Living Our Dream

Little Rock, AR

Little Rock, AR

As we said in our last post, we planned to relax in Little Rock and not do much sightseeing. One way we planned to relax was to eat out a couple of times to give Margery a break from cooking. It was also a good way to continue our 2011 Foodie Tour. Not only that, but eating out saves water when you don't have sewer hookups. See how easy it is to come up with excuses?

In 2009, we met our friends, Alan and Marylin, who were originally from Little Rock, at Maumelle Park before they went full-time. They introduced us to several great restaurants in the area that have become real favorites of ours. One of those restaurants is Larry's Pizza.

Larry's Pizza has several locations around Little Rock, and one of them is right down the road from Maumelle Park. Different locations may have different schedules, but the Larry's near Maumelle has a lunch buffet every day for $6.69 and a dinner buffet on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for $7.69. We went for dinner on a Tuesday.

Larry's buffet is similar to CiCi's, but the pizza at Larry's is better because Larry's is a lot more generous with their toppings. Larry's also has one of the most creative pizza menus we have ever seen. They have pizzas like loaded baked potato (sliced potatoes, bacon, chives and cheese), honey mustard chicken, chipotle chicken, BLT, cheeseburger, and chicken or steak fajita. Of course, they have all the regular favorites, too, like the pepperoni pizza Margery is about to devour in the next photo.

They also have tasty dessert pizzas such as chocolate chip (plain and with peanut butter), Bavarian cream, and cinnamon.

One of the other eateries in the Little Rock area Alan and Marilyn introduced us to is the Mean Pig, which is located about 40 minutes northeast of Maumelle in Cabot, AR. The Mean Pig smokes their ribs with dry rub, then serves them with either regular or hot barbecue sauce on the side. They also have Shutup Juice, which is ultra-hot sauce. When we went to the Mean Pig a couple of days after going to Larry's, we both had half a rack of ribs with regular sauce and potato salad for a side.

The ribs were nice and meaty and fall-off-the-bone tender. Although they were good, the ribs weren't as smokey as we remembered them being. They also didn't have the sweet barbecue sauce they had last time we were there. The regular sauce was also good, but the sweet was our favorite.

It was hot and humid the whole time we were in Little Rock, and that made us feel even less like sightseeing. We had a few possibilities on our list, but the only sightseeing we did, if you can call it that, was to visit the Little Rock River Market. There are a number of full-time stores and restaurants in the market district near the Arkansas River that are open every day, but we were interested in the Little Rock Farmers' Market that is only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays from May through October. Since the market is downtown along the riverfront, we decided to go on Saturday in the hope of finding easier parking. There is a parking lot along the river next to the market that charges $5, but we found a free on-street parking space right by the entrance.

There was a large, open shelter that was filled with vendors. Some of the produce looked like it was local, and all the produce looked very nice - no "plastic," grocery store tomatoes here.

They even had steel drums for entertainment. The music really gave the whole market a festive atmosphere.

Margery stopped for a tourist photo with a new friend.

Behind the main shelter were a couple dozen more vendors. Most of these were crafts, but there was also more produce mixed in.

On our way back to the car, Paul stopped to admire the live plants. The bright green ones behind him are ornamental sweet potato vines.

The Little Rock Farmers' Market was one of the nicest markets we've seen in terms of size and in terms of the variety and freshness of the produce. The prices weren't bad either. We bought a few peaches and some fresh asparagus. We used to grow asparagus when we had a stick house, and it is one of those vegetables we love and that we don't get very often anymore.

We relaxed a couple more days, then continued on our way north. We'll have a report on the transition to our next destination in our next post.

Back to Little Rock, AR

We left Branson and retraced our route back to Maumelle Park north of Little Rock where we stayed a week earlier on our way north. We really like Maumelle Park with its long, paved, extra-wide sites. We also like the fact that although there are trees, there are still a lot of open sites where we can get satellite reception, and we like that many of the sites overlook the Arkansas River. Paying half price at this Corps of Engineers campground with our America the Beautiful Senior Pass helps, too. The photo below shows our site this time in Maumelle Park, which was next to the one we had on our way north.

