MLK weekend in Little Rock

One of the unusual places on my bucket list has been Little Rock, Arkansas.  I know what you're thinking, Arkansas?????? Who would ever want to go there????? I promise this was a question that I was asked the entire time that we were in Arkansas. People could not believe that we were there on a vacation. It reminded me of the time that I visited Jackson, Mississippi for spring break. 😂

I decided to do little rock for MLK weekend because of the rich history that Little Rock has when it comes to African Americans. It's a history that I don't even think people in Little Rock truly understand how profound the town is. 

Most people may know that Little Rock is the site of Central High School, which is where the Little Rock 9 integrated when segregation was struck down by Brown vs Topeka Board of Education. I've always grown up knowing the story of the Little Rock 9. mostly Earnest Green due to my father. However, nothing in life prepared me for the experience or the knowledge that I gained by traveling to Little Rock. 

Magnolia gas station, where journalist stood, is still the same from 1957

Additionally Little Rock has also been on my destination list because of its attachment with Bill Clinton and since I'm trying to visit all 50 states of the United States, you can understand why we ended up going to Little Rock for MLK weekend. And what a perfect weekend to go. MLK weekend! 

Believe it or not, it is actually expensive to fly into Little Rock from Florida. I have tried to book tickets twice before but paying $500+ for a domestic flight is just not the way that I fly. So, when we saw that there was a sale from Miami to Little Rock, we just felt like it was the perfect opportunity. 

We arrived into Little Rock at like midnight and the first thing we noticed is there were no Ubers or Lyfts. As someone who travels often, I can tell you that this is pretty weird. I caught an Uber at 3:30 in the morning in New York. Ubers/Lyfts are usually always available at the airport. Welcome to Little Rock! We ended up taking a taxicab (who uses these anymore) to our hotel which was about 20. mins. The next day we immediately got a rental car and went about our merry way. 

Our first stop was Central High School.  As soon we rode by the school, I immediately got emotional. There is something about going to historic places, especially those that deal with African American history or trauma, that is so intense for me.  There is always like this energy at these places that is so hard to explain unless you have been there. But as soon as we passed by school, I immediately just wanted to cry. I could already tell that the history that we were going to be learning for today was going to be deep it

After we rode around the school, we found the visitor center which is located across the street. The visitor center is also a museum dedicated to the Little Rock 9 and their integration story. While the museum is small, it is powerful. I think we spent about an hour or two just in the museum, listening to their stories and reading. Some parts of the museum were interactive but for me the most profound part was listening to the stories.  I ended up learning so much more about these individuals and the struggle that they went through by listening to them tell their story in their own words. 

All 9 kids explained why they decided to integrate at this interactive display

As we were heading to the gift shop, the Park Ranger came and said, "hey, we're getting ready to start a tour in 5 minutes" We were the only black people in the museum and the park Ranger wanted us to come into the tour. The tour is broken into two parts: a stroll through the school and a PowerPoint. For the PowerPoint part, if you really went into depth, like we did, at the museum, instead of just walking around, then you pretty much knew everything that was on the PowerPoint. The impactful part came with exploring the school. This is where you get more information. For example, you see where Elizabeth Eckford got off the bus stop and you also see where she had to walk to catch the second bus. It kind of makes it more realistic for you and you get to further understand the pain and trauma behind the infamous picture of the Little Rock 9. 

A lot of the people on my tour were in tears and crying.  The Park Ranger gave us so much extra information that history has never taught us before. For example, the story of Alex Wilson, the African American reporter who was hit in the head with a brick when the mob attacked the black reporters. This man would die a mere 3 years later as a result of that brick. Based on this experience alone, I'm happy that we went to Little Rock. This experience was priceless. Definitely 10/10

When we left the school, we traveled to Daisy Bates house. Her neighbors saw us taking pictures and reading the plague at the house and came over to talk to us. This firsthand knowledge and accounts of what happened during that time period made this experience a once in a lifetime experience. I'm thankful to Tyshon although he would not let us record him for taking the time to explain what it was like growing up with Daisy Bates as a neighbor. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside of her house because we were there on a Saturday and the museum wasn't open. 

Using the newfound knowledge that we gained, we changed our plans and headed to Dunbar High (Middle) School. This was the high school that was built for African Americans students so that they would not integrate schools. It didn't work. The high school is still functional but now serves as a middle school. 

