Month: October 2017

Little Rock, AR

Little Rock, AR

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Hey Guys! Are you ready for the second part of our Arkansas adventures?

The main reason we were in the Little Rock area was to visit the Arkansas State Capitol Building. Y’all know about our rule of visiting the SCB before we can put the state sticker on our map…so we try to make it to the SCB once we get to a new state as soon as we can. Sometimes that’s the first day and sometimes we’ll be in a state for a month before we can get to the Capitol Building.

We enjoyed the Arkansas SCB. It has a lovely dome! There’s something to be said for clean lines and modest decorations. It had not one, but two of these fantastic staircases.

Both of the House and Senate Chambers were locked. We didn’t get to go inside, but I did snap the picture above (right) through the window. I do love stained glass domes! And check out these big brass doors in the picture on the left! I had Alex stand in front of them so you could get a better perspective of their size.

I would have to say the best part of the Arkansas SCB for us was the State Treasury room where they let us hold half a million dollars!! Guys!! Wow!! Have you ever touched so much money at once? We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hold the money ourselves. We each got to hold the stack of money while the tour guide (I’m so bad with names) told us a bit about the history of the safe. He also gave the boys some perspective on how much money it takes to go to college and raise a kid. I think they were pretty surprised. We asked if he’d ever had anyone try to take off with the money. He said he hadn’t, but they do school fieldtrips there and he had one kid refuse to give the money back to him. I would like to have seen that conversation.

The other place we really wanted to visit in Little Rock is the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. One of the things we really love about being nomads is the ability to take the boys to places where our Country’s history actually happened. We feel like it makes a bigger impact to see it in person rather than just reading about it in some book.

We weren’t alive in May of 1957. We’d, of course, learned about what happened at the Little Rock Central High School during that turbulent time, but we hadn’t learned much about it with the watered down version that’s taught in schools. We really didn’t know anything. The Visitor Center laid it out really well. There’s so much information you could spend the better part of a day reading though it all and watching the videos. I’d never heard them called “the Little Rock Nine”, never thought about how brave they must have been, how hard they had to work to stay in school while so many wanted to find reasons to kick them out, and how they were representing an entire group of people. The whole world was watching these nine high school kids…just waiting to see if they failed or succeeded. That’s a lot of pressure. Reading about each of their stories was eye opening for all of us.

The Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site includes the Visitor Center, this gas station where protests took place, and the High School itself.  The high school is still a working school so the only way to tour it is on a Ranger led tour. We, unfortunately, didn’t get to go on one. I would have liked to, but timing didn’t work out.

We made a quick stop at The Old Mill Park which is a re-creation of an 1880s water-powered grist mill. You might recognize it from the opening scenes of “Gone With The Wind”. It was a busy little park! You can go into the mill and look around. The Old Mill Park is dedicated to the memory of the Arkansas pioneers. The park is nestled at the end of a finger of Lake Number Two.

If you’ve followed us for long, you know that we love our burgers. We found a great foodie spot called Big Orange. The burger above (on the right) is the Farmer’s Burger with a fried egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and aioli. It must have been good because it didn’t last long! I had the Smashed Avocado Burger with avocado, pepper salad, Havarti cheese, lettuce, tomato, and garlic aioli! It was delicious! Those fries you see in the background are the State Fair Fries which include chili, cheese dip, two different kinds of shredded cheese, pickled jalapenos, fresh jalapenos and red onion. They were totally not on my diet and I didn’t care at all…they were definitely worth it!

Pretties! There were tons of them! I’m sure I took way more pictures of pretties than I needed to.

That’s all for Arkansas! See y’all down the road!

This is the last post for the #minieasternloop2017

Hot Springs National Park

Hot Springs National Park

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Hey Guys! We only spent one week in Arkansas, but we crammed so much into that one week I’m going to break up our Arkansas adventures into two separate posts. We’re going to start with Hot Springs National Park!

