Hook me up, Little Rock!

[dimebag1980]

Next week I have an evening flight planned from Little Rock to Chicago. Since Southwest doesn't fly into/out of Shreveport, Little Rock usually ends up being our cheapest alternative for flying to Chicago. We have direct flights, but they are quite pricey. Even with the high gas prices right now, it's still cheaper to drive to LR and park the car for a few days.

Anyway, I plan on arriving in Little Rock early in the day... late morning, most likely. Since my flight will not leave until early evening this will be the most time I've spent in Little Rock (I normally arrive in Little Rock with little time to spare.) So where are some places downtown I could see and enjoy during the work day? My wife is familiar with the shopping areas out in North Little Rock but I want to stay in the downtown area of Little Rock during the few hours I'll be there - and not spend much money. I want to eat fairly cheap - to save as much money for my time in Chicago and Peoria as possible (mainly because Chicago is an expensive place) - and light, because I don't like feeling sick from a big meal while I'm on a plane.

When we fly back in over the weekend we will not have any time to spare. We will leave Little Rock as early as we can so we have some time to get some things done once we return home to Shreveport. So anything I'm going to do, I have to get it done during the day before I fly out.

Thanks! I know there's a lot to see and do and I wish I had a full day or weekend to spend there, but I've got to do the best I can with what little time I'll have.

One of these days I hope to be flying from Chicago to Little Rock to visit family in Louisiana from my home in Chicago.

[Aporkalypse]

Next week I have an evening flight planned from Little Rock to Chicago. Since Southwest doesn't fly into/out of Shreveport, Little Rock usually ends up being our cheapest alternative for flying to Chicago. We have direct flights, but they are quite pricey. Even with the high gas prices right now, it's still cheaper to drive to LR and park the car for a few days.

Anyway, I plan on arriving in Little Rock early in the day... late morning, most likely. Since my flight will not leave until early evening this will be the most time I've spent in Little Rock (I normally arrive in Little Rock with little time to spare.) So where are some places downtown I could see and enjoy during the work day? My wife is familiar with the shopping areas out in North Little Rock but I want to stay in the downtown area of Little Rock during the few hours I'll be there - and not spend much money. I want to eat fairly cheap - to save as much money for my time in Chicago and Peoria as possible (mainly because Chicago is an expensive place) - and light, because I don't like feeling sick from a big meal while I'm on a plane.

When we fly back in over the weekend we will not have any time to spare. We will leave Little Rock as early as we can so we have some time to get some things done once we return home to Shreveport. So anything I'm going to do, I have to get it done during the day before I fly out.

Thanks! I know there's a lot to see and do and I wish I had a full day or weekend to spend there, but I've got to do the best I can with what little time I'll have.

One of these days I hope to be flying from Chicago to Little Rock to visit family in Louisiana from my home in Chicago.

[dimebag1980]

I would recommend eating lunch in the River Market building itself. There are a variety of kiosks serving everything from pizza, BBQ, deli sandwiches, Mediterranean food to Mexican and Japanese. I would recommend Boulevard Bread which has a full-sized cafe at the end of the building and has very good lighter fare, particularly sandwiches.

To kill time I think the Clinton Library is pretty amazing whether you're a fan of his or not, it's got a lot of very interesting things to see and do. The Arkansas Historic Museum has a cluster of original frontier-era buildings (1820s or so) with a good hour tour or so and a separate building with historic artifacts, etc. The Old Statehouse Museum is the original state Capitol, dating to the 1820s and is a very good historic museum as well. You can get a pretty easy quick tour of a limited area of downtown by paying a buck to ride the River Rail trolleys. The original Arsenal building (from the original fort of LR) in MacArthur Park is where Gen Macarthur was born and is adjacent to the Arkansas Arts Center, which has some nice works (Picasso, Rodin, Monet, Manet, Pissaro, etc) but I would skip the latter if I were on my way to Chicago. I would think that would kill enough time to get you ready for your flight.

If you get here early again I would highly suggest taking a drive to west LR and climbing Pinnacle Mountain. It takes about an hour to get up it and you get beautiful views of the areas west of the city. It's only 15-20 min west of downtown LR.

I'd also tell your wife to go to Park Plaza and Midtowne shopping centers in midtown Little Rock if she does some shopping, she'll like it far better than McCain. There are also a lot of little boutique stores on Kavanaugh through Hillcrest and the Heights.

I'm going to Chicago next month, I love that place (in the summer).

[LRU1967]

Hey man, something told me you would be the first (and only?) to reply. I knew you'd come through. Thank you A LOT. Yes, Chicago is awesome and we love it so much. Thankfully we have my father-in-law as a tour guide when we're there.

After my trip I will try to remember to come back here and let you know what I got to do. I'm no Clinton fan, but I've been wanting to see the library so I think that is a must.

[Aporkalypse]

Hey man, something told me you would be the first (and only?) to reply. I knew you'd come through. Thank you A LOT. Yes, Chicago is awesome and we love it so much. Thankfully we have my father-in-law as a tour guide when we're there.

