saturday night in texarkana
one of a very few places that can make a legitimate claim to being the birthplace of rock-n-roll
so this morning i woke up in memphis and began my way here to texarkana. i started by driving around downtown memphis for a bit, past sun studios, the fedex forum, beale street, the pyramid, etc. i then crossed over the mighty mississipp'. its impressive looking. it seems america uses the mississippi river as a marker to deliniate east and west, so i guess today is the first day i can say im 'out west'. anyway, here i am in texarkana, which is a town on the border of texas and arkansas. get it - tex-arkana? these folks are clever. actually, driving through arkansas i also passed a town called 'arkadelphia'. so i guess arkansas city planners just like to stick parts of the word arkansas onto city names. i found arkadelphia to be a lot like philadephia, except it sucks and its in arkansas. im just kidding, i didnt go into town - just passed it on the highway - but i bet it sucks anyway. one neato thing aboot texarkana is theres a road called 'state line avenue' which is actually the texas/arkansas state line. i knew my hotel was on this road, but didnt know which side of the street it was on, and therefore didnt know what state i was staying in. ill have you know im staying in texas. but this town is kind of a shithole. its the smallest town i think ill be staying in on my trip. so if i had to guess, id say this is the place im most likely to be referred to as 'city boy' and get my ass kicked. ive already been made to squeal like a pig three times today. it sucks. but tonight im gonna check out a local chain called 'tico taco' and hope i dont get sick. one thing i forgot to mention yesterday is i tried some fried dill pickles, which is a not-that-common bbq delicacy (memphis being one of the established four corners of the bbq world - others: north carolina, texas and kansas city). they were tasty. anyway, this place is just a stopover, tomorrow is a seven hour drive to (hopefully) lovely san antonio, which i can only hope is not overrun by angry 'fugees.
posted by Keith @ 2:23 PM
5 Comments:
i totally forgot to mention exactly why i decided to stop here. in leadbelly's song "cotton fields" (which has been covered by everyone from johnny cash to the beach boys - and best covered by creedence clearwater revival) he says, "it was down in louisiana just about a mile from texarkana, in them old cotton fields back home". anyway, ive always loved the song, and took the opportunity to see the area he described. but i checked an atlas and texarkana is aboot 30 miles from the louisiana border. silly leadbelly.
Well, hey...if you're cruisin' through Arkansas again, be sure to stop in Hot Springs...straight up I-30 from Texarkana, or about 30 minutes north of Arkadelphia on Hwy 7.
Ours is a unique demographic here in Hot Springs, where the median age is 42. Over 40% of us have incomes of $100K or more, and we support 12 championship golf courses and 27 non-profit organizations directly related to the visual and performing arts. Having hosted a Historic District Gallery Walk the first Friday of each month for nearly 16 years, Hot Springs was recently named #4 Art Town in America.
There are definitely other great things to do here during the year. The first two weeks of June attract nearly 200 pre-professional classical and jazz musicians for the Hot Springs Music Festival. Early September brings the annual Bluesfest and Hot Springs Jazzfest.
By late October, the city swells with nearly 20,000 people for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, one of four preliminary sites for the Academy Awards in the documentary category.
From January through April, hotels and restaurants are booming with racing fans at Oaklawn Jockey Club, a 102-year-old thoroughbred racetrack.
Cradled by the Ouachita Mountains, three pristine lakes lure the likes of FLW Bass Fishing Championships. Located on a 210-acre peninsula of Lake Hamilton is a breathtaking bounty of botanical beauty known as Garvan Woodland Gardens.
Our particularly outstanding accommodations include Lookout Point Lakeside Inn, one of only three Arkansas inns listed on the Select Registry. Embassy Suites Hot Springs, an all suite hotel adjacent to Summit Arena, was ranked #1 Embassy Suites worldwide for 2004.
Best of all, Hot Springs is packed with people who understand hospitality. Sure, we have attractions. But without the people who live here, we'd be a ghost town instead of a resort town.
Local people. Local events. Hot Springs' REAL attraction.
Come see us again!
Rebecca McCormick, Executive Editor
Hot Springs Life & Home magazine
Hey Ketih,
If I were you I would definately watch out for them 'fugees. You dont want them to jack the hoopty and go for a joyride....
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i dont ever remember liking choco tacos. if i did it must have been a quickly passing fancy. they combine two things i dont like - chocolate and ice cream. you might think that would double the amount of me not liking it, but i dislike it just the same as its two ingredients.
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