Living Our Dream

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.

Branson, MO Part III: College of the Ozarks

College of the Ozarks is located only a few miles from the Escapees Turkey Creek RV Park where we were staying. College of the Ozarks provides a Christian-based, liberal arts education to students who are academically capable, but financially unable to attend a public or private institution. All full-time students work at one of 80 campus jobs or industries to pay for part of his or her education. The balance of the cost is provided by contributions from donors. Although students pay no tuition, there is a charge for room, board, and other student fees. Students can pay these charges themselves or work at the college during the summer if they can't afford them. We can see why the college calls itself "Hard Work U."

 

One of the campus industries is the bakery. Now, many people make fun of fruitcake, but we (especially Margery) actually like good fruitcake, and the fruitcake made by the College of the Ozarks bakery is exceptionally good. The college has been famous for its fruitcake since the 1930s. We picked some up during our first visit to the Branson area a couple of years ago, and we made the bakery one of our first stops this trip.

The School of the Ozarks was originally founded in 1906 as a high school by James Forsythe, a young Presbyterian missionary to the area. In 1956, a two-year junior college program was added. The junior college was expanded to a four-year college in 1965, and the high school was phased out. In 1990, the name was changed from School of the Ozarks to College of the Ozarks.

Since the college was so close and since we had a little more time during this stop in Branson, we went to the college campus several times. One of the times was on September 11 when they had a brief service to remember those who lost their lives in the attacks in New York, Washington, D. C. and Shanksville, PA. They had 2,966 flags (one for each victim) forming the numerals "9-11" on the lawn outside the Alumni Center.

 

A student member of the ROTC and a firefighter stood watch.

The next photo shows a group of grade school students, EMTs, firefighters, and police who participated in the ceremony. Although the ceremony only lasted about 15 minutes, it was very moving.

 

After the ceremony, we toured the campus. Our first stop was at the Williams Memorial Chapel. Dedicated in 1958, the chapel, built of native limestone with student labor, is an example of neo-gothic architecture.

The stained glass windows in the chapel are beautiful. Most of the glass was imported from Austria.

 

Behind the chapel is Point Lookout with a view of the Ozarks in the distance.

 

Another of the college enterprises is the Edwards Mill where students grind grain to make whole-wheat flour. Upstairs, there is a weaving studio where students produce rugs, shawls, and placemats on traditional looms. Students also use the building for basket weaving. Proceeds from the sale of all the crafts and products made by the students go to help offset the cost of tuition.

 

The college greenhouses are located next to the mill. The greenhouses are home to the 7,000-plant orchid collection originally belonging to Clint McDade who was one of the school's first students. The greenhouses also produce plants for sale like this orchid...

... or this variety of ornamental pepper called Black Pearl.

 

Paul also liked the banana plants. Notice the tiny bananas on the stalk on the lower left with the pink blossom at the top.

The College of the Ozarks is also the home of the Ralph Foster Museum. The museum was started in the basement of a boys' dorm in the 1920s and has grown to take over the entire building, and then some. There were three later additions to the building so the museum now has over 40,000 square feet of exhibit space plus 20,000 square feet of office, storage, and library space.

The museum is named for Ralph Foster, who began a career as a radio pioneer in the area in the 1920s. Ralph Foster became interested in the museum in the 1960s and donated to the museum an extensive collection of western and Native American artifacts. After the donation of his collection and his funding of the museum's third addition, the museum was renamed in Ralph Foster's honor.

The primary focus of the museum is to collect, preserve, and exhibit items relating to the history of the Ozarks. One of the most popular items is the original truck used in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies. Paul Henning, creator of the series, got his inspiration for the story from a Boy Scout camping trip to the Ozarks. The series ran for 9 seasons from 1962 to 1971 with 274 episodes.

 

The college has an extensive tractor collection housed in a separate facility that we didn't visit, and they also had a couple of examples on display at the Ralph Foster Museum. Paul thought the one on the left, which is an International Harvester 8-16 Series produced until 1922, was unusual-looking.

Being a quilter, Margery was interested in the quilt collection. This one was particularly notable because it combines two of her favorite hobbies into one. The quilt includes squares that are cross-stitched.

As we said, the primary focus of the museum is on the Ozarks, but they have a variety of other items including collections of firearms, insects, art, and minerals. The museum also has a collection of birds and animals in the natural history section. Paul tried to imagine what it would be like to be confronted by a real 9-foot tall polar bear.

