Road Trip: Up The Middle Of The Country

Day 7: Friday, May 10, 2024 - Little Rock, AR

Day's statistics:
Weather: 84°, overcast
Steps: Steve 10,284; Linda 10,109
Travel: 32 miles

Today's breakfast was a hot buffet, though there were no scrambled eggs, but there were hard boiled ones.


Linda had a bagel and a hard boiled egg (I ate the yolk), and I had sausage on a biscuit.

We were visiting our third capital of the trip.
We approached the city.

And then we approached the capital.

After parking in an empty spot on a side street, we approached the capital. Then we noticed the visitor's parking spaces right in front. So I ran - OK, walked quickly - back to the car, pulled it around the block - it was a series of oneway streets - and pulled into a spot. That's when I noticed it said "Maintenance Parking". I backed out, backed down three spots, and pulled in.
We then contunued toward the front and took our selfie. We stood in the shade - which caused the capital to be washed out in the background.

There were a couple statues in front too.




We proceeded inside.
There was a state seal projected onto the floor near the entrance.

We got our stamp at the information desk near the rotunda.


We were told that there was a tour scheduled at 10:00. It was barely 9:00, and rather than wait around an hour, we headed off on a self-guided tour.
We visited the rotunda first.


There were four main wings off the rotunda.






We took the stairs to the second floor, and saw the Governor's office and reception room.





We visited the house chamber first - but the doors were locked so we were limited with what we could see through the windows.




Then we walked across the capital to the senate chamber.




We started to make our way to the third floor.



Up on the third floor, it turns out we had access to the Senate gallery. So we got a few more pictures NOT through the door.





We left the Senate and headed across the capital again, and found the House gallery was open too. So, more pictures NOT through the door, including the press gallery, and some architecture. There was an "office" behind the press seating as well.








We passed by the rotunda yet again.

A portrait of Miss Arkansas.

In one corner of the capital was a small "museum" - there were some information placards on the wall, and a couple cases with some artifacts in them.






We were on the fourth floor, making our way to the elevator, to go down to the first floor.








We eventaully got back to the information desk and told the guide that we weren't going to go on the tour. But she asked if we went to the treasury, and we hadn't. She said we really should go - it was only one flight up.
So we decided to. On the way to the Treasury, we came across the the Supreme Court, and the old Supreme Court that is now used as a Senate Conference Room.


While the treasury was renovated, it was restored to its original state - layers of grime (some of it residue from smoking) had to be carefully removed.




We met Terry, who was a Treasury Officer. He told us about the treasury, history (the Treasury opened in 1915; the state has and had a balanced budget for 178 years), and took us into the vault.
The floor was redone, but with the original tile pattern by the same company that made the tile for the original floor.

One of the "things to do" when visiting, is to hold money. A good amount of it. Six-hundred thousand, to be precise.


Chelsea got in on the action a bit too.

Some of the artifacts found when the facility was renovated, and a couple historical items as well, such as a scale used to weigh gold, and a commorative plate with the state seal..



The vault also had a an original press that embossed a raised seal into documents.


There is an original ledger in the vault from 1911.

The vault had 9 different chambers. The vault could easily hold millions - tens of millions - of dollars. Obviously not in ones, but a lot of bills. The 600K we held barely took up any space in one of them. And those were bundles of $100. Back in the day (pre-1969), there used to be bills in circulation that we $1,000 and $10,000. So similarly sized bundles of bills would have been worth a LOT more than those bundles of $100.
A couple of the chambers had crank handles on the front that rotated toothed plates that interlocked with offset toothed plates in the vault itself creating a rather secure lock.



There was an interior gate, and also two doors to the vault. The first is an 11,000 pound door; and the second is twice that at 22,000 pounds with a time-lock mechanism. The hinge (the black part in the picture) was massive too - though the assembly was so good, that it was actually rather easy to close the door with one hand (yes, I tested it [with permission]).






Outside the vault, but still inside the Treasury, there were some old documents and some money. There were a couple counter checks for $22,000, or more, from 1930. They weren't cashed, but were only good for 30 days anyway.

When Ms. Nancy Hall was elected / appointed state Treasurer in the mid-sixties, it was a big to-do with the males of the government. In spite, she had all the Treasury reports printed on pink paper with pink covers - it may be a little hard to tell from the pictures.

There was an old adding machine there as well.

The treasury - and its vault - are on the second floor of the capital. It was a controversy, at the time, to do that, as it is very heavy and the engineers didn't think it could be done. But someone came up with the idea to weld plates together to make "pylons" to hold it up. Then a temporary railway was installed to bring the vault up there.
Also, there was a deep layer of sand found on top of the vault - it was used as a fire barrier.
We were glad we visited the Treasury as it was entertaining and informative.
When we got to the elevator, we found this mail shoot next to it that traveled from the top floor to the bottom.


On the way out, we passed the governor's conference room.

A model that was doing a shoot for Dillard's was changing in the ladies room one time when Linda used the facilities. When we exited, the shoot was in progress.

We parked on the east side of the capital. We purposely exited on the north side because we were told that is where the Liberty Bell replica was located.
Just before the bell was the Monument to the Little Rock Nine, the first nine African-American students to go to a newly integrated school.


Just before the bell was a large planter with some flowers in bloom.

The Liberty Bell was under a covering.


And then we returned to the car.

