Complaint Department: Complaints Department

I don't think I've mentioned this or not, but Little Rock has changed A LOT in the last 5 years, some good...some bad. There's one thing that hasn't changed, DAMN IT'S HOT DOWN HERE!!! It hit 100 and that's not including the heat index. Anyway, it's been a real blast so far and even with the heat, it's still great. Not all of the photos that I took today will get put on by tonight. Reason being that Pinnacle Mountain(I feel) deserves it's own post and I took way more photos than I thought I would. While giving everyone the 4-1-1 on Little Rock, I ate ONLY at exclusive Arkansas based restaurants, no national chains allowed. The whole point was to go back to the places that I knew were good and deserve to have some light shined upon them. I'm still amazed at the difference 5 years makes on a place like this.

My first order of business after hittin Pinnacle Mountain was to get back to the room, get cleaned up and go grab some lunch. The one thing I was really hungry for was a cheeseburger. So, I headed for a spot that is not only great for cheeseburgers, but great for hand-dipped shakes. I pulled into a place called The Purple Cow:

This place has been open for a long time and I knew it was a sure thing. This place always packs them in and when I got there, ALL tables were filled, so I headed for the bar. I set myself down at the place built for one and anything's game for what plonks down next to ya. I ordered a double chocolate shake and a regular single Pattie cheeseburger. I thought about going for a double, but I was going to go for ribs later, so I didn't want to make myself miserable:

As you can see by the photo, I ordered a plain cheeseburger. This is how I ALWAYS take my cheeseburgers because I want the pure essence of what this thing delivers. To me, putting veggies on it only ruins it. It's how I roll...deal.

After making that cheeseburger history, I went further down the road from the purple cow to see a very familiar street from some 17 years ago. This is Reservoir road:

Back when I had a 914, I renamed this Rollercoaster road for obvious reasons. It goes further beyond that last hill you see. By the way, I had nothing to do with that garbage can getting knocked over, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

From there, I decided to hit the River Market off of President Clinton Ave. This is where it starts:

It used to be Markham all the way down, but from this point on, it's all President Clinton Ave. Here is where you will find a real honest to goodness farmer's market, this thing is pretty big:

The photos don't do it justice, especially since I got there in the afternoon while people are packing it in for the day. I went further down to the right from here and got a shot of some more street vendors:

You'll find a wide variety of trinkets being hocked up in here. You also have the Riverfront Ampitheater:

A lot of great Summertime concerts go on out here where you have your choice of regular seating or just bring a lawn chair and cop a squat anywhere on the grass. To my right from taking this photo was this:

and no, the chairs aren't comfortable, but it looks cool. Moving back up to the street I found quite possibly the best place to get a steak in the south or at least within any state connected to Arkansas. Yes, that's a might big statement, but once you try this place, it backs its own play. I'm talkin' about Sonny Williams' Steak Room w/piano bar:

After getting a steak here, find a better place to get one, I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU! But what if steak ain't your thing? What then? Fish perhaps? Well, if that's what you want:

The that's what you'll get at the Flying Fish. From catfish to Red Snapper, but don't just take my word for, see for your self:

Plenty of things to get the "itis" and if that happens, you may want to sit down. But why just sit down, when you gat sit and see the sights of the Market area? Peep this:

Yep, trolley cars! The sure friend to those who succumb to the itis while on the go. At this point I have less than 2 hours to meet my good friend Fred who has the surefire cure for my rib fix. So, what do I do? Oh yeah, President Clinton Ave...how about the Presidential Library? Just so you people know, it's a bit of a stretch from the market area to the library. How far? About this far:

and in 100+ degree heat(and that ain't EVEN counting the heat index), I almost had second thoughts, but I didn't have to walk. If you just wait here:

you'll get mini-trams to come pick you up and take you over there. Just so you get a further appreciation of how far away this damn thing is away from the Market area, check this out:

Yeah, you better recognize, if not, ya better ask somebody. When you finally get there, you're gonna have to pass through one of these:

I did feel that the strip search was a bit unnecessary. From there you proceed to the main lobby where you have to buy admission to the rest of the library:

I sure did sweat and really did sigh, I even kissed 7 bucks gooooood-bye! You can opt for an audio tour which they give you this wand looking thing that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to listen to what comes out or sing karaoke. Check the full list: