Day 24: Hope, AR
Welcome
Yesterday we enjoyed our first rest day in a couple of weeks.
Hope is town in southwestern Arkansas, not far from the Texas border. It has a population of around 10,000 and is probably best known as the birthplace of former Arkansas governor and US President Bill Clinton. The thing that really puts Hope on the map, however, is its continued ability to produce the largest watermelons in the world. The current record holder is Lloyd Bright who in 2005 produced a 122kg watermelon, fitting tribute to the town slogan A Slice of the Good Life.
Yesterday our shiny, long, straight banana was parked up outside Holiday Inn Express Hope. I’ll split the day up into three segments while I describe its events.
Part 1: The Walk to Waffle House
The closest restaurant was just across the carpark from the hotel. It was a Mexican restaurant called Dos Loco Gringos, and it was decently rated. Instead of breakfasting there we decided to head to Waffle House, and save the Mexican option for dinner. Waffle House demanded a bit of a walk so we set out along US Route 278 which for the most part was equipped with usable footpaths and working crossings. We passed the haunted restaurant, crossed over Interstate 30, and after ten minutes had arrived in the northwestern portion of Hope, an area rich with car dealerships and fast food restaurants.
The restaurant formerly known as Western Sizzlin’.
All the greats were a stone’s throw away from each other. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, and then the breakfast titan we know as Waffle House. I had put out a call on my social media app asking for menu recommendations; this wasn’t my first trip to Waffle House but I was hardly a regular. As it happened the service at this restaurant was so quick that I was forced to order after only a handful of recommendations had reached me. Messages continued to flow in throughout the afternoon though. Words like scattered, covered, and smothered, peppered my inbox and I thought rather than waste this valuable data I should collate it and turned it into a word cloud. A valuable resource for future ordering.
I ended up ordering a pecan waffle, and a hashbrown that was scattered, smothered, covered, diced, peppered, and capped.
We left Waffle House feeling very satisfied and headed back across the I30 - Route 287 Interchange, stopping briefly to read the Welcome to Hope sign that sits outside the Chevrolet/GMC dealership.
Crossing the I-30 - Route 274 Interchange.
The Welcome to Hope sign.
Part 2: The Trip to Walmart
The next part of our day was a trip to the mega-store, Walmart. I think this was only the second time I had been inside a Walmart so I took the time to thoroughly explore the different sections. I have to say that I wasn’t particularly impressed, overall, but we do have Kmart in New Zealand and that’s quite hard to top. The candy and soft drink selection, however, was first class and I stocked up in preparation for the next phase of our day. Liz made three trips to Walmart over the course of her day, and managed to put together a couple of nice bus meals from the supplies she gathered.
Part 3: The Sitting of on the Bus
I commandeered the back lounge of the bus for the afternoon, using it as my office while I worked on the blog. The front lounge was also a hive of activity. The second and third Hunger Games films were screened while people passed in and out of the bus, heading into the hotel to shower or do laundry.
It began to rain in the evening and I was grateful that we only had to walk a hundred meters to get to our dinner spot, Dos Loco Gringos. Gabe being the fine cultural ambassador that he is introduced us to an excellent beverage, the Coronarita, which is exactly what it looks and sounds like: a Margarita with a small bottle of Corona in it.
Our final task of the day was to finish the final installment in the great Hunger Games tetralogy. A film built around the very idea of hope, and the perfect end to our stay in Arkansas.