On to Little Rock.....

We left Bentonville around 8:30 this morning and had a 3 hour drive onto Little Rock. It was a nice drive through the beautiful rolling hills of northern Arkansas with trees as far as the eye could see. Freeway and trees..... We had lunch at Dugan's Irish Pub which was one of mine and Larry's favorite place to eat in Little Rock. It is only a block from the condo we had here for 2 months in 2011  and ate there at least twice a week. I have a lot of good memories of that place and Little Rock in general. The owner came by our outside table to say hi and ended us staying for quite awhile chatting with us about the area, changes since Larry and I were here, what we must see, etc.

Then a professional dag walker came by walking 7 dogs and that was another 15 minute conversation. The dog sizes ranged from a large poodle down to a shitzu. We were watching him coming our way. He got to the corner, gave the dogs a command and all of them stopped in formation. Traffic passed, another command and they came across the street towards us. They were perfectly behaved while he was standing there talking to us. He walks a lot of dogs twice a day and  covers 24 miles a day walking dogs from the high-rise apartments and condos in the area.

After lunch we headed over to the Little Rock Central High School Historic Site. I was only 12 years old in 1957 when the incident happened after the Courts ordered schools to integrate so I don't remember a lot of what happened at the time. The above Mobil gas station is on a corner across from the high school and was the only business in the area that had a pay phone.  This station is where all the reporters came to use the phone and file their news reports. The station is now part of the Parks service. The high school is still a functioning high school in Little Rock.

Next was a 45 minutesround trip ride on the streetcar that and winds through the downtown Little Rock area and across the river into North Little Rock. It is a nice overview of the city and fun to ride.

Near where we got off the streetcar, is the Capitol Hotel build in 1857.  It has been beautifully maintained and restored as needed over the years. Most of the white in the lobby is white marble.  We set for a little while in the lobby and enjoyed some home-made lemonade that they offered us - very southern..... The hotel is a really beautiful place!

We will be spending tomorrow here touring the Clinton Library and some other things.  On Saturday we will head on over to Memphis.