Road Trip 2018 - Day 27, Fatigued In Fayetteville

And on the 27th day even Captain Spouse was ready to drop.

Our plan had been to spend a day driving through the Ozark Mountains taking advantage of the fall colors for (what the State tour guide for motorcyclists called) 'drop dead gorgeous' and 'spectacular' scenery.

Unfortunately when we woke up it was raining and the forecast was for the rain and gloom to continue all day.

Unfortunately when we woke we both realized that we were at the end of our rope energy and physical resilience and really did not have the energy to do 153 miles (the trail we were going to follow) of mountain driving.

Now there are certain people who follow this blog and know the Captain and her faithful Engineer, Scottie (DE-I damn it!) and might bring up the subject of 'repetitive behavior patterns', 'not learning from past experiences' and 'acting ones age'. Your comments are duly noted and accepted for consideration...as they have been after every other one of the Eldership's voyages. We have a special place for them and have scheduled a time to give them our full attention. That time unfortunately keeps being pushed out. Captain and I will be sure to notify you when Eldership Command schedules the preliminary hearings.

But I digress. So here we were in our lovely Airbnb in the outskirts of Fayetteville, Arkansas (Home of the Fayetteville High Bulldogs, Go Dogs!) and the University of Arkansas (Home of the Razorbacks, Go Hogs!) with not much to do. Serendipity, our ever present companion in travel, stepped in. Our Airbnb host had mentioned the previous night if we had time they had a winery just a mile and half away. At the time I didn't think we would have time with the long drive planned but with now time to kill we went on over.

Then I remembered that there was a Rotary club meeting a lunch on Thursday so we decided to go to that as well.

The winery (Sassfras Springs Winery) was a totally pleasant surprise. 

It is a family venture. The parents are the owners and funding source. Two brothers and one daughter-in-law are the management. While they are serious about wine making, the primary revenue generator is being a wedding and events venue.

Here is our contact Drew

It would be hard to find a more enthusiastic and articulate spokesperson for the venture

Here is his brother (sorry forgot his name), who is the wine maker. Not the best picture but he was very busy at working

There were all kinds of neat spaces designed for weekend events to gather and have wine and food

And a lot of attention was paid to decorative details. I found them bright, colorful but not over the top. They all seemed to fit it. LOL by the way, Drew DID NOT pay me to promote his venue. I just was impressed by what I saw

 Some examples of design detail

We tasted the wines

They are still in the process of planting out their own vineyards so most of what they produce is with unpressed fruit purchased in California

The grapes they are growing are all new varieties being developed by the University of Arkansas that will work in their climate

I liked what we tasted

Those who know de-I's opinion of a lot of US non-traditional production will know that is significant compliment

There is a tongue in cheek aspect to the venue that I found hilarious

This is the main venue for wedding ceremonies

It is called (I think) The Ruins Chapel

I thought

"This is cool. Someone has traveled around enough that they understood what ruins look like and figured out a way to incorporate that look without being too hokey"

Here are some shots of what Drew called 'the smallest wine production facility in existence'

Finally the area where the post ceremony celebrations are held

This was converted from a large stable

Keeping with the 'tongue in cheek' motif they made use of a stall door in the men's room!

We then went to the Rotary Club of Fayetteville. A large club but nowhere near as large as the one in Little Rock. We didn't even send a notice we were coming, just dropped in. We felt very welcome. We did the whole exchange of flags thing which was cool. I was asked to do a couple of minutes on who are club was so mentioned that we are female majority club and that because so many of us are retired we do most of our service in the form of actual hours worked at various venues. Evidently that is a very rare model and it seemed to impress a number. There was a speaker from the University, a woman professor of Political Science who talked about the trends of woman involvement in the political process. Very interesting. I think Captain Spouse and I are getting more and more warmed up about using the Rotary connection to expand our experiences as we travel.

The rain had ended by the time we had finished with Rotary so we decided to give part of the drive a chance. But we were too tired and we cut it off and went back.  I ended up taking a 45 minute nap!

Tomorrow we are headed to Guthrie Oklahoma where Captain Spouse has a cousin we will be having lunch with.

