Arrived in Little Rock around 5 and it was heavy traffic time. This is a small city/town, but there was still gridlock. As I punched in random points on the GPS and then arbitrarily chose to override the directions, I ended up on President Clinton Way. Stuck behind a trolley car, crawling along the street, I finally broke free and found a spot. Despite having limited visibility due to a full car, it was easy to parallel park because the spaces here are fit for pick-up trucks. It wasn't until I got out of the car that I saw I was in front of a restaurant that had locals pouring into it.
Welcome to the Flyin' Fish. Exactly the place I wanted to find, a Southern seafood joint. I ordered up a fried oyster basket, complete with hush puppies. This was my first meal of the day and the food was sensational. The place was a ethnically diverse and a mixture of young & old. Everyone was friendly. Great find.
Walking out I realized I was on a happening street right alongside the river. I walked around a bit, popped into a bar called the Golden Saucer that offered over 200 beers. Not really my thing but still a very cool place.
Though I was parked in front of the downtown Courtyard Marriott I figured I could save a few bucks by heading up the highway towards Memphis. Now I'm in a Holiday Inn Express for $104 a night in Lonoke, AR. I'm getting screwed. This place has no hot tub. The room is nice, but I would be better off across the street at the Days Inn for $30 less and no expectation of a hot tub. In terms of symmetry, the first hotel I found on my journey out west was a Holiday Inn Express. That was in Kentucky. And that one had a hot tub.
Tomorrow I'm going to Memphis. Graceland. Home of The King. I'm very excited for that. Tonight was real fun because it was the first time on the trip I took in my surroundings. The next couple days should be cool.
Two songs of the day today.
The first comes from a box set of Tom Jones recordings from his Las Vegas set late '70s/early '80s TV show. That box set is one of my prize possessions. Purchased for $6 at the Virgin Megastore (on Newbury/Mass Ave) closeout sale, it shows not only artistry but professionalism. Sir Tom got up there every day and knocked out about 3 songs a day, all under 3 minutes in length. But they had some inspired arrangements, and he gave his all on every one of the vocals. When I was living in my studio on Huntington Avenue, I would cook dinner, drink wine, and blast these cds (and various others) and sing my heart out. Here is a great example of taking a very famous song and making it his own, with total '70s flair and raw sexuality (notice the thrill of the crowd as he takes off the blue sequined jacket). Also, TJ was great friends with The King himself.
And once I reached my unexpected destination this wonderful surprise, Tina Turner singing "Nutbush City Limits." I may not be in Tennessee yet but what a great example of Southern rock 'n roll! This was playing as I walked into the Flying Fish and I was thrilled to hear it. I'm more familiar with the version from the '80s double disc, Tina In Europe, but we've got to go with the original with that bastard Ike Turner and the welcome presence of the Ikettes:
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