 

The other good thing about Maumelle Park is it is quiet with no traffic noise and are no trains. There were only a few riverboats pushing barges up and down the river accompanied by some bass boats on the river on the weekend.

 

On our way north, we didn't make reservations because we were only staying one night and it was the middle of the week. We were surprised to find the campground almost full because the local schools were apparently on spring break. On our way south, we made reservations because we were staying five days over Easter weekend. We learned that a lot of people in the south camp over Easter and Thanksgiving weekends, so we thought it would be wise to make reservations. Although it was the middle of the week again when we arrived, we were surprised the campground was only about a third full this time. The next photo shows a view looking down the road from our site.

Eventually, the two loops along the river got pretty much filled up, but a lot of people didn't arrive until Friday evening and even Saturday. We thought more people would arrive on Thursday because they would be off work and out of school on Friday.

One of the things we wanted to do during this stop in Little Rock was to go to the Mean Pig BBQ located a little northeast of Little Rock in Cabot, AR. Our friends Marilyn and Alan introduced us to the Mean Pig when we met up with them last fall in Maumelle Park. They brought a wide variety of Mean Pig menu items to share with us at the campground.

We arrived at the Mean Pig in mid afternoon, and there were several pickups parked out front. Pickup trucks parked at a barbecue joint are usually a sign of good barbecue.

We both had a half rack of pork ribs. The ribs are smoked with dry rub, and more mild or hot dry rub is added when the ribs are served. Mild, hot and sweet barbecue sauces are available. The ribs are very smokey, meaty and tender. We both had the sweet sauce, which was delish. We also had sides of slaw (traditional with barbecue) and smoked beans, which are excellent.

 

Paul again toasts Marilyn and Alan (this time with a pork rib) for introducing us to the Mean Pig.

In addition to mild, hot and sweet sauce, the Mean Pig also has Shut Up Juice, which is a sauce so hot they require you to sign a waiver to even order it. The waiver is probably mostly for publicity, but it also serves as a warning as to just hot the sauce is. The Mean Pig was featured on the Travel Channel program Man v. Food where the host, Adam Richman, had to down a chopped pork sandwich smothered in Shut Up Juice within a certain amount of time. He won the challenge, but not without a lot of sweat and tears!  Our friend Marilyn was at the Mean Pig picking up the take-order for us when the episode was filmed last fall.

We liked the ribs so much we picked up a pound of chopped pork to take back to the motor home for a future dinner. The next photo shows Paul placing the order.

Some of the famous people that have enjoyed barbecue at the Mean Pig include Billy Bob Thornton, the entire band Aerosmith, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, current Arkansas governor Mike Beebe, the band Chicago and the cast and crew of Cirque de Soleil.

We finally got the warmer weather we have been seeking. Temperatures in the Little Rock area have been in the mid to upper 70s to low 80s, and we are finally back into our shorts. Of course, we also heard much of the eastern half of the country warmed up,too. We had one evening of rain that went on into the night; but the next morning, there were just a few fluffy clouds left, and they made for a beautiful sunrise over the Arkansas River.

Spring was a good bit farther along in Little Rock than it was at our last stop in Branson, and that's one reason we headed back south. The leaves on the trees in Little Rock were fairly big; but they were still not full, and they were a tender green color. The redbuds were absolutely gorgeous, especially in contrast to the bright green of the new leaves on the surrounding trees.

 

We had several days to relax and enjoy spring. In addition to eating out at the Mean Pig, we also went back to Larry's Pizza where we ate about a week ago on our way north. Larry's is right down the road from Maumelle Park, and they have a delicious buffet five days a week for lunch and Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday for dinner.