We were at the capital for a bit under two hours. It was a little before 11:00, so rather than go to lunch, we drove the less-than-three-miles to the President Clinton Library and Museum.
We made a small navigation mistake, and wound up going back over the river. Then it was a left, a left, and another left, straight for a bit, and then we were there. As we approached, we should have turned right into the parking lot, but kept going not knowing there was nowhere else to turn into the parking lot. We found ourselves in a circular driveway sort of thing in front that, as we turned through it, a fire engine was coming our way. We were able to pull into the parking lot before it got to us as it pulled into the same circle and stopped.
After parking, we started making our way toward the entrance. We saw round sculptures that were all decorated differently - much like we've seen dinosaurs in other cities, and bears in Berlin, Germany.
I started taking pictures of some of them individually or in pairs. Then I realized how many there were and took a few in groups (except for one or two especially interesting looking ones).






We arrived at the entrance, and ahead of us was a pedestrian bridge that ran parallel to the bridge we drove over a short time ago.


After we asked the guard about the fire engine - we were told that someone because severly ill - we passed through security, and made our way to the second floor. At the top of the escalator was a docent who told us about the facility. She mentioned that there was a short video to watch before we made our way through the rest of the facility. So we sat through that, then... started to make our way through the rest of the facility.
We first came across a replica - save for one wall - of the presidential conference room with a copy of the famous incomplete Signing of the Declaration of Independence.


We continued into a long, two story room with a lot of information in it. The inspiration for the room was Trinity College's Long Room, in Dublin Ireland.
On the second floor, there were racks upon racks upon racks of blue boxes - over 4,500 in all - that each contained presidential records.



I'm surpised the President's schedule didn't say "Attend Linda and Steven's wedding"...

Large boards contained highlights chronologically.

There were alcoves between the stacks of blue boxes that contained topical information with reading, pictures, and sometimes videos.



A sculpture before going upstairs.

On the third floor, there were items from the family, the president's time in office, and some gifts received from dignataries.





















There were some State-related artifacts too, such as formal wear and gifts.



After the artifacts, there was a window that overlooked the "park" behind the facility.

Next on display was a replica Oval Office, furnished as it was when President Clinton was in office.










At the very end of the third floor was a window overlooking a receiption hall.

We returned to the second floor and spoke to two more docents before we left.
One, an older woman, took us to a wall of photos that went around the theater we were in when we started the tour.
She said she liked the two particular ones because one shows President Clinton and Hilary "as everyday as you can get", and the other showing President Clinton and VP Al Gore sharing a moment - but it highlights how much weight President Clinton lost while he was campaigning, especially compared to the first photo.


Lastly, back on the first floor, near the entrance / exit, was this armored limo.

It was time for lunch. We got back to the car, and plugged one of the locations into the GPS.
Just three miles away was Whole Hog Café.
But first, we had to deal with a genius that was driving in front of us, that chose to parallel park by simply stopping in the middle of the street, and then attempting to back up. Fortuately, I hadn't pulled up too close to him and he happen to have enough room to try the manouver.
A few minutes later we were there.

It was an award winning establishment.

We reviewed the menu. Linda asked what "crazy sausage" was (it was on a sign-board, not the regular menu). The order taker waved Linda over and he quietly said "there's a little aligator in it."

We place our order, and found a table while we waited for our order to be called.

Linda had the crazy sausage sandwich; and I had the pulled pork plate with sides of baked beans and cole slaw (which I gave to Linda after trying it). There were six different sauces of various compositions - ketchup based, vinigar based, hot, mild, garlic parm - to put on the

We were considering going to Pinnacle Mountain State Park after lunch, but the park was about a half hour away. So we decided to just go straight to the Museum of Fine Arts.
Sometimes there is art in "fine art" museums that we... let's say "don't get". We don't fault those that do get it, we just don't always.
There was quite a few pieces we liked in this museum, and not really any we didn't. They may not have been great, that's all.
This facility wasn't quite regularly shaped, so we couldn't really do the "keep going to the right" like we did at the Dallas zoo.
Here are most of the works we liked the most, starting with a piece that was near the stairs.



















The museum did have a couple of Pablo Picassos, called Françoise and Rest (The Harvesters). Not exactly his best work...


There was also an Henri Matisse called >Nude with Blue Cushion by a Fireplace.

One room had a few really large pieces that may or may not have had to be stitched.
Spring Song by Natasha Bowdoin.

And some others.


A Familiar Kind of Riddle by Peter Pincus.

A couple more.


Cézanne's Undergrowth and Farm at Montgeroult.


Claude Monet's Effect of the Setting Sun on the Seine at Port-Vilez and Apple Trees Near Vétheuil.


Auguste Rodin's Bust of Young Balzac. Also not exactly his best work...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Three Partridges.

Mike Medicine Horse Zillioux, not as name-famous as some of the others, created this The Day Jackson Pollack [sic] Became a Christian.

And the last couple of other interesting pieces.


At the end of the museum, there was a sitting area with a small coffee café. There were also some windows that overlooked an entrance courtyard (different than the entrance we came in) and the street on the other.



Upstairs overlooked the entry foyer that had a desk and this plant.


We made our way back from whence we came.

We saw these two pieces on the way to the car.


The museum was adjacent to MacArthur Park - related to the General, not the Beatles song.
We drove past it, and it was just the typical park.

It was almost 4:00, and a bit too late to do much of anything else (a lot of locations close at 5:00 or 6:00), and a bit too early to call it a day - but we did that anyway (rhyme not intended).
We wanted to have a light snack for dinner. We knew where the Wal-Mart was, but we wanted to get something from somewhere different. We drove past the road we would have taken to go to the hotel, and came across a large plaza. At one end of the plaza was a Kroger. So we stopped and went in.
After making our purchase, we brought up the map of where we were. We saw a back way to get to the hotel through the plaza.
We got to the room and had our chef salad snack, with wine, and a cookie for dessert.

We ate, relaxed a bit, washed up and brushed, and went to sleep.

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