After my trip I will try to remember to come back here and let you know what I got to do. I'm no Clinton fan, but I've been wanting to see the library so I think that is a must.

[skirby]

You didn't say what day you would be arriving in LR. If it is Tuesday then you will be able to check out the Farmers Market in the River Market. It will be the opening day for the season. Also, if you like fish you might want to try the Flying Fish. Two can eat there for around $20. If you ride the trolley the Blue Line takes you on the complete loop, including NLR. It takes about 35 minutes. Otherwise, the Green Line just takes you around the shorter LR loop. Remember to have the correct fare if you ride the trolley. If you want a good overall view of downtown, the river and NLR go to the top of the River Market Parking Deck.

[dimebag1980]

No reason for another reply as you got excellent advice from Aporkalypse. If you have a chance while in Chicago take the architecture river cruise conducted by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. http://www.architecture.org/tour_view.aspx?TourID=8

[dimebag1980]

You didn't say what day you would be arriving in LR. If it is Tuesday then you will be able to check out the Farmers Market in the River Market. It will be the opening day for the season. Also, if you like fish you might want to try the Flying Fish. Two can eat there for around $20. If you ride the trolley the Blue Line takes you on the complete loop, including NLR. It takes about 35 minutes. Otherwise, the Green Line just takes you around the shorter LR loop. Remember to have the correct fare if you ride the trolley. If you want a good overall view of downtown, the river and NLR go to the top of the River Market Parking Deck.

[LRU1967]

Wow, I never expected to get Chicago information in this thread... but this is much appreciated! I have always wondered how to get in on those cruises. And since I'm a photographer who will be photographing Chicago like a madman on this trip, this is perfect for me. Thank you.

[jwherbold]

Skirby.... yes, it will be Tuesday! This is great. I also wanted to ride you guys' trolley system while there. It's there, why not use it? I will try to have exact fare. Any idea how much that is? I usually don't like to carry cash on me but I will try to do so for that.

[Aporkalypse]

The river cruise will give you great views of Chicago's tall buildings, much better than you get from the street. The Architectural Foundation also offers a number of walking tours. We did the one focusing on Historic Skyscrapers, we were told the history of the buildings and in many cases went inside.

http://www.architecture.org/tour_view.aspx?TourID=73

[dimebag1980]

Also, I think the very best skyline views are the ones from out in the lake. The longer river cruises take you out into Lake Michigan and honestly, that's the only place you can really take in the whole skyline. You can get some nice panorama shots out there.

[abdintp]

The weather up here's actually been great the last couple of days, so I think you're going to be coming up at a great time... other than the fact that all the other tourists will also be coming up right now.

I would agree with the suggestions that have been made (River Market, Clinton library, Flying Fish, architecture tour in Chi), but would say that especially if you've been to Chicago before, try and get away from the awful crowds on Michigan Ave and go to some other places like Andersonville, Pilsen, Wicker Park/ Humbolt Park, Hyde Park. Chicago beyond the Loop/ Lincoln Park is much better than within those areas.

[dimebag1980]

Oh, Little Rock.... So I got back from my trip today and when I have more time I will fill you guys in with some info from the trip, as well as some photos from your beloved river city! But for now I will say... Little Rock impressed me more than I had anticipated (and I came prepared to be impressed.) I'll leave you guys with that first impression for now... but I'll be back here to say more soon (hopefully tomorrow.)

[turboturtle]

Oh, Little Rock.... So I got back from my trip today and when I have more time I will fill you guys in with some info from the trip, as well as some photos from your beloved river city! But for now I will say... Little Rock impressed me more than I had anticipated (and I came prepared to be impressed.) I'll leave you guys with that first impression for now... but I'll be back here to say more soon (hopefully tomorrow.)

[dimebag1980]

Hey guys.... I've been so busy lately that when I've passed thru UP I've gone to the SBC forums and that's it. But this morning my network connection is down and I can't do ANY work (yay me!) so here I am...

Anyway, so my wife and I did the Clinton Library first. Wow! That's all I can say. I was completely in awe of the place and I think Little Rock has it going on with that place. Once I finally do go through all my photos I'll post some up. Downtown was easy... just drive straight off the grounds of the library and there's the River Market. Parked in the garage but forgot to go to the other side of it for the skyline view. Bummer. But anyway we stopped at the little Taste of Tokyo, or whatever it's called, in the River Market. Surprisingly that meal was more expensive than anything I even ate in Chicago. That was disappointing, but the food wasn't bad. There were a lot of homeless people in there, including one homeless woman who was flirting with me (yikes!!) The vendors outside were extremely eclectic but filthy people. They looked like they hadn't bathed in weeks. One of them was also smoking pot because I smelled it before I even saw the joint he was smoking. We avoided those people and just walked around the area.

We walked down the street a ways to some other little stores and I gave the bongo player on the corner a couple bucks to hear a tune. Turns out he's into photography as well and we talked about it for a little while before I moved on.