We worshiped on Easter morning at The Bible Church of Little Rock, which was a short distance from the campground. The service was a little more traditional than we're used to, but it was very meaningful for a holiday like Easter. The worship music included an organ, a grand piano, a 50-member choir and a 25-piece orchestra.

We were struck at how well-behaved the children were during the 1 1/2 hour service. They provided not one distraction (did they have no Easter candy?).

Like most churches these days, there was a lot of enthusiastic fellowship and chatting before the service. We liked the immediate response of the congregation to become quiet so the fellowship didn't compete with the musical prelude. In some churches, the visiting continues through the prelude making for quite a bit of confusion that is not very conducive to preparing for worship. Also, we don't know the last time we were in a service where the congregation joined in the singing as enthusiastically as the choir. We did miss the friendliness that is present at a church that is more intentional in inviting and welcoming guests; but all in all, it was a great Easter service. We are grateful for the opportunity to worship with other believers as we travel across the country.

Instead of ham for Easter dinner, we had our pork barbecue we brought back to the motor home from the Mean Pig. The chopped pork was very smokey like the ribs, and it was still moist even after a couple of days in the fridge. Margery liked the sweet barbecue sauce, while Paul liked the mild sauce because it was a little tart, which he thought contrasted nicely with the crispy sweetness of the cole slaw Margery made to go with it.

In the morning, we left Maumelle Park and headed even farther south. We'll tell you all about our next destination in our next post.

 

On the Road Again

First of all, we would like to thank all our friends and readers who expressed their condolences about the loss of our sweet dog, Molly. She was such a good traveler, and we'll miss her.

After delaying our departure from Bushnell, we finally hit the road on Thursday. We made an overnight stop at Pine Lake RV, a Passport America campground near Fountain, FL, in the panhandle. In other years after leaving Bushnell, we stayed at Chattahoochee RV located on the Apalachicola River. Chattahoochee is closer to half-way to our destination in Summerdale, AL; but last year, the river was flooded and some of the sites at the campground had recently been underwater. With more rain this year, we thought we would just drive a little farther and try a new campground that wasn't located near a river. The next photo shows our site at Pine Lake RV.

Pine Lake RV is located about 16 miles from the interstate, but there is still some highway noise from four-lane U. S. Highway 231 that passes by the campground on the way to Panama City. There is a railroad track a few hundred feet on the other side of the highway. Fortunately, there were very few trains because the rumble of the few that did pass was very loud. Fortunately, there is no crossing near the campground so there were only a few, distant toots of the train horns.

The roads through the campground are paved, but the pavement is quite narrow. The sites are a combination of grass and sand, and most are extra-long pull-throughs. The site width isn't too bad for a private campground. Pine Lake has full hook-ups with free Wi-Fi. Some sites have 30 amp electric and some have 50 amp. As you can see from the above photo, there are a few trees, but the office was very accommodating in allowing us to move to another site to get satellite reception. In the first site they gave us we could get internet, but not TV. They are on two different satellites, and a tree branch was blocking the TV signal.

In the morning we hit the road at 8:30, which is a little earlier than usual. We pulled into Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL, shortly after noon. It was a good thing we got an early start because we got the last available site. A lot of Escepees spend the winter in Summerdale; and although some had moved on, others (like us) were stopping on our way north from Florida.

Rainbow Plantation is one of our favorite Escapees RV parks. The roads are paved, and the sites are a combination of grass and sand. There are full hook-ups and free Wi-Fi. Fifty-amp electric is available for an extra charge. Sites are nice and wide, and the campground is quiet.

One of the things we like about the Summerdale area is there are lots of things to do and see. Even though our visit to Summerdale was shortened because we extended our stay in Bushnell, we still wanted to see the azaleas blooming at Bellingrath Gardens over in Mobile. Bellingrath is famous for the over 250,000 azaleas that normally bloom around the middle two weeks of March. Unfortunately, when we checked the Bellingrath web site, we found out the unusually cold weather this winter had delayed the blooming by about two weeks. This delay was confirmed by observing the azaleas in people's yards in the area. Only about a third of the blossoms on most of the plants open, and it looked like the azaleas still had at least a week to 10 days to go before they even neared their peak. Therefore, we decided to save seeing azaleas for another time.

