Downtown

It has been way too hot here lately to attempt any venture outdoors. The highs all last week were over 100 degrees. Add to that the soul-melting heat indexes of over 110. But a cold front passed through yesterday, and it brought with it some rain. It was enough to cool things down some. It was still hot and muggy, but for the first time in weeks, it actually felt tolerable outside.

I had the camera with me so I made a quick drive to downtown Little Rock. There were a few buildings that I wanted to get some dusk shots of. The first was the old Tower Building in MacArthur Park. The Tower Building is one of the oldest buildings in Little Rock, built way back in 1840.


The building was part of a federal arsenal, and it would be an important landmark in the Civil War a few decades later. In 1874, World War II general Douglas MacArthur was born here. It is a neat old building, surrounded by acres of parkland.


From there, I hoped to get a few more pictures before all the good color left the sky. I ended up at the Federal Courthouse, which opened up a new addition recently. I was a bit nervous getting pictures here, since I was certain that security would come after me.

Now the new addition to the courthouse is striking, but it isn't easy to get a good picture of. The landscaping features a lot of trees, which cut off the views. And on top of that, there is a strange and ugly piece of sculpture in front of the building (which looks like left over bits of construction equipment). All that works to cut down on the good angles and views of the building.


After that it was time to retreat back into air-conditioning...