Arkansas--The Natural State--Day 6

A ride on a trolley, a stroll through old Little Rock, a visit to an old mill and being entertained by a good band. The final day of the rally was a busy one. After breakfast we caught the electric trolley car that travels through both North Little Rock and Little Rock. After a trip across the bridge we got off in the historic part of downtown Little Rock. A huge farmer's market is held each Saturday so we checked it out and then walked along the river walk. Another ride on the trolley took us through the main downtown area. We stopped at the Old Statehouse where a celebration of Arkansas statehood was taking place. On the grounds were many re-enactors, in period costume, living as they did in 1836. The old Statehouse has not been used as the capitol building in many years and is now a museum. It is located near the historic Capitol Hotel and also the Little Rock Peabody Hotel. (The Peabody, like the original one in Memphis, has a group of ducks who live on the roof. Each day they are brought down by elevator and escorted across a red carpet to a pond built for them in the hotel lobby. At the end of the day they are escorted back across the red carpet and up the elevator to their home on the roof.) This is all located on a street that has been renamed President Clinton Avenue.

We have learned that Little Rock was named by the Indians that were indigenous to the area. An outcropping into what is now the Arkansas River was used as a landmark and it was referred to as "Little Rock". This spot is marked on the River Walk with a real "little rock" today. The plaque attached to the rock tells the story of how the city was named.

During are touring of Little Rock we wound up doing a lot of walking in addition to riding on the trolley. Afterward we returned to the coach for some rest and then headed out in the car to The Old Mill. The mill really is not that old and is not really a mill. It was built in 1933 to appear as an abandoned mill that would have been used in the 1800's by the local people. It is all done in concrete including the bridges that appear to be made out of native stone and wood timbers. It is a very nice setting and there were several people there taking pictures. Apparently it is used for many activities including weddings.

The evening was the wrap up of the rally. After a good dinner, again served by the caterer, we were entertained by Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers. This is a group of older gentlemen that do a tremendous job performing their music. Apparently they have been together for many years and have had some success with Sun Records. They play throughout the region and perform a variety of music. They were very enjoyable and many of our people stayed around to dance to their very fine music. We even caught our Rally Masters, Don & Vicki, out on the dance floor. It was after 9:00pm when they wrapped up the show. We had signed up as volunteers for cleanup duty for tonight so we had to stay afterward to help clean up the hall and get all the trash out of the building. We made it back to the coach around 10:00pm after a very long, tiring but very enjoyable day.