Our campground was literally on the banks of the Arkansas river, in the shadows of the Clinton Presidential bridge and across the river from the Clinton Presidential library. The bridge is now a pedestrian bridge and connects you to miles of riverfront trails and other bridges crossing the Arkansas.
We were having some work done on the truck so spent our only full day there walking everywhere and were fortunate to be close to the cool riverfront area with an amazing sculpture garden. That was definitely the highlight. We went to Doe’s Eat Place (that’s really the name) which originated in Mississippi and is famous for its steaks. Our waiter at Bottega recommended it and since we weren’t going to be near the Mississippi restaurant, we went to the one in Little Rock. It’s famous for tamales as well and was hopping on a Thursday lunch hour. The atmosphere was cooler than the food with great photos of Bill and Hilary and framed letters from when Clinton was in office, thanking the owner for the tamales and steaks. Sounds like the owner was a big contributor to the Clinton campaign, but the place is a dive and proud of it.
We were taken aback by the amazing green space right on the river, dedicated to a wellness walk, historic images of the early indigenous people of Little Rock and the settling of the area, a children’s playground and a beautiful sculpture garden. (btw, the town was named by French settlers who named it after a Little Rock cropping that helped early navigators locate a good, dockable area on the river) It made me wonder what SLC could do differently to encourage a walkable, playful, artistic downtown. It seems to me that our downtown is overly focused on the LDS church and its history and could use an influx of art, greenspace and commentary on the early inhabitants of the area who weren’t affiliated with the LDS church. Maybe it’s there and I’m just not aware, but it seems like a miss to me.
A sampling of the sculptures:
Hot Springs National Park was just an hour away so we ventured over there for a few days. They had me at Hot Springs. 🙂
The stars of the town are the historic bathhouses on Bathhouse Row, built during the late 1800’s early 1900’s. The houses line the Main Street and although only two are still functioning as bathhouses, they are still the draw. We had a private bath at Quapaw and I went back the next day for the public, stay as long as you want option. They are indoors (wish there were some outside you could access) but the architecture is wonderful and there were pools at 94F, 98F, 102F and 104F. Heaven.
We found three star eateries we were fond of….one for a cocktail, one for lunch and the other for dessert. The Ohio Club is the oldest bar in Arkansas and hosted Al Capone, Mae West, Al Jolson and others on the circuit and still is happening with a beautiful wood carved bar, great interior lighting/architecture and articles/pics from over a century of visitors. There’s even the prostitution license granted to Bouncing Betty in 1899 hanging on the women’s bathroom wall. Grateful Head Pizza and Beer Garden made mouthwatering pies, and Fat Bottomed Girls Cupcake Shop was featured on Food Network in the Cupcake Wars. I don’t think Cupcake and Wars should ever be linked, but I digress….
And finally, we stayed at Gulpha Gorge campground inside the NP which was darling. Fairly small with a creek running along it, and access to several trails winding through the park. I hiked the Goat Rock trail which was beautiful…
Next up…heading to a few state parks in Louisiana and then New Orleans.