A hot day in the rock

I had heard that the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was a fun movie and we seemed to have missed it in Hot Springs. What better to do than on a hot day than head for Little Rock and sit in a cool theater.

Our first stop was at 7th and Main in the old downtown area at the DHS building. Why, there is my daughter Kay and it is lunchtime! It will be a treat for us to treat her.

I must be one of the few that has never heard of Homer's. We not only saw half of Little Rock in there but the people she usually eats with from work were there so it was nice to meet and visit with some co-workers. I even saw someone I went to high school with, but when I was ready to go say hello he was  gone!

Now we have a little time to kill and we are downtown after dropping Kay back at work. A few blocks away we stopped at the Old State House Museum. This is the oldest standing state capitol building west of the Mississippi. When Arkansas became a state in 1836, the government officials moved into the building even though it was still under construction and not completed until 1842. This building served as the state capitol until 1911. This is also where Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for the presidency and celebrated his victory in 1992.

We read about the history of government in Arkansas and the Capitol (but not too much) before seeing an amazing display of Civil War flags upstairs. Also we read some about notable Arkansans and saw one of the largest collections of first ladies' dresses.

By today's standards this seems to be quite a small capitol building.

The governors' displays were interesting. Mike Huckabee's guitar was there, as well as Bill Clinton's saxophone, but Sid McMath was always one of my favorite people. He may not have played an instrument but he sure played a large role in correcting corrupt politics in Hot Springs in the 1940s. My father was his deputy prosecutor in those early political days. 

We did not get to tour all of the building but we will return another day when we are looking for a cool spot to spend some time. After the movie it was 105 in Little Rock, but we were lucky. Two days ago it would have been 107, an all time record temperature in the rock for the month of June! It might be a long hot summer, not just in politics!

Food, family and friends

If I keep going to the Farmers' Market then I need to share the veggies. Cissy gets ready to fill her plate.

Cissie and Darla joined us while Kay was in town for a veggie dinner. Leon cannot have too many veggies with his vegan lifestyle.

Jeff typically arrives via the woods with Purple following close behind. Usually Purple is followed by Melville and then the two cats bring up the rear. On this evening we grilled steaks to accompany our veggies.

Allen caught a ride back up the hill and the dogs trailed after a few tasty morsels on the patio!

Saturday stroll

Yep, we are again at the Farmers' Market on a Saturday morning. I sure never thought much about carrot cake but I will from now on as it is my favorite cake or at least one of them. I am glad the vender was out of these dish towels because it just wouldn't do to have one hanging in my kitchen.

Since the music festival is still a happening even in town we had music from participants. 

As we strolled along Central I, of course, photographed a few buildings. I learned in a photography class once that buildings are my passion. I hope that doesn't say anything about what type of person I am. The Stitt Building was built in 1895. Samuel Stitt was the founder of Mountain Valley Spring Water Co. In the 1940's the Clyde Hotel was here and later the Moses Mendel Dry Good Store (where I bought my clothes in my teen years) and the Western Union Telegraph Office (where I would stop in the 1950s with my friend Diane and her mother, who worked there.) Now the Tin Grizzly occupies the space.

Many a time I have eaten at what was once Franke's Cafeteria. I used to tell my daughter the sign on the wall that pointed to the restrooms said "don't run." Now there is a gangster museum there!

Our return path was along the promenade. Such a great place to walk on a hot day. It is on the side of the mountain behind the bathhouses and we can look down on Central Avenue and see what we missed.

Why there is the old Dugan-Stuart Building. From this angle we can't see the zigzag of metal fire escapes between the two buildings. I will have to go back in the fall and I will bet that I do. This 1904 building was one of the first office buildings constructed in the 20th century in Hot Springs, mainly to accommodate the many physicians that were here to serve the bathing public that came from near and far to cure every imaginable ailment.

A festival of music

I wouldn't want to harp on how much I enjoy music, but this evening concert was just to my liking. The performers are in town for several weeks for the annual music festival. They come from far and wide. Here we enjoyed some amazing harp music.

The evening concert began with the brass ensemble performing at the Ozark Bathhouse and then progressed along bathhouse row after about ten minutes at each venue.

Here we enjoyed the quartet again that we had seen at the Farmers' Market.

The brass ensemble performed beside the Fordyce (now national park visitors' center) in front of what was one a bandstand on the side of the mountain. How appropriate.

