It was nice to see things this busy as we walked down Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs on a Saturday morning. The sidewalks were jammed. Some of these tourists had no doubt planned to spend their summer vacations along the Gulf Coast. Due to the oil spill, they canceled their reservations and wound up in Arknasas. Let’s hope their first impressions were good.
Read MoreWalking down Bathhouse Row
posted by rexnelson on July 28th, 2010Summer in Saratoga and Hot Springs
posted by rexnelson on July 27th, 2010Regular readers of this blog know that I love thoroughbred racing. They also know that I love Hot Springs. As August approaches, the thoughts of racing fans turn to Saratoga Springs in New York. They are many similarities between Hot Springs and Saratoga Springs. Indeed, Hot Springs has sometimes been called the Saratoga of the South.
Read MoreSports in Arkansas
posted by rexnelson on July 23rd, 2010In an attempt to take the organization to the next level, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame has recently upgraded its website, added a Facebook page, the whole social media nine yards. If you get a chance, visit the website at www.arksportshalloffame.org and check it out. It’s a work in progress, but you’ll find a lot of fresh content there. I’m writing an e-newsletter that you can sign up to receive.
Read MoreSpanning the Big Muddy
posted by rexnelson on July 20th, 2010On Oct. 2, 1940, the Greenville Bridge was officially opened to traffic. It was named for former Congressman Benjamin G. Humphreys of Greenville, a co-author of the Ransdell-Humphreys Flood Control Act of 1917 that established a national flood control program along the Mississippi River. Beginning next week, there will be no traffic on that bridge for the first time in seven decades.
Read MoreLake Village’s Lakeport Plantation
posted by rexnelson on July 19th, 2010Charles Lindbergh made his first night flight over Lake Chicot in 1923. Now, whether you’re driving or flying, the Lakeport Plantation house, Lake Chicot, The Cow Pen, the LakeShore Cafe, Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales, the Paul Michael Co. and Nonie’s Antiques all provide reasons to spend a day or more in the far corner of southeast Arkansas.
Read MoreThe Great Delta Bookstore Tour
posted by rexnelson on July 15th, 2010I’ve led my own versions of the Great Delta Barbecue Tour and the Great Delta Tamale Tour. Next, I want to do the Great Delta Bookstore Tour. Here are six excellent independent bookstores in six historic, interesting towns.
Read MoreThe Carnegie libraries
posted by rexnelson on July 14th, 2010When you think about the classic facilities we have abandoned, neglected or torn down in Little Rock through the decades, you just want to cry. A current example is Ray Winder Field. No one associated with City Hall ever lifted a finger to save this facility for use as a high school and college ballpark, perhaps one that included a baseball museum. What a jewel that would have been in Little Rock’s crown. Hats off to the people of Morrilton and Eureka Springs for still operating libraries in their historic Carnegie buildings. Little Rock, of course, tore its classic Carnegie Library down. Isn’t that how we usually do things in the state’s largest yet most shortsighted city?
Read MoreA summer day at the library
posted by rexnelson on July 13th, 2010They’re about to open a new library at Helena. The planned opening of that library brought back a flood of memories for Helena native A.B. Naylor. And what he wrote caused me to remember summer days spent at the Clark County Library in Arkadelphia. Do you have any favorite Arkansas libraries and library memories?
Read MoreGreenville on the river
posted by rexnelson on July 7th, 2010I mentioned in an earlier post that Clarksdale, Miss., just might be the most Southern place on earth. If it isn’t Clarksdale, it must be Greenville. The new U.S. Highway 82 bridge over the Mississippi River between Lake Village and Greenville is scheduled to open to traffic late this month. It will be an exciting day for the Delta.
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