There is a scent of Bill Clinton in Little Rock. He is, of course, omnipresent in his Presidential Library. His face and voice never leave the Library visitor: walking the library rooms is a car wash of excerpts from speeches, ceremonies, and political moments of the life of the former president. We become, to complete the metaphor, bathed in his high energy extraverted narcissism.
This sounds a little negative, doesn’t it? What comes out of the Library experience is Clinton’s perspective - his desire to do good for the people in many every-day ways. I also saw his desire to have fun and to see that we all have fun. In spite of his most naughty and privates behavior being laid bare to the public and the hilarious hypocrisy of his opposition, his joy in life continued.
We ate supper at the Flying Saucer - a tavern near a fracking-inspired earthquake zone - which had hundreds of themed plates hanging from the walls and ceiling. I was emptying a glass of a local IPA when I looked up at a big platter suspended twenty feet directly above me. Which is probably why they have a half-block long wall of beer taps. There is in Little Rock a sense of fun and friendliness that probably did not begin with Orville Faubus.
Pat and I talked about our memories of the Little Rock Central High School (the walk took us to the school and the Historic Site Visitors Center) and the struggles of the LR-9 young people who demanded equal treatment. These students challenged centuries when they marched into the school on 23 September 1957 and into the face of an enraged 1.000 strong crowd of self-righteous and incredibly wrong-headed whites. I remember writing a letter - we were encouraged to do so by a teacher - that began “Who the hell do you think you are...”
We learned that there were originally ten, but a young sophomore girl dropped out, sensibly being overwhelmed and frightened by her aloneness (the Nine were all juniors and seniors). And I was proud to see the news clips of President Eisenhower overcoming his own hesitancies and acting decisively and honorably, as John Kennedy would do a few years later, in support of basic human equality.
Our hotel, the Legacy, was halfway between the Arkansas Capitol and the Clinton Library, on a bus route, and a mere five blocks from the River Market Trolley.
Which leads to a few words in praise of Hotels.com, a site we often use when traveling. Hotels.com has found for us many good deals certainly, but also numerous uniquely wonderful hotels. We periodically end up in hotels we would ordinarily have to avoid because of price. Three examples:
In Springfield, IL, we had a room on the ninth floor of the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel with a view of the city and next door access to nearly all the Lincoln sites.
Just last week, Hotels.com found us a room at the newly opened boutique Hotel Indigo in Baton Rouge, right on the Mardi Gras parade route.
The Holiday Inn (yes, Frank Zappa asked, “Have you been to a Holiday Inn?”) in Hartford was just off the downtown and our 7th floor view was of the Connecticut Capitol. A big deal if you’re chasing capitals.
So we enjoyed Little Rock. When you are there, eat at Fatsam’s Louisiana Cafe in the River Market food court building. More authentic than several places at which we ate in Baton Rouge, and they serve alligator. I had a shrimp and white beans on rice that was fabulous.
We had a hard time leaving Little Rock. Oh, we were ready to go, but the 10:10 bus was sold out. We sat around grumbling, and then Pat appealed over the head of the zombie clerk to the bus driver and we were passengers 49 and 50. And away we go.
And here we are in Nashville with a day of heavy rain forecast as well as a deluge of young blond women with guitars and NCAA basketball fans.
Next: Pat doesn’t get her star.
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