Little Rock

After a couple of days in Arkansas and Missouri, we spent the last 24 hours of our trip in Arkansas's capital city, Little Rock. We really didn't know much about the city other than it being home to the Clintons, so we were excited to check it out. Paul booked a really nice hotel right in downtown (the Capital Hotel) which opened in 1870, with President U.S. Grant staying as a guest not long thereafter. The hotel opened with indoor plumbing and heating and introduced the country’s first “magnetic annunciator” to call room service. The Capital served as President Bill Clinton’s local headquarters during his tenure as President. It was a really fun historic place to stay. As for the city itself, there's really nothing much going on in downtown Little Rock, especially on a Sunday evening, so we ended up eating in the hotel restaurant.

Lobby of the Capital Hotel. Splendidly maintained.

A very stately building.

The Arkansas River near our hotel.

The old state capitol was across the street. It had a cute fence.

Unfortunately, most of Little Rock looks like this. This tall building was surrounded by surface parking lots on all sides...

There were some nice older buildings around downtown though!

The Capital Hotel restaurant had nice cocktails...

...and decent food.

The next morning we got up early and took a stroll around downtown. We started at the Historic Arkansas Museum, which had some nice exhibits on state history including a fantastic exhibit on the impact of settlers and US policy on native culture that held no punches. The museum includes some outdoor historic buildings which we were unfortunately unable to visit because they were closed for restoration. We walked over to the Clinton Presidential Library, which has neat architecture and a nice setting along the river adjacent to downtown. It had a few neat exhibits, but it's mostly an advertisement for Bill Clinton that doesn't go in to detail about any of the tough spots of his presidency or life. 

Our hotel from the street. It has a cast iron facade.

Yummy nearby donut shop!

David with some donuts.

There's an old trolley running through parts of downtown Little Rock.

An old map in the Historic Arkansas Museum, drawn by a school student.

Exhibits on territorial Arkansas life.

The museum also featured some old cabins - this is all still in downtown Little Rock.

There are a few cool streets-capes in Little Rock.

The park near the Clinton Presidential Library, with an epic bridge in the background.

The library looks a bit like an ark ready to put into the river.

There was an art exhibit on plastic in the oceans at the Library.

Yikes!

Garbage art!

Some of Clinton's memorabilia, including an Atlanta Olympics jacket.

After visiting the Clinton Presidential Library, we took the Arkansas River Trail along the river back towards downtown to visit the Old State House Museum. This museum features exhibits about the State of Arkansas since about the early 1800s. The building itself was constructed in the 1830s, around the time Arkansas received statehood. During the Civil War, when Little Rock was captured by Union troops, the building was used as their headquarters for the state. The building was used for State functions until the new capitol was completed in 1911. Since then the building has served as the Arkansas War Memorial, became the first home of the Arkansas State Police, and held the offices of a number of statewide patriotic organizations.

Scooting down the Arkansas River Trail.

Old Statehouse Museum.

The exhibits were... interesting.

Some rooms are made to look as they did when used by governors in the middle to late 1800s.

After visiting the State House Museum, we collected our car from the hotel and went to the Heights neighborhood for lunch at Heights Taco and Tamale Company. The food here was pretty good and they also had a big cocktail menu. This neighborhood is about five miles from downtown Little Rock and seemed a bit more lively with a slight hipster influence.

After lunch we wrapped up our time in Little Rock by visiting the current State Capitol (something we always do when visiting new capital cities) and then went to Central Little Rock High School to visit the National Park Site commemorating the 1957 crisis over desegregation of public schools.The museum seemed recently updated and housed really excellent exhibits on segregation, civil rights and the events that lead to the 1957 crisis. 

The Heights street scene. Reminds us of the Virginia Highland neighborhood in Atlanta.

Over-the-top cocktail.

Solid texmex food. 

Current Arkansas Capitol - built in 1911.

Looks like the capitol in DC.

Rotunda

Lots of marble (and fake marble).

The Arkansas House.

The NPS site commemorating integration and the Little Rock Nine.

Little Rock has a few interesting sights, but overall is a sleepy capital city. It's easy enough to combine it with Hot Springs for a nice weekend trip.