One of the other things we like about the Summerdale area is the close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico which means there is a lot of delicious seafood available. Last fall when we were in the area we discovered Shrimp Basket restaurants. Shrimp Basket is a chain of about a dozen restaurants with one in nearby Foley. Paul was hungry for fried shrimp, and the Shrimp Basket has all-you-can-eat shrimp baskets on Wednesdays and Sundays, so we headed down to Foley on Sunday.

 

After spending the weekend at Rainbow Plantation, we hit the road again on Monday. We were heading to Branson, MO, for the wedding of Heather, who is our daughter Lora's best friend and former roommate. We were friends with Heather's parents from our former church back in Pittsburgh, and we were pleased to have been invited to participate in the festivities.

With extending our stay back in Bushnell, our recent travels were a bit less leisurely than normal. We usually plan to travel no more than four hours a day, but this time, we would be traveling 5+ hours a day for a couple of days in a row. Our next overnight stop was at Movietown RV Park in Canton, MS, a little north of Jackson.

Movietown RV is a nice RV park. It has gravel roads and pads with full hookups and 50/30 amp electric. Sites are mostly pull-throughs and are fairly wide with grass between. Even though the campground is conveniently located near the interstate, there is surprisingly little traffic noise - and there are NO trains!

Apparently, the name of the RV park comes from the fact that quite a few movies have been filmed in the Canton area. Canton even has a movie office and a couple of movie museums. Maybe we'll go back some day for a longer visit, especially now that we know a good place to stay.

From Canton, we drove north to Little Rock, AR, in another 5+ hour travel day. We stayed at Maumelle Park north of the city last fall when we met up with our friends Marilyn and Alan. Since that time, Alan took a voluntary layoff when he found out the company he worked for was planning a cut-back, they sold their house, and they are now full-timers.

Maumelle Park is a Corps of Engineers campground located along the Arkansas River. The campground has paved roads and pads and gravel patios. There are water and electric hookups (30 amp) only. As with most COE campgrounds, sites are very generously spaced. The photo below shows our site at Maumelle Park.

We didn't make reservations because we were uncertain about our arrival date and because we thought the campground would be empty in the middle of the week in March. Boy, were we surprised when we arrived and found the campground was almost full! It looked like a lot of families were spending the week at the campground, so we're guessing we hit spring break for the Arkansas schools. There were also some college kids on spring break, and we're pleased to report the group tenting on the site next to us were very well behaved. The next photo is a view down the road from our site and gives you an idea of how crowded it was.

We normally look for a campground with pull-through sites when we make a one-night stop, but we liked Maumelle so much, it was worth unhooking the toad. Not only that, but Marilyn and Alan took us to Larry's Pizza when we were there last fall. Larry's is a chain of about a dozen restaurants around the Little Rock area, and, fortunately, there is one right down the road from Maumelle Park. They have a lunch buffet every day, but they only have the dinner buffet on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Luckily for us, we were there on Tuesday, so we had another good reason to unhook the car. The next photo shows Margery loading up at Larry's. Yum!

Here Paul is toasting Alan and Marilyn for introducing us to Larry's.

The next morning, we headed out for an unprecedented third straight travel day. The distance was a little shorter, and we were only on the road for about 3 1/2 hours instead of the 5+ hours we had been doing. We pulled into Escapees Turkey Creek Campground near Branson, MO, a little after noon.

In contrast to Maumelle Park, the campground in Branson was nearly empty. Late spring, summer and fall are the most popular times for Turkey Creek Campground, and we were a little early. But that was OK because some of the sites are also a little small, so we had plenty of elbow room with the campground almost empty.

