Meandering In My RV: Little Rock, Arkansas

Clinton Presidential Center
from pedestrian bridge

After three days of mostly driving, our next stop was Little Rock, Arkansas for a week long stay. We had been moving at an uncharacteristically fast pace so the first order of business was to spend a day, which turned into two days, getting caught up on "stuff" and not drive anywhere. Once we got that done, it was time to explore.

Old State House Museum

Our RV park was right on the north side of the river with two pedestrian bridges providing easy walking to the city. We walked to the Clinton Presidential Center in about 10 minutes and downtown to the Old State House Museum in about a half hour. Walking everywhere felt really good after three days of driving.

Old State House -
1836 House Chamber

The Old State House Museum is in the original Arkansas State House (Capitol) built in 1836. The building has had quite a lot of work done and the work was continuing while we were there. The museum exhibits are not amazing and the building is very basic but with no admission fee we couldn't be disappointed.

The Clinton Presidential Center has a lot of windows that look out on the river and a park. Inside, one floor of exhibits gives a chronological list of events and accomplishments of the Clinton administration and another floor has a personal history complete with pictures and other memorabilia. There are a lot of gifts on display that he received while in office. We felt the exhibits were very well done with just the right amount of detail. There are also replicas of his Cabinet Room and the Oval Office.

Arkansas State Capitol

We also toured the Arkansas State Capitol which is all white marble. It is very clean inside and out with no over-the-top garish decorating. In fact, there is very little decorating like paintings or even different colored marble. The few paintings and painted areas are up high and subtle. It is pleasant walking around with a very bright feeling from all of the white marble. We couldn't see the House Chamber or Supreme Court room because they were closed for renovation.

Arkansas State Capitol rotunda

Our next attraction was the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. This is the site of the desegregation crisis in 1957 when nine Negro children required 11,500 soldiers to keep them safe. It is a disturbing story in American history but in the long run the resolve of those nine children and their families was a major turning point in the progress of integration and also was an important example of simply upholding the law and the constitution. If you don't know the story, it is too long and complex to describe here but you can find plenty to read about "The Little Rock Nine".