BILL, BILL, BILL. TSK, TSK, TSK.

After all the scenic beauty, it was time for bright lights, culture, and revisionist history.  Little Rock!

But even in the midst of the state’s capitol, we again had a beautiful Arkansas park to stay at.  This one is a joint effort with the Corps of Engineers, so we got federal pricing, which meant the Golden Age Discount!  Yes!  Half price for geezers, and a spot right on the Arkansas River, which is a major working waterway with huge barges being pushed by tugs sharing the waters with fisherman slowly trolling along.  It was very nice.

This was the first time on the trip that we offloaded the scoot for local getaround.  Our first stop was the Arkansas Arts Center which was one of the four U.S. sites to host the traveling “World Of The Pharaohs” exhibit.  We had seen the last big touring exhibit many years ago in L.A., and were looking forward to all of the nifty gold treasures.  NOT!  They didn’t allow photography, so the tickets will have to suffice.  This was a very interesting exhibit, but no gold whatsoever except for a couple of very tiny figurines.  This exhibit focused on bowls, vessels, crafts, and a couple of mummies with sarcophagi.  Like I said, it was quite absorbing, but not what we expected.  At least we didn’t pay L.A. prices ($18 each).  Had a nice lunch at the museum.  Blackened tilapia sandwich for me, and a veggie concoction for Loni.  And, of course, I couldn’t resist the “homemade” apple cobbler.  Don’t bother.

After lunch we got directions from the waiter to the Children’s Hospital, where we hoped to catch Dr. Doug Blackall, formerly the blood bank director at UCLA, and presently the director of the clinical labs here at Children’s.  Fortunately, he was in, and incredulous that Loni popped in on him out of the blue.  We had a nice chat and tour of the clinical lab, which puts the shoebox facility at UCLA to shame.

 

The next day we scooted back to town (about 12 miles from the campground) to take in the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, situated on the banks of the Arkansas River.

 

They keep the place as cold as a meat locker, which kept us moving through the exhibits faster than we would have otherwise.  The main gallery space is multi-level, supposedly inspired by Trinity College Library in Dublin.

Loni’s up there looking over the table settings from one of the state dinners.  The upper level features the “Life in the White House” exhibits, which were fun.  Walls full of gifts received, photos of various White House events, and personal memorabilia.  The first floor contains the “time line” of the course of Clinton’s two terms.

Despite all the Lewinsky and impeachment nonsense, he really did accomplish a lot, and you’d go blind before you could ever read it all.  Speaking of Monica, they don’t!  Her name is never mentioned.  Everything about that fiasco is a careful pas de deux around the subject, and is characterized entirely in terms of the constitutional crisis of the phony impeachment effort.  No blue dress on display. 

Other areas contain reproductions of the cabinet room and the oval office.

A nifty temporary exhibit was a display of SofS Madelyn Albright’s collection of pins.  Say, what, you say?  It seems that she has collected pins all her life, and received a ton as gifts.  We’re not talking political buttons here, but fine jewelry which was dazzling.  She would select a pin to wear each day to match either her mood or some point she wished to convey to whomever she was meeting with.  Each pin had a story to explain why she wore it and where she got it.  I enjoyed this exhibit a lot more than I expected to.  Unfortunately, no photos permitted.

The only road leading into the Library is “President Clinton Avenue,” a two-lane slow-moving crawl through what looks to be a college student’s dream quarter-mile of bars, pubs, questionable eating establishments, and trinket shops.  Not exactly the grand entrance one would expect.  Of course, we had to stop on the way out and stroll around, and found a place that boasted homemade mango ice cream.  Well, alrighty!

Never pass up dessert.  Life is too uncertain.  And yes, it was homemade, and delicious.