Too late, too early
Today has probably been the most relaxed first-day-on-the-road-trip we've had with the boys. LegoGuy set up an adolescent bachelor pad in the back seat of the rented mini-van (complete with GI Joes, miniature airplanes, and books), while Sport took residence in the middle seat, thumbing through his card games. SO put in our homemade trip CD, featuring artists such as Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Snow Patrol, and Sia, and we were off on a smooth ride. Surprisingly, we didn't run into any construction on I-40 until just outside of Little Rock. That never happens.
The hotel was right off the highway. We unloaded our gear and thumbed through our Arkansas Travel Guide. Eeyore had recommended we visit the Central High School National Historic Site, and we negotiated the streets in downtown Little Rock to arrive promptly at 4:30 -- right when it closed. We peered through the glass, but the park ranger, clad in regulation brown, wouldn't even look up from the cash register where she was busy tallying up her drawer.
At least we could look at the high school. It was just across the street, and enormous -- much bigger than I had ever imagined it to be. I'm not sure the boys understood its significance, but SO and I were glad to have the opportunity to see it.
Shank had recommended we try out Doe's Place, supposedly a favorite Clinton eatery and hangout when Bill was governor. We parked and showed up at the door at 5:00 -- 30 minutes before it opened for the supper crowd. We were eyeballed by a group of men standing on the corner by the Salvation Army. Sport suggested we pull out the soccer ball and have a game while we waited, but we were too hungry, and piled back in the van to look for another eatery.
You know how this turns out, don't you?
We got caught in rush hour traffic downtown, waylaid by an accident, lost in the suburbs, stopped back in at the hotel to ask directions to the nearest restaurant, participated in a "heated" discussion, before finally pulling into the Fireside Grill for hamburgers, quesadillas, and fried cheese. Afterwards, all the boys wanted to do was go back to the hotel to swim.
The hotel seems to be rather loud -- with huge diesel trucks pulling in and out of the parking lot. I hope I sleep tonight.
2 comments:
Ah, the travel dinner hour... YHWH once had one of her many, many travel break-downs on a trip to Colorado which included such family quote book favorites as, "Why is it ALWAYS about food!" and "Why do we have to eat every time we go somewhere?!"
Sounds like you're having fun, though! Enjoy.
Well, I've never known that traveling could actually be calm. In my family of origin my father and mother always argued over how to pack the trunk of the car. Unfortunately, Passionfruit and I relive my parents battle everytime we pack up the minivan. Life is a cycle and all we can do is pedal faster.
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