October 25, 2023 Day 8 Harrison Arkansas to Fort Smith Arkansas 139 miles
The car had some raindrops this morning. Luckily not many but the skies look ominous. We headed out at our usual 9 am. We had not gotten far when it began to rain. We drove in and out of storms most of the morning.
Harrison was having a Ride the Ozark Rally on Friday and Saturday. Lots of motorcycles in the area. This is an annual event. Several motorcycles were under the entry door roof of the hotel.
We are definitely on some of the back roads today. Not much traffic and narrow. The roads go up and down and around curves. Rob really has his work cut out between shifting and turning. The rain was too heavy to take pictures. The clouds were down low and hid the mountains from view. The windshield is covered with droplets which isn’t good for picture taking.
This is Sunday so lots of people are in church. Just about every church is present and they all have cars around. This area must be part of the Bible Belt.
We arrived in Fort Smith about noon. We ate lunch and then went to the hotel. We were able to check in early. This Super 8 is a step down from all the ones we have stayed in. No microwave!
Then we are off to the Clayton House. This is a beautiful Victorian home finished in 1882. The first portion of the house was completed in the 1852. Those people lost it to bankruptcy. The next owners added more house. He was a prosecutor in the Federal Court. At one time it was an apartment house with 10 apartments that housed about 100 people. The house is now owned by the Historical Society and is a museum. Rooms were decorated in various timeframes to represent the house throughout its history. A family with two children, parents and grandparents were on the tour with us. The children were constantly turning lights on and off, playing the piano and touching everything. None of the adults seemed to care. Both of us wanted to reprimand the children and adults. This was a test of our self control.
From here we headed to the Fort Smith Historical Site and the Trolley Museum. We managed to find the Trolley Museum and went inside. Oh my gosh it was terrible. Inside had very few artifacts but numerous cats and dogs. They were everywhere and the smell was unbearable. We left as soon as possible.
Across the street was the Fort Smith Historical Site. This is run by the National Parks Service so out parks pass worked. The lady at the information desk was less than enthusiastic. Only two buildings remain. The courthouse/jail and the commissary. They have lots to read but not much to see.
Since we have no microwave we decided to eat out. Miss Anna’s sounded interesting. Connie had catfish and Rob had pulled pork baker potato. The food was only fair.
In driving between sites this town looks depressed. We did see a couple of homeless and a few strange individuals. Hopefully its just the part of town we are in. Not on our need to come back list.
Spoffords Travel 