Born on the Fourth of July

I've spent the last few days traveling around the states of Arkansas and Missouri. Despite it not being in the South, nor actually being a state during the Civil War (but perhaps being one of the reason's for the war) southern Missouri is the most southern place I have been to since my time in the U.S. and I've lived in the South almost seven years. I've never seen so many Confederate battle flags and Confederate-themed things.

On Wednesday we drove up through the Ozarks and although I missed the turn off for Natural Bridge we did stop at Mystic Caverns. We stopped for a late lunch in Harrison, AR. We ate at a restaurant called The Heat and let me recommend their cheese quesadilla or the club sandwich. Then we drove on to Branson, MO, which is Las Vegas without any vices. It's also only a place you'd, ideally, wish to visit if you were under the age of 10 or over 50. The plan was to, perhaps, go to Silver Dollar City on Thursday, which turned into a no-go due to rain the next day. Instead, we visited Antique Malls, which is its own kind of amusement ride.

Later in the day we drove to Eureka Springs, AR, which used to be a hippy town but it's become rather gentrified now.

The 4th was spent back here in Conway and Little Rock, home of the Bill Clinton library, where a fireworks show was held on the banks of the Arkansas River.