We didn't have as much time there as I'd wanted, but we were there a good 4-6 hours and squeezed in quite a bit. I expected it to remind me of downtown Shreveport, but I was quite suprised to find that it reminded me more of downtown Fort Worth with a little New Orleans mixed in. The River Market reminds me a bit of the French Market in New Orleans, and the vendors outside were very much like some of the vendors in downtown New Orleans. It was nice that there was a Greek place, a Japanese place, a Mexican place, and some good ol' American places in the River Market from which to choose. I liked having all that in one spot... kind of like a mall food court but in a better setting.

All in all, Little Rock, I was quite impressed! I pointed out the streetcars to my wife and told her THAT is what we need. I spoke to the last mayor of Shreveport about his streetcar plans, but much like what we already have they were just going to be on bus frames. Screw that... you guys did it right. Streetcars on tracks.... just like it used to be. I really would like to see that return to my city and I'm very proud of Little Rock for achieving this. I didn't ride it, because I was running short on time, but I will at some point in the future.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, guys. When I have my photos processed I'll come back here and post some.

[Aporkalypse]

Hey guys.... I've been so busy lately that when I've passed thru UP I've gone to the SBC forums and that's it. But this morning my network connection is down and I can't do ANY work (yay me!) so here I am...

Anyway, so my wife and I did the Clinton Library first. Wow! That's all I can say. I was completely in awe of the place and I think Little Rock has it going on with that place. Once I finally do go through all my photos I'll post some up. Downtown was easy... just drive straight off the grounds of the library and there's the River Market. Parked in the garage but forgot to go to the other side of it for the skyline view. Bummer. But anyway we stopped at the little Taste of Tokyo, or whatever it's called, in the River Market. Surprisingly that meal was more expensive than anything I even ate in Chicago. That was disappointing, but the food wasn't bad. There were a lot of homeless people in there, including one homeless woman who was flirting with me (yikes!!) The vendors outside were extremely eclectic but filthy people. They looked like they hadn't bathed in weeks. One of them was also smoking pot because I smelled it before I even saw the joint he was smoking. We avoided those people and just walked around the area.

We walked down the street a ways to some other little stores and I gave the bongo player on the corner a couple bucks to hear a tune. Turns out he's into photography as well and we talked about it for a little while before I moved on.

We didn't have as much time there as I'd wanted, but we were there a good 4-6 hours and squeezed in quite a bit. I expected it to remind me of downtown Shreveport, but I was quite suprised to find that it reminded me more of downtown Fort Worth with a little New Orleans mixed in. The River Market reminds me a bit of the French Market in New Orleans, and the vendors outside were very much like some of the vendors in downtown New Orleans. It was nice that there was a Greek place, a Japanese place, a Mexican place, and some good ol' American places in the River Market from which to choose. I liked having all that in one spot... kind of like a mall food court but in a better setting.

All in all, Little Rock, I was quite impressed! I pointed out the streetcars to my wife and told her THAT is what we need. I spoke to the last mayor of Shreveport about his streetcar plans, but much like what we already have they were just going to be on bus frames. Screw that... you guys did it right. Streetcars on tracks.... just like it used to be. I really would like to see that return to my city and I'm very proud of Little Rock for achieving this. I didn't ride it, because I was running short on time, but I will at some point in the future.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, guys. When I have my photos processed I'll come back here and post some.

[dimebag1980]

Usually there's not a homeless problem in that area, or far less than most cities this size. Bad day, I guess.

I love the River Market itself but the Japanese place has never been my favorite, though normally I like that kind of food. The Mexican place is excellent as is the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern place. Boulevard Bread is the best, though.

Looking forward to seeing the photos.

I'm going back to Chicago at the end of the month, I can't wait. I'm going to Wrigley for sure.

[Aporkalypse]

Well I'll put it this way... the shrimp fried rice was okay. It was the closest thing to Chinese food I could get there. I like Japanese in places like Shogun, Benihana, etc. But that little place was very expensive. Yep yep, I'll get some photos on here asap.

The homeless people... I don't know. The only one I had an issue with was the one who was flirting with me. The vendors all appeared homeless, though... they were very much new-age hippies.

[dimebag1980]

Okay guys, I'm so sorry I have taken so long. I've managed to get around to processing and posting online 3 of my Little Rock photos so far.... with more to come shortly I hope.

Anyway, here are the ones I've done so far and I hope I've done your city some justice with these! They mainly focus on the Clinton Library, because I didn't have much time to get very far from there this time around.

Enjoy!!

[skirby]

Okay guys, I'm so sorry I have taken so long. I've managed to get around to processing and posting online 3 of my Little Rock photos so far.... with more to come shortly I hope.

Anyway, here are the ones I've done so far and I hope I've done your city some justice with these! They mainly focus on the Clinton Library, because I didn't have much time to get very far from there this time around.

Enjoy!!

[Aporkalypse]

Terrific pictures, I just checked this thread again.