Little rock, big stories.
Last we left off I was still in Arkansas. Even though I have moved onto Oklahoma, I can't skip over the rest of my time in The Natural State. After I left the Ozark National Forest, I headed south for Little Rock. Buddy had contacted some friends of his, Leland and Cathleen, that I was going to stay with while there. Not going to lie, I was pretty excited I didn't have to wing it on couch surfing or attempt to find a hostel. Not that I don't enjoy a good challenge, but still, it was certainly nice. The pair proved to be some of the nicest, and nerdiest, people I've met. I really enjoyed hanging out and watching endless episodes of Chopped with them, it's been a while since I binge watched something. They were quick to give me things to see and Leland even checked out the Old Mill with me before I left yesterday morning. Their two large and slobbery dogs, Zero and Bowser, loved that I was someone new to play with and didn't hesitate to wake me up by licking my face every morning. Getting there a little early Wednesday afternoon, I had some time to kill before meeting up with them for a matinee of Beauty and the Beast. Yes, that's right, every good road trip needs a break to be normal and go to the movies.
Heading across the bridge over the Arkansas River I knew exactly where I would be spending my extra two hours, at The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. The Comeback Kid is to Arkansans what The Fresh Prince is to Philadelphians; a really big f*ing deal. Even the airport in Little Rock is named after Hilary and Bill. As it should be by the way, they're both influential people, sex scandal and all. That's just one nasty woman's opinion though. Moving on. Everything you could ever want to know about Bill's time in office, even the bad things, are in this building. That is, after all, what makes it a presidential library. It's not a shrine to that president, it's a historically accurate depiction of their presidency. That's also why even though we've had more than fourteen presidents, there are only fourteen official libraries through the National Archives and Records Administration. I say official because there are more than that, Lincoln's for example, but before Franklin D. Roosevelt, there was no system for papers, artifacts or memorabilia and many documents were thrown out or destroyed. Since then, everything is kept and accounted for, even their daily schedules. For example, on April 1, 2000, the only thing on Bill's schedule was to watch the NCAA men's final. Whether he did or not, I'm honestly not sure. A library is not mandatory and is privately funded, so everything about it is really up to each president. Knowing that, it seems fitting that he based his building design off of his campaign slogan, "building a bridge to the 21st century". The modern building cantilevers, just like a bridge, parallel to the other bridges over the Arkansas River. It's also completely green, right down to the recycled tires and bamboo flooring. Fun fact, when Bill started his presidency in early 1993, the World Wide Web was just beginning and there were fifty websites. Just let that sink in for a second. Now compare it to when he left office in 2001 with 350 million. The library is downtown right by the Riverfront and even if you're not the biggest fan, I still recommend you check it out, it's worth it.
Hot Springs National Park was an easy drive from Leland and Kathleen's place so I decided to take a day to do that. Hot springs itself is not only the hometown of Bill Clinton and the Miss Arkansas Pageant but they also really love their baseball. They even have a historic baseball trail you can drive, or walk, while you're there. Their main attraction, however, are the bath houses that the National Park Service has since taken over and made part of Hot Springs National Park. I'm going to be honest with you guys, other than the really nice short hikes that look down upon the town, this park is a little strange and not really worth too long of a visit. Is it interesting? Yes. Should the thermal water be enough of a reason to call this land a National Park? Apparently so. The town sits on a natural hot spring and was actually built upon it for that reason. People far and wide would come to Hot Springs for a full service bath. Each of the eight bathhouses served a different purpose and now there are two that you can go into and experience for yourself, one more modern and one exactly like it was back in the early 1900s. The other five bath houses are used for the parks department and the last building is actually a brewery. If you do decide to go to this park, definitely check it out. They're made with the spring water and are surprisingly delicious. The scenery in the town is worth mentioning too. There are areas where you can touch the hot spring and there is a spicket by the scenic drive of the park where you can fill up your water bottle with fresh spring water. It's cold, don't worry, and amazing. You can actually taste the difference from other bottled water.
I hadn't really seen Little Rock at this point, only the Clinton Library, so I decided to stay one more night to see what I had missed. Always looking for a new adventure, I've learned to say yes to new opportunities. So when Buddy asked me if getting a tour of the zoo from his friend Luke, who works there, was something I wanted to do I jumped on it. I know technically you can see a zoo anywhere but how many times have you had a private tour of one? It's impressive if you just answered that with a number, until now I couldn't. Luke met me out front when the doors opened at nine and we walked right in. He started with the historical aspects, how there have been four different entrances since its opening in 1926 and how it all started with a timber wolf and a bear from a traveling circus. He works with the small carnivores which has everything from the Foosa to the Caracal. The Caracal was a particularly cool cat with huge ears that looked like Dr. Seuss had created them in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. He introduced me to the mom, Binti, and her young ones, Blue and Bayuda, who he named. He's also been there long enough to become the resident Mowgli. Let me explain - the first stop we made was at the chimpanzees. I went up to the edge to look for one when all of a sudden Luke shouted hello to Mikee, the chimp. Mikee looked confused so Luke took his hat off and just like that, Mikee knew who he was. Like a lot of the animals at their zoo, Mikee was someone's pet until they wised up and realized that chimps don't make great pets. It was entertaining and super cool to watch Luke and Mikee interact and chase each other back and forth, what an awesome job. Have you ever wondered what the animal habitats look like behind that little door? I got to go behind the scenes and see where the bears live and found a black bear as tall as me standing on two feet up against the bars waiting for food. He was really cute behind bars, I kept wanting to reach out and pet him until I remembered he was a wild animal. After seeing the entire zoo, I can say for certain that was the best zoo tour I've ever gotten.
Fun fact, Luke is also a metalworker. When he mentioned he was going to go home and forge I had no idea what that meant. Naturally curious, I of course asked and of course somehow invited myself to join him and forge for the first time ever. Forging, I will explain in Luke's words, is when you take a hot piece of metal and beat the crap out of it. It's true, that's basically what you do. When we got to the garage studio at his house he started telling me all about the safety rules and tips for how to stand and hold the hammer. He did this while prepping a few pieces of soft metal and putting them in the 900 degree furnace. After getting what looked like an anvil on a tree stump ready and pulling out the orange metal piece, he put it down and started hammering away. I watched intently, careful not to miss anything. Then it was my turn. In the time it took him to make a knife, I had made an indent. Clearly not putting enough oomph into it, I gave it everything I had and just like that it started to turn into something. Two hours later, I had my own handmade knife. It's a small knife sharp enough to be a letter opener, but my own unique letter opener, nonetheless. Luke also made me a bottle opener and put Little Rock 2017 on it as a souvenir. One of my favorite souvenirs to date, that's for sure. I can't wait to use it. With the world's largest smile on my face I headed down to the Riverfront for a few hours to explore downtown before heading back to Leland and Cathleen's.
Little Rock definitely proved to be full of new experiences and new friends. On my way to Tulsa I made sure to stand at the highest point in Arkansas in Mt. Magazine State Park and also randomly found Popeye's statue in a small park in Alma. I've been in Tulsa for two nights and am moving on to Oklahoma City tomorrow. New adventures await!
- G.
The Photo:
Luke.
Little Rock, Arkansas.
3/24/17.
