Arkansas

We are currently in Arkansas, making our way across the state into Tennessee. more detailed update to follow in a day or two.

First impression: We are in the deep south, we have a huge confederate flag tied to our rear bumper, everyone loves us now. All joking aside, Arkansas is a beautiful state. The State Run Welcome / Visitor Center is top notch, The State Parks are the best we have seen so far ( We visited the Historic Washington State Park today) It is refreshing to see big trees and huge lakes again!!!. We miss B.C (but not the weather)

 

Here is the update / more info and photos. On the advice of the Visitor Center, and the fact it was lunch time, we went to the Historic Washington State Park for lunch, specifically Williams Tavern (build in 1832). It was a very nice warm day, so we sat outside. Of course we had the usual unsweet (cold) tea. cold tea is normal and extremely popular in the south. Our Waitress had a very southern accent, we ordered fried green tomatoes (delicious) and fresh chicken and dumplings. Washington, Arkansas was the confederate capital when the Yankees took Little Rock. We are not really interested in American Civil War history, but the buildings in this park are from the mid 1800’s so we opted to take the walking tour for 8$. The first stop is a Courthouse build in 1874. The interior was beautiful and nice to see. Next stop was a homestead built in 1845, complete with slave’s quarters. The house was extremely interesting and although beautiful, the slavery aspect was sad to see. As with most houses from the mid 1800 in the south, the kitchens are detached from the house due to the extreme heat of a wood burning fire. Of course the slave’s quarters are in the same building as the kitchen. with regular summer temperatures being in the 40’s with extremely high humidity, I could not imagine living next to a roaring fire. We were too involved with our guides / the history so did not take too many photos. Sorry.  We did take one photo in the weaponry museum park. A “peacemaker ” handgun, check out the size of it below!!!!!.  We then visited the 1836 Courthouse, and the printing press.

Next stop in Arkansas was Hot springs National Park. I will spare you the History lesson here (you can Google it if you like) But essentially these are luxury bathhouses from the early 1900’s.   Photos below.

Somewhere in Arkansas

Arkansas

Being Pelted by falling Acorns, Arkansas

1874 Courthouse, Washington, Arkansas

Inside 1874 Courthouse

This “hand gun” is called the Peacemaker, for obvious reasons