So, I put on my best rain gear, then packed up, loaded up, hooked up and headed out in good order. The rain was intermittently moderate to heavy, as was the wind — definitely not your friend when you're towing a trailer — so I set the cruise control for a modest pace and rolled on down the road.
US Hwy 70 parallels I-40 throughout Eastern Arkansas, sometimes very closely as you can see in the far right side of this photo. (One of very few I was able to get during lulls in the rain!)
Every ten miles or so, I passed through some town or other, all of them showing clear signs of the struggle that is a hallmark of this road. I know I've made this point before but, to be honest, driving through these towns has started to go from being interesting to more than a little bit depressing.
At various intervals, the smallness of the towns was contrasted by immense agricultural structures. I'm not the best at recognizing crops, but I'm pretty sure I rolled through many miles of rice fields.
I kept my eye out for someplace to have lunch, but saw nothing of the sort — except the offering of fried chicken at a few gas stations — and started to wonder if I'd have to just tough it out until I reached Little Rock. Finally, I saw an establishment that truly called forth my inner risk-taker, and was delighted to be rewarded with a pretty awesome plate of BBQ.
When you look at the inside of the joint, perhaps you will appreciate the true explorer's fortitude I exhibited in actually sitting down and placing an order! Would you give this a go?
After lunch, I drove another couple of hours and have parked just north of Little Rock. The weather is still pretty cruddy, but there's some promise of clearing overnight. I plan to stay here for a couple of days to see what Little Rock has to offer… Stay tuned!
Click here to see exactly where I am posting this from on Google Maps.
1 comment:
I just came across your blog post by accident. Yes, you found what I believe is the home of the finest pulled pork barbecue in the world. I grew up in Hazen, about six miles west of Craig's, though I live in Lexington, KY now. I still stop there if I have time to either get a sandwich and maybe a bottle of their sauce. It doesn't seem to taste like any other sauces I have tried. Keep in mind I consider myself to be a BBQ snob (one reason I may have to move from here). DeValls Bluff is an interesting place for such a small town. They had a few excellent restaurants at one time including Craig's and the original Murray's which had the best fried catfish in the world. It's also the home of jazz and blues guitarist Arbee Stidham (sadly forgotten by most in the area), and the largest skirmish of the Civil War in that part of the state was fought near there for it's strategic position on the White River.
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