The crowd shuttled further north to the next venue. I was quite pleased to see a good attendance which isn't always the case for something new in town. This was the first year for the progressive concert.

We skipped the a couple of venues to get near the front of the line for a brew or two. The Superior Bathhouse will soon become a brewery. Behind the counter are the old lock boxes where bathers could store their valuables while experiencing the hot water.

This was some different kind of music for a brewery I suppose,  but it worked for me! We got there in time for a table but later joined the large crowd outside so that others might sit awhile.

I hope Hot Springs continues to shine when it comes to music. This festival is first class all the way. 

To market, to market ... to listen to music

The newly refurbished farmers' market has become our summer Saturday morning ritual now that one can shop in the shade. There seems to be a lot more produce and the crowds are definitely on the increase.

We not only have music each week, but usually there is music. This day we were entertained by a string quartet that is a part of the music festival happening in town for a couple of weeks. The bassist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rick Robinson aka Mr. CutTime, is one of the mentors for the festival. 

And the tomatoes aren't half bad either, small but tasty!

We always try to work in a thirty minute walk so this one led us past the old St. Joseph's Hospital, now the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts. This building will be demolished in the near future as a new dorm has been built behind it.

Across the street is the beautiful, small Presbyterian Church in which I grew up. Oh what a pathetic website they have! I must email someone!

Nearby are the Lanai Towers that adjoin the old Majestic Hotel. In the 1950 when these were built they were quite exciting. Now they sit empty and I presume destined for demolition. Several times I parked around back and escorted myself to the lovely swimming pool on the ground level.

Back at the farmers' market, Max Sestili is singing and playing guitar. He is in charge of stormwater control for the city but this day he was in charge of a pleasant hour for us as we sat down and enjoyed his music.

Fearless

The long awaited biography about Adam Brown, his family, and his sacrifice is finally released. What an inspiring story it is.

A nice crowd showed up for the book signing at Books A Million. It was like having a Lake Hamilton reunion. 

A long line waited to visit with Adam's widow Kelley, his mom Janice, his brother Shawn and sister Manda, his dad Larry (not in photo) and the author of Fearless, Eric Blehm. He announced that it had made it to #7 on the NYT best seller list. 

Hats off to Hot Springs

What a fun and busy weekend we had. My South Carolina brother and his wife came to town so we had an impromptu Friday night dinner in town. Then the four of us had a fun-filled stroll along Central Avenue during gallery walk. We ran into many of his 1954 classmates and sipped wine all the way to the Thompson Building. Here he reminisced about when our great uncle had his law office there and during one of the major floods that have happened more than once in the "valley of the vapors," our uncle climbed out his window onto the ledge to be rescued. Billy remembered much better than I, as he is older, and Uncle Garner died in 1947. This Classic Revival style building was designed by architect George Mann of Arkansas State Capitol fame.

Saturday morning, Leon and I made our weekly visit to the Farmers' Market for some fresh veggies and then had a typical Saturday walkabout in town. We strolled up the promenade behind bathhouse row and sat on the Arlington porch for awhile. I can't remember the last time I have seen so many tourists in town. It was fun to just observe. This old hotel had so much splendor and charm in past years and has been the heart of downtown for decades. It is the 3rd Arlington Hotel and was built in 1924 after the previous one was destroyed by fire in 1923.

I shared with Leon about how the tallest building in Arkansas when it was built in 1929, located across from the Arlington Hotel, was once where all the doctors had their offices.  The ceiling fan in my den is one that we got from the Medical Arts Building in the 1950's when they replaced them with window air conditioners. I notice that those haven't been replaced yet. I hope this old sentinel does not totally deteriorate as it has been empty for years. The 16 story Art Deco structure was built in 1960. 

We stopped for lunch at Fat Jack's, the new oyster bar in town. You just never know what you will see. How about for the motorcycle buff who has everything? Why not be buried in a motorcycle hearse. This man will provide the service! I wonder if he drummed up any business?

The first Hats in Hot Springs festival was held over the weekend and although we did not make it to any of the hat judging events we did enjoy the band while we attended gallery walk on Friday. The free event sponsored bands, various hat judging activities and a Simon Sez game which had a good turnout. I can see where Catherine Wolf deserved the trophy she got for her hat! 

Next year we will see if we can't get Leon to be a little more creative! You had to wear a hat to attend the festival and it was our intention but lunch got in the way!