What to visit eastern part of state....

Hello,

We are planning a trip to Memphis. Since we haven%26#39;t visited Arkansas what is within driving distance to stop and see? We are coming in from Nashville.... Family of three with a teenager.

Thanks!!

OhioTrav

What to visit eastern part of state....

One thing that comes to mind is the Parkin Archeological State Park.

We toured it a year ago and enjoyed the visit. Here%26#39;s its web site:

uark.edu/campus-resources/…parkin.html

What to visit eastern part of state....

Thanks for the website! I%26#39;ll check into!!!!

OhioTrav

As the paucity of responses indicates, there%26#39;s not a whole lot to see and do in eastern Arkansas. Besides the Parkin Archaeological Park, there%26#39;s the Lousiana Purchase State Park, which contains the Initial Point from which the first survey teams set out to survey the Louisiana Purchase in 1815. There%26#39;s a stone marker to designate the spot, located in one of the few remaining areas of headwater swamp in the region -- the marker itself is in the middle of the swamp, reached by a quarter-mile long boardwalk from the parking area. More info here: http://users.aristotle.net/~russjohn/lpsp.html . The author of that page is not kidding about the bees, wasps and yellow jackets -- when I took my wife there on our first trip to Arkansas together, she was stung. But it is something that%26#39;s unique, both in terms of being the theoretical starting point relative to which all the territory of the Lousiana Purchase was surveyed, and as about the only place you can still see what this part of Arkansas was like when the first European settlers arrived (and why so many of them decided to go around it, rather than going through it or staying around). Official State Park web site: www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/park.asp… . Do be aware that there%26#39;s no office, no gift shop, no nothing -- not for miles around.

There%26#39;s also The Museum of the Grand Prairie in Stuttgart, Arkansas, which is primarily devoted to the agricultural history of this part of the state: shareyourstate.com/arkansas/grandprairiemuse… .

If you%26#39;re into blues, you could check out the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas, home of radio station KFFA and its world-famous King Biscuit Flour Hour program. http://www.deltaculturalcenter.com/

If you want to extend your visit into Arkansas, it is 2 hours and 15 minutes of flat and non-scenic interstate driving to Little Rock where, regardless of your politics, the Clinton Presidential Center is worth the trip and would be educational to your teen. It sits in a lively and historic area of the City which could be a good overnight destination.

Should you by chance be a Hemmingway buff, you could look into a visit to a museum at the historic home of one of his wives%26#39; family where he wrote Farewell to Arms. It is squeezed up in the corner of Arkansas and also a lengthy foray from Memphis.

Thanks for the added insight! We figure it will be a quick jog over to Arkansas since we have decided to go to Alabama also.

Thanks again,

OhioTrav