Checking Those Signs of Spring

When we first arrived in Texas on February 26, we stopped at the Visitors Center in Texarkana and took a picture of one of the ornamental pear trees that was just budding out.


Now, on March 13, we returned to check on progress.


And, in fact, the redbud trees are now the center of the show.


The weather has been so nice even here in northern Texas that the local gardens have been planted out in front of the post office. Perhaps the weather will be just as nice back home.

The Bill Clinton Presidential Library

The next morning brought us back to Little Rock to visit the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library.


This newest of the presidential libraries brings modern video technology to the table. Yes, finally, a historical site with a 16:9 high-definition presentation! I confess to being spoiled as an HD pioneer.

Here is a picture from the orientation video:


The public exhibits begin with a statistical portrait of the time of the Clinton presidency and a cabinet room exhibit. There are similar cabinet room interactive exhibits at several of the presidential museums.


A unique feature of the Clinton Library is this detailed time-line of the presidency. Each year presents highlights and then the binders in the lower right corner show the detailed presidential schedule for each day of the year. There is a binder for each month. This should prove interesting for children born during these years.


This view from the top level shows visitors scanning the time-line exhibits. All of the blue boxes contain presidential papers that have been processed through the National Archives and into the library. About 5% of Clinton's documents have been handled this way so far.


And one of the most popular exhibits at any Presidential Museum is the Oval Office, reproduced as it was during that president's time in office.


This one includes a nice description of the origins of the Resolute Desk that Clinton used.

The Man From Hope

We finished up our trip across the northeast - southwest diagonal of Arkansas by reaching the town of Hope. If the name rings a bell, it is because President Clinton was born here. We stopped in on Saturday morning before heading south into Texas.


Tours are available but we didn't have time here to take one. The house is easy to find. Just head South down Hervey Street (U.S. 278) from Interstate 30 about a mile and a half until you see this sign on the right. The house is a couple of hundred feet farther down the street, by the railroad tracks and on the opposite side.


Surprisingly, the adjacent store had neither coffee mugs or shot glasses memorializing the home.

Little Rock, Arkansas

Reaching Little Rock allowed us a do-over on one of our State Capitol photographs. Our previous trip had been marked by rain when we drove through Little Rock. This time we got a good photograph. To add to the favorable weather, a major remodeling of the Capitol had taken place in the intervening years too.

Here is the new photograph. I'm the black dot on the top stair of the building. Photo by Linda.


We also briefly visited the area of the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library. We arrived just after closing so will have to make a return trip to take in the exhibits.

Financing Your Barbecue Restaurant

... or other endeavors.

Once we hit Missouri, we began to see signs advertising the local Title Loan agency. A "Title Loan," for those not familiar with it is a quickly arranged loan backed by the borrower's automobile title. It is just about a half notch above loan-sharking on the scale of financial transactions.

Particularly in the Southern states, these businesses are found both in towns and out in the countryside, like this one in Arkansas.


In town, the operation might be combined with a pawn shop as here, at Boll Weevil.


Sadly, most of the loans made here are probably not to finance a new business, but to stretch out a reduced income stream until even greater financial calamity sets in.

Barbecue for Lunch

By the time we reached Missouri, we were in "Meat and Two" country. One price, your choice of meat and your choice of two sides. This is pretty standard fare at most local barbecue restaurants and we love to stop and try them.

I wish that this one had been open. Signs of the Great Recession are everywhere though.


Here's a portion of the side view facing Highway 67.


We found other Barbecue spots to stop at, though. Here is another one from Arkansas.

Walnut Ridge, Arkansas

One of the towns mentioned in the Arkansas legislative bill designating U.S. 67 as the "rock 'n roll" highway is Walnut Ridge, where rock-a-billy stars performed at the Walnut Ridge Community Center. The bill doesn't even mention this fateful encounter that the town had with the Beatles in 1964.

We weren't thinking rock 'n roll, though, as we approached the town. We were wondering about all those 747 aircraft with the red tails!


"Is this where old aircraft go to die?," we wondered. We decided to head back off the highway to find out. Our first attempt was unsuccessful. We paused while this truck continued on down the road.


We turned around and tried a different road. The next road took us through the middle of Williams Baptist College. We found ourselves on Faculty Lane, lined with modest faculty housing before we found the aircraft.


The photo above shows only a small fraction of the aircraft sitting on the edge of the airport. Between the 1964 Beatles story and these engine-free 747s, this must be one of the most unusual airports in the United States.

Arkansas Is Just Like Heaven, When You Drive Route 67

Almost everyone is familiar with U.S. Route 66. I even blogged about it last year.

But what do you know about Route 67?


Otherwise known as the Rock and Roll Highway.

We left Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Gateway to the Ozarks and headed southwest into Arkansas on Route 67. Stopping at the Arkansas Welcome Center, we met a lady who explained to us why Route 67 is the rock and roll highway. It seems that many of the early big names in Rock and Roll (or perhaps more accurately, the pioneers of the rock-a-billy sound) such as Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Elvis performed regularly at a number of towns along the highway in Northeast Arkansas.

The area is one that might be described as "dirt poor." If you have a stereotype of Arkansas it will probably come to life right before your eyes as you drive this stretch of road. The fact that we drove it right after four to six inches of rain had fallen just made it worse.


The movement to make Route 67 a Tourism center appears to be on a slow path right now. We stopped in Newport, once the site of several clubs that hosted those early rock-a-billy performers but didn't find any trace of memorials. A good local museum would help but we didn't find one.

The town of Datto has made an effort to get on board with this sign and commemoration of Bill Rice.