New HBO Series has Arkansas Roots

July 18, 2008 9:23 AM

Zoie Clift
Travelarkansas@gmail.com

Some interesting news came across my desk that I wanted to share. Characters created by Arkansas writer Charlaine Harris will soon make the transition to the screen in a new vampire series set to air on HBO.

Harris has called Magnolia home for the past 20 years and her 24 books have been published around the world. The series, True Blood, is being directed by Alan Ball of Six Feet Under fame and is based on Harris’s  Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire novels, one of the most popular being From Dead to Worse. The base of the show revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid living in Louisiana who can read people's minds. The series is set in a world where vampires can live out in the open, thanks to the development of synthetic blood that allows them to survive without feeding on humans.

Keep an eye out for the series if you get a chance. It debuts Sept. 7. Oscar-winner Anna Paquin (The Piano, X-Men) stars as Sookie and British actor Stephen Moyer is Bill Compton, a 173-year-old vampire.  





Celebrating a Movie Icon – and Arkansas Landmark

July 17, 2008 2:57 PM
Kerry Kraus
                                                                                                                    Photo Courtesy Turner Classic Movies 
 
Most people in Arkansas know the trivia tidbit about North Little Rock’s Old Mill appearing in the opening credits of the 1939 movie classic “Gone With The Wind.” On August 6, the mill and surrounding T.R. Pugh Park will celebrate its 75th anniversary.  This got me to wondering – how in the world did MGM plus the producers and directors of the movie know about the building and what made them come all the way to North Little Rock to shoot it?  Surely there were other mills a tad closer to Los Angeles than ours.  I started asking around. 
 
First on the list were my good friends at the North Little Rock Visitors Bureau.  Elizabeth Elizandro’s response was, “From what I have heard, it was some stock film” but she wasn’t sure.  She suggested I contact the North Little Rock History Commission.
 
Cary Bradburn was kind enough to reply saying basically “we don’t know the answer to your question.”  He then went on to say, “James P. Faucette, North Little Rock’s third mayor, lived in West Hollywood in southern California from 1917 to the mid-1930s. Faucette was a friend of Justin Matthews [builder of the mill] and the two men corresponded on a regular basis. However, I have found nothing concerning your question in the Faucette papers at the ButlerCenter. Most of the personal letters are from the teens. I suspect that the Faucette connection had something to do with it.”  So, I guess we still have a “history mystery” but it just adds to the romance surrounding the mill.

Activities scheduled for the celebration include a rededication of the park along with speakers and local dignitaries, refreshments and items for sale marking the occasion. Members of the following families have been invited to attend: Justin Matthews, Frank Carmean, the architect/builder who designed the park setting and the mill itself; T.R. Pugh, for whom the park is named; and Senor Dionicio Rodriguez, the master craftsman responsible for all the exquisite concrete work. The public is invited to attend the festivities which begin at 7 p.m. 

The Old Mill is located at Lakeshore Drive & Fairway Avenue in North Little Rock. Call 501-758-1424 for more information.

Eat in Springdale’s Famous Pink Building

July 7, 2008 4:06 PM
 

Jill M. Rohrbach

jillsjourneys@gmail.com

If you’re in or near Springdale and hungry for some good home cookin’, Neal’s Café is THE place. In fact, it’s an institution where people not only gather to eat but also to talk politics and socialize about the business of the day.


You’ll find it at 806 N. Thompson, which is also Ark. 71B.

You’ll spot it by looking for the famous pink brick building it has called home for 64 years. In 1944, Toy and Bertha Neal started serving homemade meals with a varied menu featuring fried chicken fried in iron skillets. At Neal’s you’ll also find catfish, chicken and dumplings, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, smothered steaks and homemade pies and rolls. Southern Living recognized Neal’s Café as one of the top places in America to eat fried chicken on its July 2004 Web site.

Micah Neal is now manager of the café that his family started and that his father Don Neal owns. They also serve up salads, sandwiches and burgers and breakfast like only grandma can make. I recommend Don’s Special – biscuit, sausage, egg and cheese with gravy poured on top for $3.99.

Neal’s Café is open from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. For Carry-Out orders call 751-9996 or 750-0090.

Horseshoe Lake Celebrates Independence Day

June 28, 2008 6:43 PM
 
Kimberly J. Williams, travel writer
DeltaTraveler@gmail.com


Horseshoe Lake
, a scenic oxbow lake located east of Hughes along the Great River Road, is ready to celebrate! Since late April, the lake has been back at its full level for the first time since 2005. At almost 3,000 acres, Horseshoe Lake is a popular fishing and boating destination for residents of the Arkansas Delta and the region.

The town of Horseshoe Lake is hosting its annual Independence Day activities beginning on Friday, July 4. The day will start with a 5K run. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. and the run starts at 7 a.m. at Bonds Marina. For those who prefer bicycling, the Tour de Horseshoe Bicycle Race will begin at 8:30 a.m. Both races give participants a great opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Horseshoe Lake.

On Saturday, July 5, activities and games will be held throughout the day at the Surf Club. A boat parade will start at 6:30 p.m. at Clyde’s Boat Ramp. As evening gives way to dark, the sky will light up with fireworks! According to Pat Bonds, Horseshoe Lake resident, the fireworks display will kick off right before 9 p.m.

To learn more about the activities being hosted by Horseshoe Lake, phone 870-339-3381.

To find out more events commemorating Independence Day, click here. 
 

Arkansas’s Road Food

June 20, 2008 8:20 AM

 

Anyone who does any amount of traveling at all knows who Michael and Jane Stern are.  They created the crème de la crème of dining guides years ago and named it Roadfood.  These food experts have traveled the country, looking for good home-style cooking located off-the-beaten path.  Their books have created a whole new genre of travel – foodie travel, cuisine travel or cuisine culture.  Whatever it’s called, it pretty much began with the publication of Roadfood.  And, bless their hearts, in a November 2003 Gourmet Magazine article, they stated "Arkansas is known as one of America's foremost pie states…" 

 
Recently I was lucky enough to receive the “revised and updated” version with 200 new listings. As I always do when I receive such a book, I immediately look at the Arkansas selections.  Though I’ve lived here my whole life and feel like I’ve eaten my way through the state, there are still a bunch of places out there I haven’t discovered. 
 
                                                       Feltner's Whatta-Burger, Russellville
There are 10 Arkansas listings in this current Roadfood edition and they are spread all over the state.  They are Cotham’s Mercantile in Scott; Family Pie Shop and Craig’s Bar-B-Q, both in DeValls Bluff; Doe’s Eat Place in Little Rock; Ed and Kay’s in Benton; Feltner’s Whatta-Burger in Russellville; Little Chef in Stuttgart; McClard’s in Hot Springs, Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales in Lake Village and the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Greenbrier.  I haven’t eaten at all of these yet – but  I'm working on  it!
                                                                                                                                            
 
Wagon Wheel Restaurant, Greenbrier
Their comments make interesting reading – and they also make you want to go jump in the car and visit one, no matter how much gasoline costs.  You gotta eat, right?  You can order a copy of the updated Roadfood guide along with others written by the Sterns, plus read their recommendations, on www.roadfood.com.  They are all great books to keep in the car – ready to go when you are.  
 
 
What are your favorite “Roadfood” places in Arkansas? Which dining establishments do you think should be suggested to the Sterns for the next edition? E-mail me your suggestions at NaturalStateBlogger@gmail.com.
 
 
 
 

Did you know?

Mount IdaMount Ida, AR: This is the largest marina on Lake Ouachita. The beauty of Lake Ouachita and the Ouachita Mountains from the restaurant is awesome. The food at the restaurant is great. Learn More ...