Fogside Pinnacle

Last Saturday was a cold and rainy winter day, which sometimes can make for some interesting pictures. So I headed west towards the Ouachita National Forest, which is just a relatively short drive from Little Rock. Along the way I passed by this old store, abandoned and empty. I'm assuming that Game Room probably used to host some rad Pac-Man games back in the day.



I ended up driving the bumpy dirt road that leads to Flatside Pinnacle, which was transformed into miles of slick mud by all the heavy rains that day. The car slid in a few spots, but managed to get by ok (other than getting completely covered in mud). There were also many stretches where the road disappeared in the thick fog.







Unsurprisingly, there weren't a lot of other people out driving there that day, for some reason.



I made the short hike up to the top of Flatside Pinnacle, which sits at an elevation of about 1,500 feet and was completely blanketed by fog.



Usually this is one of the best views in the state - where you can see miles and miles of wooded hills stretching off into the distance. This was the view the last time I was here:


The rocks along the top of the mountain were covered with a wide variety of mosses and lichen, which glowed a vibrant green against the dull browns of the foggy winter woods.



I started to head home since it was starting to get darker and foggier, but did try to get one last shot along the way (and somehow didn't manage to get stuck in the mud).

There's No Place Like Dome For The Holidays

Streaks of light from cars passing beneath the Arkansas State Capitol, which was decked out in thousands of lights for the holiday season.

Downtown Sunset

I was lucky enough last week to be able to catch a nice little sunset over downtown Little Rock, which was reflected in the still waters of the Arkansas River.



A few months back, the waters weren't quite as still. The river was in a major flood stage, and Riverfront Park in North Little Rock was under several feet of water. You can still see evidence of the flooding - the sidewalks have been repaved after the currents ripped up the concrete. There are still huge mounds of sand and dirt that was deposited by the flood waters.



And one final shot of the skyline, where a few buildings were showing off some Christmas lights.

Riding The Rails

The path that the trolley that runs throughout downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock follows isn't all that long, but it does manage to hit some notable locations. It runs by the River Market, the Clinton Presidential Library, Main Street Argenta, the Old State House, the Historic Arkansas Museum, King Friday's Castle, the Great Oak Tree and even the home of Grandpere Tiger (I may be getting these mixed up with some locations that the trolley from Mr. Rogers visits in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe). But every winter, the trollies are decked out with some Christmas lights and decorations, which do a good job brightening up the streets at night. So I made an attempt at getting a a few shots of some of the trollies as they slowly made their way through downtown Little Rock. This was taken while looking down President Clinton Avenue by the River Market.



A few blocks away, the lights of the trolley were reflected in some buildings along Markham Street near the Old State House.



And then one last shot, with a blur of lights from the streetcar passing by the brightly-lit Old State House.

Capitol Fireworks

We headed out last weekend to see the fireworks show at the State Capitol, which happens right when about 100,000 holiday lights are switched on for the season. This year, the state changed things up and placed fireworks all along the roof of the building and the dome (which burned red and eerily looked like the dome was on fire at times). But we had set up on a hill behind the capitol which usually provides a good view, but this year most of the fireworks seemed to be aimed towards the front. It was still a good little show. Jonah watched and asked to see it again as soon as it ended.

Ghosted

There is a billboard company here that likes to advertise itself by saying something like billboards are the public's art gallery, which always seems extremely silly. But I did find one time where it was actually true. Located along a busy road near downtown Little Rock is this old billboard, which has faded and rusted over the years into a work of art. It's now a ghost sign, advertising businesses that probably no longer exist and products that are definitely no longer available to purchase for Christmas presents. It's hard to make out what all the sign says, though it looks like it last promoted a place called Yanks that had delicious food.

Mount Holly Cemetery

Some strong winds have recently knocked just about all the leaves off the trees, so I guess the Fall Color season is now officially over. But I did recently try to make one last attempt at autumn pictures, ending up at Mount Holly Cemetery in downtown Little Rock. There were a few trees still stubbornly holding onto their leaves, sitting amidst the solemn rows of graves.