Turkey Creek has gravel roads and pads, full hook-ups (there is an extra charge for 50 amp electric), free Wi-Fi and cable. Although the temperature was in the 60s when we arrived, we opted to pay extra for a 50 amp site because the weather forecast was calling for rain and falling temperatures so we thought 50 amp would make it easier to do laundry and use the electric heater at the same time. The photo below shows our site at Turkey creek.

We'll be spending a week in Branson, so we'll have time to relax a little between the wedding festivities. We're also looking forward to seeing Lora and J. Michael. We might even come up with some other activities or possibly a good restaurant, so stay tuned.

 

Little Rock, AR Part II: Plantation Agriculture Museum

Another suggestion that our friends Marilyn and Alan had for a good place to eat in the Little Rock area was Cotham's. Cotham's has a restaurant in the city (Cotham's in the City), but the one located in the little town of Scott about 8 or 10 miles east of Little Rock (Cotham's Mercantile) has a lot more character. Cotham's Mercantile is located in an old general store that was built in 1917. Except for new siding, the building looks like it has changed little since since it was first built.

In 1984, a small eating area was set up in the old general store to serve lunch to local farmers. When the restaurant was discovered by several prominent politicians, most notably then-governor Bill Clinton and U. S. Senator David Pryor, Cotham's became THE place to eat. Inside, the walls are lined with old display cases and merchandise that might have once been sold in the general store. There are also old tools, posters, and a 1950s TV set.

Cotham's claim to fame is the Hubcap Burger, which is named for its large size. They are also known for their onion rings, fried green tomatoes, fried pies, and Mississippi Mud Pie. This place is a definite candidate for the Food Network program Diners, Drive-ins and Dives that we like to watch. It has the character, popularity, and menu (plenty of good-tasting, but not-so-good-for-you fried foods) that would fit perfectly with the show's theme.

We all had the same thing. Each couple shared a Hubcap Burger, an order of fried green tomatoes, an order of onion rings, and a piece of Mississippi Mud Pie.

The burger was big, juicy, and delicious. The onion rings were sweet and crispy, and the fried green tomatoes were crispy on the outside with an interesting, tart flavor. The Mississippi Mud Pie is a layer of ice cream between two layers of chocolate cake, smothered in hot fudge sauce, and served with dollops of whipped cream. Yum!

Right down the road from the restaurant is the Plantation Agriculture Museum. We saw the museum on our way to the restaurant, and we decided to stop after lunch. The museum is operated by the Arkansas State Park system, and with an admission fee of only $3, it was definitely worth the stop. The museum traces the history of cotton agriculture in Arkansas from statehood in 1836 through WWII. The building in which the main part of the museum is housed was built in 1912 as a general store by Conoway Scott who was the son of William Scott, the area's original settler in the 1800s. 

In the 1960s, Robert L. Dortch, a plantation owner in Scott, bought the building and turned it into a museum. The museum grew to contain thousands of artifacts until it closed in 1978, 6 years after the death of Robert Dortch. The museum was neglected for the next 7 years, and many of the artifacts were damaged or were reclaimed by their original owners. In 1985, the state approved funding to purchase the land and to renovate the museum, and the museum was reopened in 1989.

Cotton was, and is, grown on the flat land in the eastern and southern areas of Arkansas. In the early days, it was grown by hand labor, most of which was supplied by slaves. After the Civil War, sharecroppers took over the growing of cotton assisted by mules pulling plows and other equipment. The next photo shows a variety of farming implements from plows (in the foreground), a fertilizer spreader (with the galvanized can on top), a seeder (with the rusty can on top), and a cultivator (with red handles).

There is also an early cotton gin used to separate the seeds from the fibers.

Outside, there is a display of two steam traction engines. These machines were too large and heavy for tasks like plowing, but they could be driven to various locations to provide power to drive other machinery. The power was transferred from the large, light-colored pulley near the top by means of a long drive belt.