Confession:  I didn’t really want to go to Hot Springs National Park. I couldn’t figure out what could be so interesting about a hot spring. Did I really want to devote an entire stop to this area? When we visit some place it’s not just for a weekend. We devote an entire week to two weeks to each stop. I questioned whether or not this National Park was worth the hassle of staying so far from Little Rock (which is the main reason we were going to be in the area). Now, don’t get me wrong…we love our National Parks…it’s just that usually, National Parks are…well…bigger. I’m talking about Parks and not Monuments or Historic Sites or Battlefields.

Fordyce Bathhouse/National Park Visitor Center.

The day we went it was soooo busy. Finding a parking spot wasn’t easy. Let’s just say, I was still skeptical when we walked into the Fordyce Bathhouse. It wasn’t looking so hot for Hot Springs, so far.

Ladies’ Bath Hall.

The boys grabbed their Junior Ranger booklets and we set about exploring the museum in the Fordyce Bathhouse. The National Park Service has restored quite a bit of the Fordyce to what it looked like back in it’s heyday. In the picture above you can see one of the stalls used for a women’s bath. The uniform you see is what the attendant would have worn.

Treatment room.

The museum in Fordyce Bathhouse lets you walk through the “ritual” of a bathhouse visit. These visits were a three week long regime of daily baths, workouts in the state-of-the-art gymnasium,

massages with the newest devices and tinctures, and a variety of specialty treatments.

 The room above was for podiatry…all afflictions dealing with the feet.

When all that steam from the hot spring water ruined your hair, you could stop into the beauty salon and have it fixed. Check out all of the old beauty equipment!

During the mid- 19th century, Hot Springs catered to the wealth of America. People came from all over the country to have a spa vacation at one of the famous Bathhouse Row’s “temple of health and beauty”, but the wealthy weren’t the only people lining up to get into one of the spas. The mineral rich, hot spring water was said to be a cure for what ails you no matter what that ailment was. Many people came for physical therapy in specialized tubs like the one above.

While the bedrooms were on the small side, the bathhouses offered ample rooms and activities to allow for socializing in the evenings. The mannequin in the photo above kind of gave me the creeps. I really kept expecting it to move. Maybe I’ve watched too much sci-fy.

The first bathhouses weren’t really bathhouses. They were wooden planks surrounding excavated rock where the bathers would soak their feet. The first “bathhouse” which was more like a log cabin was built in 1830. During the height of Bathhouse Row, the spas were very elegant with stained glass, fountains, and works of art to make an establishment that rivaled those found in Europe.

Please do not urinate in vapor. The things you have to tell people not to do.

 There was a time when the opulent spas attracted not only the wealthy, but also sports heroes, politicians, and even mobsters. Hot Springs became just as known for gambling, prostitution, and organized crime as it was known for its water. The success of Bathhouse row has gone up and down through the years. During the 1940s there were twenty-four bathhouses in operation. Only two spas are operating today. You can go to the Quapaw or Buckstaff Bathhouses and soak in the hot spring water for a fee. The Buckstaff has been in continuous operation since it opened its doors back in 1912 and is the only continuously run bathhouse on Bathhouse Row.

While most of the springs have been covered and sealed off to prevent contamination, you can still see some springs bubbling up and running down the mountain to collect in pools of 140° water.  So, why is the water so hot? It may surprise you to find out that Hot Springs isn’t in a volcanic region. The water you see in the picture above started its journey about 4,000 years ago as rain water seeping into the ground. The rain water is heated naturally by rock that’s under immense pressure at a rate of 4° every 300 feet. The rain water is then forced back up though fractures where it will take about a year to return to surface. The park collects 700,000 gallons a day. Here’s a tidbit for you: the water that you see flowing in the picture above started as rain water when the ancient Egyptians were still building the pyramids!

Not far from Bathhouse Row is the Hot Springs Mountain Tower where you can get a bird’s eye view of the area. Not a bad view!