On another day, we stopped back at the college for lunch. The Keeter Center was built in 2004 and is located at the entrance to the campus. In addition to a restaurant, the Keeter Center also houses a lodge, a conference center, a gift shop, and the college's Center for Character Education. The Keeter Center provides many employment opportunities for the students, especially those studying to get a degree in hotel and restaurant management.

The building is a replica of Dobyns Hall that stood on the campus where the chapel is now located. Dobyns Hall burned in 1930. It was originally the Maine State building from the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis. The school bought the log structure after the fair, dismantled it, and moved it to the campus where it became the school's first building.

The Keeter Center lodge has 15 luxury suites that are available for nightly rental. The next photo shows the lobby where you can see some of the guest rooms on the upper balconies.

 

But we were at the Keeter Center because of the restaurant. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and brunch on Sundays. We had a hard time deciding what we wanted because they have an extensive menu and everything sounded good. Margery finally chose a grilled chicken sandwich with boursin cheese on foccacia bread and Paul ordered a salmon burger with capers and cilantro-lime mayonnaise. As you can tell from the description of what we ordered, this place will not likely be featured on our favorite Food Network program Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. In the next photo, we are waiting for lunch to arrive.

 

Both our sandwiches were excellent, as was the dessert called Chocolate Paradise we shared. Lunch at the Keeter Center was an outstanding ending to our visit to Branson. We enjoyed our stay in Branon so much we are thinking about returning again next year.

From Branson, we headed farther south. We'll tell you where we ended up in our next post.

Branson, MO Part II: Lunch and a Show

In our last post we told you about visiting with friends from Pittsburgh who had recently retired to the Branson area. They have seen quite a few shows since they now live in the area, and they were able to recommend several shows to us. One of the shows they mentioned that sounded good was Jim Stafford, who is a comedian, musician, and song-writer.

Because we had found an online coupon for Grand Country Buffet (buy one lunch buffet at the regular price and get 50% off the second meal), and since the buffet is located near the Jim Stafford Theater, we decided to stop for lunch on the way to the show. In addition to the buffet, the Grand Country complex has an indoor miniature golf, a hotel, a theater, an indoor-outdoor water park, and more. The photo below shows the entrance to the buffet.

 

It was a pretty nice buffet, especially with the coupon. The regular price for lunch is $8.99; but with the second meal at half price, it brought the effective price to about $6.75 each. They had a good selection of salads, entrees, vegetables, and desserts. The next photo shows Margery loading up her plate.

 

After lunch, we had a little time to kill before the matinee, so we drove back to the eastern end of The Strip where stopped to take a closer look at the Veterans' Memorial Garden. The garden, which was just dedicated Sept. 1, 2009, is located on a hillside overlooking U. S. Route 76. A local Master Gardener, Ben Kenel, along with many local residents and civic groups, have made the garden a labor of love.

 

 

After a leisurely visit to the garden, we headed to the Jim Stafford Theater, which is shown in the photo below.

Jim and Annie Stafford also make their theater available to Tri-Lakes Church on Sunday mornings where we enjoyed church services the two Sundays we were in the area.

Jim Stafford had several hits in the 1970s including "Spiders and Snakes," "My Girl Bill," and "Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne." Even if you're not familiar with his music, you can tell by the song titles his work contains a lot of humor, and  is a little like that of country singer Brad Paisley today. The Jim Stafford Show was also featured on TV in 1975, and he made numerous appearances on TV music specials, variety shows, and talk shows in the 1970s and 1980s. Jim Stafford has been appearing live in Branson since the 1990s.

The show was a great balance of humor and music. Paul was afraid the humor would be a little corny, but instead it was VERY funny. The next photo was taken during one of the many comedy sessions. As you can see, we had good seats - in the center of the 4th row.

 

Jim's very talented 12-year daughter and 16-year old son also appear in the shows. The next photo shows Jim's son Shea playing jazz piano.

A young singer-dancer by the name of Lauren Heavner also entertained us with a couple of numbers.

Not to be outdone, Jim gets in plenty of licks of his own. In addition to the guitar and harmonica that he played in the show, Jim is also self-taught on the fiddle, piano, organ, and banjo.

 

We normally aren't real big on live shows, but the Jim Stafford Show was good, clean, family entertainment that we thoroughly enjoyed - two thumbs up!

There is still more to do in Branson, so stay tuned for our next post.

Branson, MO Part I: Branson Landing

After leaving the Omaha area, we drove south on I-29 through Kansas City, MO. Then we headed east a short distance on I-70 before turning south again on U. S. Route 65. It was a long drive of over 5 hours to Sedalia, MO, where we stopped for one night at Countryside Senior and Adult RV Park.

