I stayed at the Downtown Riverside RV Park located right on the river directly across from the Presidential library. It wasn't the best RV campground but the location made it easy to visit downtown Little Rock by just walking across the old train bridge. There was a lot of construction going on and the overall area had more of an industrial feel to it than a beautiful riverside park. The RV park was completely fenced and the gate was locked so I felt safe at night, but I did not do any visiting in downtown after dark. I ate dinner early and then walked back over the bridge to the RV park before sunset. (I just didn't feel like downtown was busy enough that there would be people around if I had any trouble). If you are passing through the area and want to visit the presidential library, then I think this would be a convenient place to stop for a few nights.