There is also a small collection of unrestored tractors. Tractors started replacing mules in the 1910s and 1920s.

A small patch of cotton plants on the grounds of the museum allowed us to get a close look at the attractive blossoms...

...and at cotton bolls. The seeds and fibers develop in the bolls, which will open later on as the bolls ripen to reveal the snowy-white cotton inside.

Also on the property is a building housing the restored and reconstructed Dortch cotton gin from the 1920s. Inside the building, a large, two-cylinder diesel engine drove a maze of belts, pulleys, and shafts.

The belts and shafts, in turn, drove things like blowers that were used to move the cotton, a baler that compressed the ginned cotton into 500 pound bales, and the the dual-stand cotton gin shown in the photo below.

The museum also preserves Dortch Cotton Seed Warehouse No. 5. Built in 1948, the building was used to store cotton seed. The warehouse was built with angled walls that correspond to the angle at which cotton seeds naturally form piles.

The next photo shows the inside of the warehouse. Of course, the warehouse would have been almost completely filled with seed back in the day.

It was interesting to see the Plantation Agriculture Museum and learn more about growing cotton. Last year when we visited Memphis, we went to the Cotton Museum at the old Memphis Cotton Exchange and learned about the history of cotton and how it was graded and sold. Speaking of Memphis, we're headed there again this year.

It was great to spend time with Marilyn and Alan and to get to know them better and to be able to encourage them in their plans for full-timing. They had to leave on Sunday so Alan could go to work on Monday, but we hung around until Tuesday. Look for our next post, and we'll tell you about this year's visit to Memphis.

Little Rock, AR Part I: Clinton Library

It was about a three-hour drive down U. S. Route 65 from Branson to Little Rock. Actually, we stayed a little north of Little Rock right across the Arkansas River from the town of Maumelle at Maumelle Park. Maumelle Park is a Corps of Engineers campground just upstream of the Murray Lock and Dam.

Maumelle Park has 129 RV sites with electric and water hookups. Some of the sites have 50-amp electric, and some sites have a nice view of the river where you can watch the barges that occasionally pass by. The roads and pads are paved, the patios are gravel, and the sites are widely spaced with grass between. The campground was nice and quiet, at least on Loop B where we were, even when it filled up on the weekend. All those nice features coupled with half-price camping provided by our America the Beautiful Pass at this Corps of Engineers campground skyrocketed Maumelle Park to near the top of our list of favorite campgrounds. The photo below shows our site at Maumelle Park.

And the next photo shows the sunrise over the Arkansas River from one of the river view sites across the road from ours.

Last year when we passed through this area, we stopped and met a couple for breakfast who had been following our blog. Marilyn and Alan, who live in the Little Rock area, are interested in full-timing, and we had been corresponding with them by email and answering questions about the mechanics of getting started in the full-time lifestyle.

Since we were staying in the area this time, they offered to show us around town; and they reserved the site next to us at Maumelle Park. It was great to have locals who knew their way around point out interesting things to do and good places to eat. The photo below shows them in their RV Pilot and Co-pilot shirts.

Little Rock is the home of the Clinton Presidential Library. While we don't want to turn our blog in a political direction, those who know us know we aren't big fans of the Clintons. Yet, we realized the library might provide an interesting view of the Clinton presidency and the times that surrounded it, so the four of us headed toward downtown Little Rock one afternoon. The archives of the Clinton Presidential Library are the largest of any of the presidential libraries containing 2 million photographs, 80 million pages of documents (which proves how wordy politicians can be), 21 million email messages, and nearly 80,000 artifacts from the Clinton presidency. The library was opened in 2004.