Countryside RV has mostly back-ins, but they have about half a dozen pull-throughs they reserve for those staying only one night. The campground is all gravel and they have full hookups with 30/50-amp electric plus cable. There is a little traffic noise from U. S. Route 65 that passes the campground; but unlike an interstate, traffic dwindles to almost nothing at night. The sites are a little close, but the campground wasn't anywhere near full. It was a great place for a one or two-night stop. The photo below shows our site at Countryside Senior RV.

 

From Sedalia, we had about a three-hour drive to Hollister, MO, which is just south of Branson. Hollister is the location of Escapees Turkey Creek RV Village where we planned to spend a couple of weeks to chill out and to let our budget recover a bit. Turkey Creek, like other Escapees campgrounds, has low daily and weekly rates for Escapees members. We spent the entire spring and summer in tourist areas where most of the campgrounds were pretty expensive. 

Turkey Creek has gravel roads and pads, paved patios, and grass between the sites. There are full hookups with 50-amp electric available at some sites, and they also have free Wi-Fi and cable. Some of the sites and roads are a little tight, especially in the area of the park where our site was located. The photo below shows our site at Turkey Creek.

There is a little daytime traffic noise from Business Route 65 that passes the campground. We could also hear occasional trains rumbling by on the other side of Turkey Creek, but we seldom heard their horns even though there is a crossing nearby in Hollister.

We arrived in Branson a few days before Labor Day weekend. We were just in time to catch up with some friends from back in Pittsburgh who retired to Branson two years ago. We got to visit with them before they took off on a nine-day motorcycle trip to Gatlinburg, TN.

We stayed at Turkey Creek and visited Branson our first year of full-timing. Branson, of course, is known for its family-oriented entertainment and shows. We found out the period after Labor Day is a slow time for Branson. Some of the shows close down or go on a reduced schedule for a while until some of the bus tours start later in October. That was fine with us because traffic was also greatly reduced after the Labor Day weekend.

Speaking of traffic...when we were the area three years ago, any time we wanted to travel in or around Branson, we had to drive right through town which is generally bumper to bumper most any time of the day. There was also road construction that made reaching SR 65 to by-pass downtown an even bigger nightmare. However, with that construction completed, it has become very easy to reach northern Branson (the new Super Walmart to be more specific) by zipping up the limited access, 4-lane road...and by golly there's a Kohl's, Target, Home Depot, and Michael's up there, too!

Branson is named for Ruben Branson, who opened a general store and post office in the area in 1892. The city was officially incorporated in 1912 when the Powersite Dam across the White River was completed downstream of Branson in nearby Forsythe, MO. The dam formed Lake Taneycomo, which is named for the county in which it is located - Taney County, MO. Lake Taneycomo is long and narrow and is really more like a widened section of the river than a lake.

After the holiday weekend, we stopped at Branson Landing, which is located on the waterfront along Lake Taneycomo. Branson Landing was opened in 2006 and is a retail shopping area that is anchored by Bass Pro Shop on one end and Belk's at the other end with numerous smaller shops in between. There is something for everyone.

The landing is also the departure point for cruises of Lake Taneycomo on either the 100-foot luxury yacht the Landing Princess...

 

...or the paddleboat replica the Lake Queen.

 

The other big attraction at Branson Landing is the $7.5 million fountain that features hourly shows of water, fire, and lights (at night) that dance and pulse in time to music.

 

The next photo is another view from the upper terrace overlooking the fountain.

The terraces are planted with colorful annuals and provide an attractive view from the restaurants, condos, and hotel surrounding the central square of Branson Landing.

As we said, Branson is known for its family-oriented shows. In 1959, the Baldknobbers Jamboree opened their show in Branson. In the same year, the theme park Silver Dollar City opened, followed by the outdoor drama "Shepherd of the Hills." At that time, most people went to Branson to fish, and the shows gave them something to do in the evenings. By the 1960s, there were several more shows, and a number of them began to relocate along Highway 76, which came to be known as "The Strip." The growth in the number of shows in Branson that transformed it into a major tourist attraction took place in the 1980s. Incidentally, the Baldknobbers are still performing, the "Shepherd of the Hills" drama is still being presented, and Silver Dollar City theme park is bigger than ever with over 1 million visitors a year.

Branson has some very good shows, so we decided we wanted to see at least one while we were there. We'll tell you about it in our next post.