Wednesday, January 4, 2012

The Little Rock in Little Rock

The next morning we enjoyed the buffet at the fabulous Capriccio Grill and we had a really great waiter.  I wish I had remembered to write down his name and/or get a pic with him.  We also had the pleasure of meeting the executive chef who is from France and again I failed to get his name or a pic.  What kind of blogger am I?  Good thing I'm not relying on this as my only source of income.  ;)

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And of course we had to toast to our wonderful life.

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No trip through Little Rock would be complete without having the opportunity to see the "Little Rock" for which the city is named. 

Here we are and it's not the actual "little rock" but a chunk of it.  The pic below us is a pic of the "official" Little Rock. 

From Helium.com

"Today's travelers can get a first hand glimpse of the rocky outcropping that gave birth to the city's name. By visiting the north end of Rock Street (in Riverfront Park) in Little Rock, travelers can look out over the Arkansas River, where they will see "La Petite Roche," the "little rock" discovered by a French explorer in 1722.  

The Discovery of "La Petite Roche"
The first known explorers to the territory that eventually was to become Little Rock, Arkansas, came in 1673, where they encountered the
Native Americans then inhabiting the area, the Quapaw Indians. Some years later, the famed LaSalle Expedition also explored this area of the Arkansas River.
However, it was not until 1722 when French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bernard de La Harpe (1683-1765), sailed up the river and, upon sighting the first rocky outcropping since leaving the
Mississippi River, took note and named it "La Petite Roche" (Little Rock). A trading post was subsequently established there.

Later expeditions of both French and Spanish explorers came to the area, but it was not until 1819 that the Arkansas territory was officially established. Even then, the land that would become Little Rock was still wilderness, with its graceful bluffs and flowing river. In 1821, Little Rock would officially become the new territory's government seat. It became a real city (incorporation) in 1831 and the capital of Arkansas in 1836."

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We did see a pretty cool submarine.

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And we some other cool things as we walked back to the hotel.

We got back to the hotel in time to see the duck parade again.  Not quite as awesome as the Memphis Peabody but we enjoyed it just the same.

I headed downstairs and had to take a moment and get a shot of this vintage phone.

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Here's M waving from the floor our room was on.

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Back on the road again and heading towards Hot Spring.

<3

 

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