There are even some hiking trails around! We hiked to Goat Rock to check out the view. It was an easy one mile TAB (there and back) trial, but it was so incredibly hot. We ran into an older couple who had hiked from a nearby campground. They were lost with no water and no map, but didn’t seem to be worried about it. Guys, if you’re going to hike…have a map and please carry water. Be smart about your explorations.

We saw tons of these little lizards during our hike. They were everywhere! We even ran into this little lady. Can you see her in the left picture? This little deer is a master at hiding and camouflage.

Ready for some pretties? There were quite a few different pretties around during our hike. We were there late Spring, early Summer. Some pretties were still just waking up. I know, I know…the bottom left picture is of a weed. But, it reminds me of a serious case of bedhead. 😛

We had a great day learning about the springs, tasting the water, and exploring Hot Springs National Park! Even though it’s the smallest and one of the oldest National Parks, there’s quite a bit to see and do. We easily filled an entire day and could have spent another day hiking more. So, what did we learn? Sometimes there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to National Parks.

See y’all down the road!

#minieasternloop2017

Pizza Roundup Rod’s Pizza Cellar

Pizza Roundup Rod’s Pizza Cellar

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To my fellow pizza lovers I bring a pizza post from Hot Springs, AR.

Rod’s Pizza Cellar is a really good pizza place! The décor reminded me of the typical pizza parlor with green and red checked décor.

Rod’s was made on July 4th and has been open for 42 years.

The pizza that started it all for Don’s Pizza Cellar is The Godfather pizza and it is really good. The Godfather pizza has Canadian bacon, cheese, sauce, Italian sausage and peppers. The cheese is on top of all of the toppings to help hold it all on the pizza.

The restaurant itself is pretty clean and the food is good, did I mention Don’s has a buffet? Well, it is a good buffet with a nice selection of all the pizzas Don’s Pizza Cellar has to offer.

Dessert was also offered with the buffet. My favorite was the strawberry shortcake!

You don’t like buffets? No problem! They also have a full menu you can order from!

Now with all that, I’m giving Rod’s Pizza Cellar a 5 star review.

See y’all next time on…

Pizza Street!!

World of Zoo Memphis Zoo

World of Zoo Memphis Zoo

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To my fellow pizza… wait, that’s a different post.

To my fellow animal lovers, I bring a post from Memphis, TN. It is really cool walking up to the zoo, looks all Egyptian and neat.

At the Memphis Zoo, they have all kinds of animals, like leopards,

red pandas,

birds, and

cheetahs.

All the animals at the Memphis Zoo seemed to be comfortable in their enclosures.

The zoo was nice and clean too.

They have loads of neat animals. We really liked the hippo habitat because you could get a look above,  ground level, and even below the water! Which means you’re for sure going to see the hippos!

There were several baby animals when we visited! I love how fuzzy the baby orangutan looks!

The exhibits looked nice and clean and the staff were all nice.

At the Memphis Zoo they have really impressive Lego sculptures! They’re HUGE!! Look how detailed the Lego sculptures are! Amazing! Can you imagine putting one of these together?

Each exhibit is decorated to match the cultural area of the world that the animals are found in.

 The Memphis Zoo is one of the only four US Zoos to have the Giant Pandas. The Memphis Zoo was granted permission by the Chinese government to care for YaYa and LeLe in 2003.

I got to get really close to a giant panda, and that was awesome because giant pandas are my favorite animals!

The Memphis Zoo houses over 3,500 animals on 76 acres of land. That’s a lot of animals!! But don’t worry, you only have to walk about 2 miles to see all of the exhibits and there’s a tram tour you can take if it’s too hot or you’re hurt and can’t walk.

They also have, drum roll please, Polar Bears!! This polar bear wasn’t as active as the one in St. Louis but it was still cool.

The zoo opened in 1906 and is rated as one of the top 5 zoos in the U.S.A and I can see why. Healthy, happy animals with cool habitats make a great zoo.

Well I think that about sums it all up, I give Memphis Zoo a 5 star review.

See y’all at the Zoo!!