Road Trip 2018 - Day Twenty Six - Still More Little Rock

When you are in the 'Natural State' having come from all the other 'Unnatural States', you find yourself engaged with things far beyond what you would expect

As a side note, if Arkansas is the 'Natural State' and all others are "Unnatural States', what exactly is an 'Unnatural State'? Are all other states engaged in constant acts of perversion? Are they exempt from the Natural Laws of Science? What are they?

We had three more things in Little Rock that we had wanted to see - the Arkansas Historic Museum, the State Capitol and Central High School. The Historic Museum turned out to be mildly incredible. They had a very well done introductory film. Then there was tour of the buildings. This whole museum got started in 1939 when a woman recognized there was block in town that while dilapidated represented buildings that dated back to the origins of the city. Then there were art galleries and a really great exhibit on the Native American tribes of the area told in their own voice which was very powerful. On top of all that, the cost was $3.00 for the two of us (with our Senior discount). We've paid much more for much less many times.

Then we stopped for lunch where we finally succeeded in getting some really good fried chicken (a failure for our trip up until then). More on this in pictures. It was good we stopped because we were beat from the prior day. Then we went to the State Capitol because it is now our mission to visit the state capitols of each state we visit.

With our having heard the talk of the principal of Central High yesterday, a drive by photo shoot was all we felt was necessary. Then it was a three hour drive on to Fayetteville in the northwest of the state for one more scenic drive tomorrow.

Photos

Let's start with...

Our expectations were fairly low as we'd been to a number of recreation villages on this trip, but as stated above this place shot way above expectations

Artwork at entrance

In addition to the historic buildings, there were a number of art exhibitions but we were short of time and didn't get to them

The buildings here were built around the 1830's and 40's

This one is the oldest

It was in continuous use until 1938!

Grog was the mail libation served as it was cheaper to get Rum from the sugar plantations downstream than whiskey and beer from the east. 

Where do you get 'two-bits' from?

You breakdown a silver Spanish coin into eight pieces

The proprietor had scales to make sure the splitting of the coins was accurate

Because it acted as a repository of monies, the bar had a protective cage around it

And if a fight broke out

You could close the larger window and still serve drinks through the smaller one

The main room where men came to drink and gamble

A nicer room for women or more genteel guests

Private room rented out to a painter

Owner's quarters

The dormitory for others to sleep in

Two bits got you 1/3rd of one of these beds

More examples of period rooms

From a kitchen a rotisserie 

The open end was pointed to the fire place

Candle molds

Washboard

Candle based time telling unit

Each coil is 30 minutes

Using the wood piece within you could set the time the candle would burn

Useful for limiting the time a man might be visiting your daughter

The print shop of the Little Rock's only newspaper for many years

The publisher's office

Evidently you dealt with those who didn't like your editorials in a direct way

I could see Captain Spouse running this joint

Tools of the trade

A culinary interlude

Finding any let alone any good Southern Fried Chicken has alluded us until today

Gus's World Famous Chicken

 Thought it was a local joint because it looked like a hole in the wall

Turns out it is a chain

But damn good chicken

So crispy and just the lightest of breading

Spicy but not incendiary

Cooked so well there was no greases on the bread below

Even the Pecan Pie was great

Need one in Albuquerque!

On to the State Capitol

Well what do you know

A classic revival building with a dome

How unusual!

Loved these brass doors!

What does it take to make them this way?

I talked to this guy

He polishes them daily

I told him he did great work which I think was appreciated 

Don't think my people even think about the world that goes into this

Deja Vu

Domes, balconies, halls, columns

Lights and windows of course

Ahem

Ionian Capitals

We could only see the House of Delegates through a door

Damn, in a building of Ionian capitals, these were Corinthian!

How did that happen?

The Great Seal

Why a great 'Seal'?

Why not a great Walrus or Whale?

 

Symbol of power

 Senate seats

Get your exercise in!

And finally

Our drive by of Central High

If you are of a certain age, this building front is branded into your memory

So blessed to hear yesterday what the updated story has been!