Hello friends and followers!
Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of not only seeing a good friend, but also using PTO days while doing so (hooray)!
On Friday the 13th (ominous I know) I woke up at the crack of dawn to get to the Charlotte-Douglas Airport in the pouring rain (thanks Dad – 5 star Uber rating).
The airport was uneventful, security and lines were manageable, and I hunkered down at my gate for my 7:30 flight. It was a pretty pricey one-way flight – standard this time of year – coming in at about $180 bucks. Luckily, I had enough miles to get myself home for free so I like to pretend that the $180 was a round trip ticket.
Because of expenses, I chose the long route, opting to make my 2 hour trip a 5-hour one with a layover in Dallas. BUT, after all was said and done, I arrived to overcast Little Rock, Arkansas safe and sound.
In case you were wondering “why they heck Arkansas?” let me explain. One of my good friends Kristen recently relocated to Arkansas with her husband this year. We used to be in the same sorority back during our brief south Georgia stint. She was my “little sister.” So naturally I spent the entire trip gushing about how “I get to visit my LITTLE in LITTLE Rock, WOW!”
The first thing I noticed about Little Rock is that it is indeed…little. Little Rock is the state capital of Arkansas that boasts around 200,000 people. And in the off-season (winter) it seems even smaller. As a city-slicker myself, it’s can be very weird seeing so much open space and houses that are not stacked on top of each other like LEGOs.
The first thing we did was eat. And man, say what you want about southern Mexican food, but we had some AMAZING chorizo tacos and mango margaritas at this place called Local Lime.
After that, it was time to decompress with a brisk walk on a trail behind Kirsten and her husband Josh’s house (with their very spoiled dog, Harley.)
Later that night we went to Lost Forty Brewing – an Arkansas beer staple.
Although Kristen and I are not the biggest beer connoisseurs, this brewery offered a variety of sours which were hits! My favorite was the Strawberry Brunch Muffin – a light, fruity sour that was smooth, easy drinking!
The next day, Kristen and I headed out to downtown Little Rock for some shopping and sight-seeing. First we went to The Heights which could be considered your boujee, locally-owned street of specialized shops.
There were 20 billion fancy lotions (only a slight exaggeration), a surplus of outdoor gear and far too much chocolate that I wanted to buy – but didn’t. I went to great lengths practicing self restraint this trip. We were served mimosas in the first boutique we went to if that gives you any indication to the level of lavishness.
After that we walked around downtown Little Rock, otherwise known as the River Market area.
Here there were plenty more specialty shops that sold everything from custom suits to locally-made fudge to all the sparkly clothing you could ask for from trendy, little boutiques. We treated ourselves to some cake-pops and walked along the Arkansas River to snap some pics while trying our best not to freeze our tail-ends off.
After our trek along the river we decided to go to the state capitol which was #1 massive and #2 oddly security-free. For such a large structure, filled with many historical documents, Kristen and I were very surprised to see people coming and going as they pleased and using the building as their personal studio for photo-shoots.
The inside of the capitol was decked out for the holidays and we spent some time wandering around looking at photos of political figures and staff dating all the way back to the 1800s.
Looking at the photos, it was interesting to see when women were able to push their way into the workforce. The Arkansas capitol was also clear about their very prevalent slave history. For a long time, unsurprisingly, there was a larger slave population in Arkansas then not.
After a long day of walking, that night Kristen, Josh and I went out for personal pizzas at a local favorite: Zaza‘s.
Now the pizza here was AWESOME – granted a solid $13-14 for a basic pizza.
Our nights after exploring were filled with Christmas movies. All together we watched Home Alone, The Holiday (a personal favorite for Kristen and I), Christmas with the Kranks and Four Christmases (which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend).
On Sunday, we got an earlier start than usual to go hiking before the rain set in. We decided to take a short drive out of the city to hike Pinnacle Mountain. We took the West Summit Trail to avoid the long hike around the base of the mountain.
The hike itself wasn’t excessively long, but it was very steep (especially for out of shape me) and did involve climbing atop rock and boulder to make it to the top.
At the peak, the view was gorgeous – overlooking the city in the distance as well as the river snaking it’s way through the hills. We couldn’t stay up there very long (as much as I wanted to) for the wind was threatening to blow us off the mountain while chilling us to the bones.
It was still very worth it.
After our trek back down the mountain (with the rain at our heels), we had a lazy last day cooking at home, doing last minute Christmas shopping and escaping the gloomy weather outside by curling up near the fire.
Monday morning, my flight out was early (albeit thankfully direct) and I returned back home with enough time to take a nap before my night shift started at WBTV.
Overall thoughts: Little Rock is about what I expected! Little. There isn’t too much to do nightlife-wise, but if you are a fan of nature/hikes, niche shops and barely any traffic – then it is worth the visit! The airport is clean and easy to navigate and the food was surprisingly good! Plus, if you are a history buff, there is plenty to be unearthed in this old-south state.
Anyways, this was the recap of my first stay in Arkansas! Thank you so much to Kristen and Josh (and their pup Harley) for having me in your home. Now it’s your turn to come visit me!
See y’all next time – thanks for reading! Remember to subscribe to be notified of the next time I post.
