A visit to Slick Willy's library and a cheap Little Rock tour

View of our campground from Clinton walk bridge

With the William J. Clinton Presidential Library staring at us from across the Arkansas River we decided that we would at least stop there for a visit.

After cleaning up in the RV Park showers, which could have been made from the same shower companies who provide shower pods to the troops in Afghanistan, we were ready to tour.

Joan at the Clinton Library

A pedestrian bridge from our RV park over the river drops you off right at the front door of the library and it is only about a ½-mile walk. We also purchased tickets to ride the downtown troller all day, which only cost $2 a piece.

The library, as all Presidential libraries are, is a three-story one-sided tribute to the person whose name is on the front door.

There is an impeachment corner, but no mention of Monica Lewinsky or the particulars of how President came to be impeached. But the museum has a replica Oval Office (as does the Ford Museum in Grand Rapids) and a reproduction of the cabinet room (ditto for the Ford Museum).

Clinton's ride

I’m always fascinated by the gifts received by the various Presidents from the leaders of other countries and there were some pretty cool gifts displayed at the Clinton Library.

Joan, who was more of a supporter of Bill Clinton than me, thought the building fulfilled Clinton’s vision that its shape would represent a bridge, meaning that he was a bridge over the vast middle class of the country merging divergent interests.

The stacks and artifacts from each year of Clinton's term

I thought it looked more like a single-wide trailer. The eye of the beholder strikes again.

We spent a good three hours touring the library and watching a Clinton narrated film on his life and Presidency. His story, one of a young boy born of modest means in the backwoods of Arkansas rising to become President is certainly an inspiring American story no matter what your politics.

Oval office reproduction

It just would have been refreshing if the former President, instead of criticizing his enemies for the impeachment, at least acknowledged that perhaps he had made a mistake. No little Lewinsky blue dress mixed in with the First Lady’s ball gowns either.

I haven’t been to the Nixon Library, but I’m hoping that the folks who put that together are a little more honest about Tricky Dick’s problems than Slick Willy’s folks were on the Lewinsky affair.

Joan and a Heron at Nature Center

The library is well worth the small cost and when we were done we had lunch in the park next the library, near a hill that I am sure will someday be the former President’s resting place. (They must think about those things when they build these libraries, don’t they?)

So we walked toward the River Market area in downtown Little Rock and while Joan rested I went in search of Le Petite Roche, the small outcropping of rocks named by the French in the 1700s from which the city got its name.

The point of rocks that gave LR its name

If a sign I found is correct the rock outcropping was pretty much destroyed in the late 1800s when city leaders built a bridge foundation right on the rocks. There is a chunk of the original rock, which I took a photo of.

With our $2 trolley tickets in hand we hopped on a downtown trolley and let it take us all around downtown. The drivers of these electric trolley cars are well versed in city history and it was a pretty cheap tour.

Downtown Trolley - $2 to ride all day

Jerry (or Gerry, I didn’t ask) was particularly delightful and gave us some shopping tips which turned out to be fruitful, but how so I can’t say since they resulted in gifts for a couple people I know.

With touring and shopping complete we headed back to the pedestrian bridge and caught a ride on a Clinton Library golf cart shuttle downtown to save us a little time and wear and tear.

Clinton Library

Tomorrow, the town will start to be overrun with sports fans coming to watch regional NCAA basketball games at the Verizon Center which is within a long free throw from our RV park.

Before we left this morning Joan put the Sloppy Joans in the crock pot and we sat down to a nice hot, easy dinner when we arrived home.

It was hot enough today to use the air conditioner this evening.