The cemetery is called the "Westminster Abbey of Arkansas" because the large number of important people who are buried here, which includes eleven governors, four US Senators, thirteen state Supreme Court justices, twenty-one Little Rock mayors and a Pulitzer Prize winning poet. They are buried there with artists, writers, slaves, soldiers and countless others that reflect the early history of Arkansas and Little Rock.



The cemetery also contains a great collection of Victorian statues and markers, which make for interesting pictures (or if you want to feel all gothic).



The cemetery is still open and is home to some recent burials. I was surprised to see that Jennings Osborne is buried here, but I assume that his marker isn't marked by thousands of glowing red Christmas lights.



The cemetery is wedged alongside a busy Broadway and along I-630, but the sounds of the city seem to be muffled here.







I headed out from the cemetery and drove through downtown and ended up by the Christ Episcopal Church along Capitol Avenue. The church was built in 1941, and the red side door seemed to really contrast well with the fall colors.



And one last shot showing Little Rock City Hall, which was flanked by two trees that were still showing off some fall colors. City Hall was opened in 1908 and used to feature a large dome, but that was taken down in 1956.

North Little Rock

As a proud native of North Little Rock, I was pleased to head back to my Dogtown roots and check out a few places in my hometown that were showing off some good fall colors a few weeks back. My first stop was The Old Mill, which I know is a popular spot but it's one of my favorite places to drop in for pictures. My grandparents used to live just a few blocks away, so I have made many visits to this landmark over the years. On this visit, it was surprisingly empty of people (probably because it was pouring rain). In fact there were more ducks here than people, and they didn't seem to mind me trying to take a few pictures.





From there I headed over to Burns Park, where I stopped to get a few pictures in the rain. This path actually lead to a small cemetery.



The person buried in the small cemetery actually lived in the small cabin the sits nearby, which was built before the Civil War. I think this humble little cabin is actually the oldest building in all of the North Little Rock.



I drove a bit down the road and stopped to get this shot. Luckily there wasn't much traffic that day.



I headed over to the covered bridge, where a strong wind had picked up and created a sort of "leaf-fall," where the trees shedded their leaves in mass and sent them falling down in a sort of cascade. You can kind of see it in this shot, where the leaves created a few brownish-orange streaks against the red of the bridge.



And one last shot from Burns Park, from inside the covered bridge showing off the fall colors that were there before the wind knocked them all of the trees....

Keo and Scott

My work was kind enough to close down for Veteran's Day, so I took advantage of the time off and went to take a few pictures of the fall colors before they were gone. I headed out to a small lake just south of Keo, which is filled with tupelo and cypress trees. It was pouring rain, which helped to saturate the colors of the leaves (which were right at peak there).



The green in the water is actually duckweed, a tiny aquatic plant (and not algae).





It was raining heavily, but I had an umbrella that I used to keep the camera fairly dry. The wind tired to blow it away a few times but we all survived without getting too soaked.











In a field behind the lake was this rusty old tractor, presumably its work is done for the season.



And a quick little detail from the front of the tractor - with this little eagle hood ornament.



There is an old abandoned church nearby, called Morris Chapel. The front of the church looks ok, but the roof in the back part of the building has collapsed. The sanctuary is empty except for an old piano which was covered with wasp nests.



And the lonely front door of the church...



And the view looking out from the church, through a broken window in the sanctuary.



From there I drove through the small town of England and stopped by this old cotton gin, which sits right in the middle of town but looks to not be used anymore.



I drove on towards Scott as it continued to pour rain. There was still cotton growing in the fields, which looked soaked in the rains (good thing it was a cold rain, so the cotton didn't shrink like my clothes do if I wash them in warm water).



I made one last stop at this old church, which has long been abandoned. The back of the church looks like it has collapsed, and unfortunately the roof of the church looks like it will join it soon. According to Google Maps, this was once called Paradise Church.



And the side of the church, where the overgrown grasses and weeds at least were showing off some fall colors.