The Big Dam Bridge slows the flow of the Arkansas River.  The bridge is only for pedestrians and spans the river above a dam and a lock.

We took a bike ride along the path from the Clinton Library to Downtown Little Rock where they were offering tours of two reproduction boats from Columbus’ time.

Skipping the tour that was overrun by school children we opted to look on while Paul checked Wikipedia and learned that the Nina is a full size replica of the original that Columbus sailed.  The Pinta is larger than the original as it needed to have a larger deck for walk around tours.

Little Rock public art is really fun.

Always looking for the interesting or weird! The Old Mill at T.R. Pugh park meets the requirement of interestingly weird!  The mill is a replica that was built i 1933 and was made to look as though it had been there forever.  It is featured in the opening scene of Gone with the Wind and they think it is the only structure still standing from the film.  The parks landscape is what qualifies as weird for me.

The park is decorated with sculptures of toadstools, tree stumps, and a tree branch-entwined bridge that connects the mill to the rest of the park. Senor Dionico Rodriguez, a sculptor and artist of Mexico City, was responsible for all the details of each piece of concrete work made to represent wood, iron or stone, as well as the designing of the foot bridges and rustic seats. The Old Mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This little girl was so cute, she was leading her daddy all over the park, up the bridge, across the water, inside the mill and he seemed so attentative until I got home and downloaded my photos!

Little Rock, home to the  Clinton Presidential Center where President Clinton chose to celebrate his presidency right on the Arkansas River near downtown.  I’m thinking this was a great move to boost Downtown Little Rock.  The grounds are beautiful; the Library is a plethora of artifacts of eight years work.

There is so much information packed into this building that it is hard to absorb everything that was accomplished during those 8 years.  I have a few favorite memories that have nothing to do with politics.   Hillary wanted to bring as many personal items with the family to the White House so that Chelsea would be comfortable in her new home as she was being moved from the only home she ever knew – The Governers Mansion in Little Rock!  From a Mansion to the White House to a dorm at Stanford University – thats an address resume!

The early photos of Bill and Hillary at Yale were pretty interesting, the two looked like every other student in the late 60’s,  shaggy beard and long straight hair.  Growing up in the 60’s had to have a real pulse on who he was as president.

The library is full of quotes of the president and he provides lots of commentary throughout the library.  One of my favorites was a video clip of Clinton in the Oval Office.  “Wait a minute guys. See that rock, it’s 3.6 billion years old. We’re all just passing through, take a deep breath, calm down, let’s see what makes sense.”  The rock is a moon rock that is showcased on the coffee table in his Oval Office.  The comment is meant to get everyone on the same page, realizing that we have time and do not need to rush to make big decisions.

The big bonus for me at the Library is the Chihuly Exhibit of glass art.  We have seen several displays of Dale Chihuly in Tacoma, WA,  at the Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery in Kentucky and now in Little Rock, AR.  Amazing work,  beautiful colors and watching the process makes it even more impressive.

These works are so beautiful, the colors are brilliant.  The spheres are amazing.

The RV park we are staying in is across the pedestrian bridge so we can just walk over the Arkansas River and enjoy the beauty of the park setting around the Library.  The pedestrian bridge, The Clinton Presidential Bridge  is an old railroad bridge that has been converted to a pedestrian bridge across the river and allows North Arkansas neighborhoods a walking/riding path to the Library and surrounding park as well as the downtown area.

The weather is hot and sticky here in October and this am we had another storm pass through complete with lots of rain, wind and the weather alerts!

Eureka Springs is a quaint little village about an hour south of Branson in Arkansas.  We had not ventured into Arkansas other than when we came to Branson and when we went to Talladega so it was time.  It is still in the Ozark Mountains so there are lots of hills and trees.  The highway wasn’t really a highway but more of a country road thru several small towns, some kinda scary! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little diner was at the crossroads of two highways in Blue Eye, MO, and I think part of the town was in Arkansas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul always thinks it is fun to get photos of the locals!  We sat on the bench and ate our burger with tator tots!  Yep, tator tots are usually on the menu and yes they are just like the ones you buy and bake in the oven for the kiddies.

Eureka Springs is a very cute little town with lots of shops to spend your money in.  I was good as I have nowhere to put any goodies.  I did get Paul a new baseball cap but I am not sure he will wear it – he says it looks like a girl cap.  He has never be a fashion expert so I am not sure how he is getting his ideas – maybe cause it is pale green and soft!  It has a tractor on it – that should make it a guy hat?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The town is on the side of another mountain and so the streets wind there way up and you have to walk up the streets if you want to see everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The streets are tiny and so are a lot of the little houses.  This one will probably become another little shop with more artsy stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The town is named after a natural spring and this is where the original spring came out of the mountain and flowed to the stream below.  Now they have it tunneled under the town in most places.  The rocks were really cool and you could see all the layers that had been washed away at one time.  We had to climb about 4-6 stories to see this so I hope you appreciate the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whenever we are out touristing I like to find that special photo that will be fun to share as well as remind me of where we were!  This has nothing to do with Springs but it was so much fun to just walk around this car and see all the fun stuff they had mounted.  It was a promo for one of the little shops and it certainly got our attention.  There were even giant PEZ dispensers on the drivers side!

And finally the best photo of the day!  Only in Arkansas!