William Jefferson Clinton was born in 1946 in Hope, AR. After attending Yale Law School, he became a professor at the University of Arkansas. Clinton was defeated when he ran for the House of Representatives in 1974, then he ran unopposed for Arkansas Attorney General in 1976. At age 35, he was elected as the youngest Governor of Arkansas in 1978. Bill Clinton was defeated in his run for re-election as governor in 1980, but was successfully re-elected in 1982 and served as governor until 1992 when he was elected the 42nd President of the United States defeating George H. W. Bush. He served two terms as President defeating Bob Dole in the second election.

The new President got a new limousine when he was inaugurated in 1993 - a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. The limousine, which it more properly called the Presidential State Car, has a 454 cubic inch (7.4 liter) engine coupled to a GM half-ton pickup truck transmission. The truck transmission was required to handle the extra power from the big engine and the weight of the beefed-up car. The car can carry up to 6 passengers and had state-of-the-art communications.

This is the last presidential limo that will be put on public display. When future vehicles are replaced, the old vehicles will undergo security testing which will likely result in their destruction.

The next photo is taken from the upper floor of the library and gives you an idea of the layout. There are alcoves with information on various phases and accomplishments of the Clinton presidency. On the floor below, the panels form a time-line that highlights the events of Clinton's 8 years as President. The alcoves in front of each panel have corresponding photos, documents, and artifacts.

As you may know, Bill Clinton played the saxophone. Back in high school, he won the state band's first chair in the saxophone section, and in his younger years he briefly considered devoting his life to music. By the time he was 16, however, he realized he wanted to hold public office. The next photo shows a display at the library of several saxophones presented to Bill Clinton over the years.

The museum has a replica of the Cabinet Room. In the photo below, Paul is trying to look presidential in his T-shirt while sitting in the President's chair. Margery is occupying the spot that would belong to the Secretary of State.

One of the features of the library that we liked the most was the replica of the Oval Office as it appeared during the Clinton administration.

On another day, Marilyn and Alan took us to Little Rock Air Force Base, which is the home of the 19th Airlift Wing and the training facility for C-130 transport aircraft. The base isn't open to the public, but Alan was stationed there as an aircraft mechanic during the first part of his Air Force career. As an Air Force retiree, he has a pass for the base, and we went as his guests. Marilyn also worked there until recently in a civilian job.

The photo below is a composite of several of the aircraft they had on display at the base.

The description of the planes (clockwise from the upper left) is as follows:

1.  C-130 Hercules troop/cargo transport. The particular plane pictured stands at the front gate of the base and was the last transport plane to leave Viet Nam one day before the fall of Siagon in 1975.

2.  B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber

3.  C-118 "Packet"

4.  B-57 Canberra bomber

The facility was also a Titan Missile base back in the 1960s and 1970s. There is a scale model of a Titan Missile in the background and a nose cone that has been made into a time capsule.

There is also a memorial to two airmen who lost their lives in the recent conflicts in the Middle East.

We got to see the BX, the commissary, some of the base housing, the movie theater and bowling alley, various buildings used as offices and for training, and the flight operations area (from a distance - access to this area is restricted). It was the only time either of us can remember ever being on an active military base, and it was quite interesting. It was like a small city.

On our way back to the campground, Marilyn and Alan suggested we go to Larry's Pizza for an early dinner. Larry's has several locations around Little Rock, and there was one right down the road from Maumelle Park. Larry's has pizzas and sandwiches that you can order from the menu and they have a pizza buffet that is outstanding. If you're interested in the buffet, check the schedule for the individual locations because times and days vary. Their pizzas are very creative. In addition to pizzas with the usual toppings, their pizzas also include chicken fajita, chicken honey mustard, steak Alfredo, chicken Alfredo, baked potato, BLT, meat lover's, and cheeseburger. Their dessert pizzas were up to the same high standards and included chocolate peanut butter, blueberry, peach, chocolate chip cookie dough, cherry, and vanilla. They also have a salad bar.

Our friends Marilyn and Alan had more ideas for interesting things to do around Little Rock, so look for our next post.