I watch Little Rock from a streetcar window as the trolley chugs through the streets of downtown, a place that lives up to its title. Arkansas’ capital does not boast a dramatic skyline or even a size that overwhelms. It is truly little, but its heart is certainly large. The River Rail Electric Streetcars in Little Rock are easy to spot. They stun the eyes in their bright yellow coloring. The clickety-click of the tracks make for a rhythmic sound one could fall asleep to while cruising the streets of the downtown. For $1, I ride the Blue Line, a 3.4 mile loop with 15 stops in downtown and Continue Reading
Clinton’s Little Rock: A Tour of Arkansas’ Capital Through Presidential Eyes
I pull up a slightly worn seat at a simple table adorned with a red-checkered tablecloth. I can see the kitchen from my perch and probably the big wigs of Arkansas politics. A few patrons wear those goofy bow ties as only some can do. Doe’s Eat Place is the sort of space where people in suits sit on shabby chairs and feast on T-Bone, Porterhouse and Sirloin steaks dressed in fries. Doe’s Eat Place is a Little Rock landmark. The idea was carried over from the first Doe’s in Greenville, Mississippi. Doe’s of Little Rock maintained the no frills tradition for good steaks and hot tamales. Over Continue Reading
St. Louis, Missouri Wishes You Were Here
I can be bribed to travel for any rhyme or reason especially if you toss in a world’s largest attraction as one of the stops along the way. I found myself meeting St. Louis on a short weekend, beginning with its grand introduction not of the Gateway Arch but rather the World Largest Rocking Chair. Built in 2008, the chair stands over 42 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Just before you reach St. Louis, Missouri, you can stumble upon this rocker in the town of Fanning. I forced a carload full of people to stop here, some willing and others not so willing, just for a moment to appreciate this taste of Continue Reading
San Antonio, Texas Wishes You Were Here
There is something about the human condition and the underdog story. Whether it is a sport’s team cast as the underdog, the team without any chance to win or a historical tale without hope on paper, being stacked up against the odds and fighting back romanticizes a world that at times can seem very far from romantic. I rise early to see Texas’ ultimate underdog, the Alamo. Rain is starting to drizzle, hence the tourist ponchos making an appearance. I turn the corner and in the truest of underdog fashions, the Alamo lends those feelings of being inadequate. The small little façade of the Shrine Continue Reading
Rocky Mountain National Park Wishes You Were Here
I picnic at Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park, a scene similar to that on the bottle of the brand’s ranch dressing. Only I have fewer vegetables. A simple sandwich always tastes better outside in fresh mountain air. I hear something just beyond my perch. It’s a brook babbling, almost on cue. The scene is laughably perfect and I guess in many respects what you see on that bottle of ranch dressing. I’m spending a few hours at Rocky Mountain National Park simply because I can. When you live in Colorado all of your life, you sometimes forget people come from all corners of the Continue Reading
Photographing Uncertainty and Beyond at Caddo Lake in Texas
Travel is fraught with uncertainties. You might think you know what to expect, what you will see and when you will get there, but in reality, you never know. The process is similar to dominoes. If one element falls through or there is a missed connection, all expectations and thoughts of certainty fall at the same time. It is uncertain, much like the borders between Louisiana and Texas at Caddo Lake. The lines are truly muddied, where islands, swamps and bayous make up the division. On my road trip, I decided to leave the state of Texas in a state of uncertainty. I made my way to the Continue Reading
The Texas Gulf Coast Wishes You Were Here
Vacations aren’t always pretty. Destinations can fail short of our expectations. We imagine how these settings will look and when they don’t fit the imagination, we can feel like paradise has been lost. My high expectations for cute and quaint met the opposite somewhere along the Texas Gulf coast. Rather than accepting defeat, I swore to find the details of the vacation I wanted, beginning with the towns of Rockport and Fulton. They are the type of towns where you don’t know where one begins and where the other ends. Like a collision of the beach town variety, their march toward one another is Continue Reading