After visiting all of the sites related to the Little Rock 9, we went to the capital. The capital is beautiful, even more so inside but it was closed for Saturday. What I loved the most was the monument for the Little Rock 9. When you think a little rock, AR you automatically think of the Little Rock 9..... at least I do. I loved that the city had so many displays about the Little Rock 9. There are actually two more displays that we weren't able to go to. 

The next day we decided to visit the HBCU in Little Rock (Philander Smith) and learn about the 1st President that I loved, Bill Clinton. We went to the Bill Clinton's restaurant (42 .. get it) and baby it was BLACK! ....Black wait staff, black customers, black gospel music, black singers, black food. I mean it was black on black on black on black on top of black ... and I loved it. Especially during MLK weekend.  I had such a good time at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library restaurant. I would highly recommend it if you ever go to Little Rock. It was definitely a 10/10 experience. 

The only thing that I was disappointed in was that the snowstorm came, and they closed down the Bill Clinton Museum before we could go through. Basically, everything in Little Rock shut down once the snow started to fall. So, we went back to the hotel and watched the snow continue to come down and come down and come down ..... to the point where I kind of got anxious because I felt like we were going to get snowed in.  Thankfully that did not happen. 

So this was my trip to Little Rock. There are a couple of other things that you can do when you go like visiting the Bill Clinton Museum, going to the sculpture garden, visiting the Old Mill which was the scene of Gone with the Wind. They also have a zoo along with various museums. 

What do you think. Would you visit Little Rock? 

My Salt Lake City Itinerary

The mountains were breathtaking. 

 My daughter's wish for Christmas was to see snow. She has requested this for about two years now. So, this year I finally made it a reality for her. I was going back and forth between Salt Lake City, which is on my bucket list, and Quebec. The flight prices and hotel prices for Salt Lake City won out. Upon purchasing our tickets, I searched and searched my travel groups, TikTok, online forums ... you name it, and I searched it, trying to find out WHAT I could do in Salt Lake City that would be fun and interesting. Finally, I created this itinerary. My daughter rated our trip a 9 out of 10 so I think I did a good job. 😊 So, if Salt Lake City is on your list of cities, check out this itinerary. 

Sunday: 

We arrived in Salt Lake City Sunday, Christmas Eve, at 10 pm. We stayed at the Comfort Suites near the airport. Despite being a Comfort Suites, this hotel had some of the BEST reviews. After staying there, I see why that is. The workers were sooooo welcoming, friendly and helpful. They went out of their way to accompany us. As soon as we arrived, they sent an Uber to pick us up because it was Christmas eve, late and the shuttle driver had gone home. Understandably but them sending an Uber just kicked off what would be an awesome stay with them. They served a hot breakfast daily and it was delicious. They even gave me a personal ride to the rental car spot to pick up my rental car, which you will definitely need when visiting. They also have an indoor pool and hot tub, which we never used, but came prepared for. I just highly recommend them and would not mind staying at their establishment upon returning to Salt Lake City. 

Monday: 

It's officially Christmas!!!! 🥳🥳 After breakfast, we put on what felt like 1000 layers and headed to Woodward Park in Park City, Utah. It was about a 30 minute drive that was full of panic attacks and an abundance of nerves. The mountains were BEAUTIFUL but driving near them on the first day was a bit nerve wrecking. I did a good job and after day one, I never panicked again. 

Paige and I at Woodward Park

We had a 1:00 pm reservation to go snow tubing. This was my daughter's first-time seeing snow and she was in awe ..... for all of 5 minutes 😂 Woodward Park is full of snow. You can do snow tubing, ski, or snowboard. We picked snow tubing, and it was fun. It was $80 per person for 2 hours of tubing. It was a great experience but in typical kid fashion, my daughter was over it after 1 hour. Luckily, they have an indoor area as well where kids can play and jump around (for an additional fee) or families can rest, sip hot chocolate or eat food. Since it had been hours since we had eaten, we picked the later ... and did not regret it. We both had brisket burgers that were tasty and satisfying. 

Paige ranked Woodward Park a 10 out of 10. I ranked it the same. It is definitively a must do if you are ever in Salt Lake City. We spent more time admiring the snow, playing in the snow and getting warm for Christmas dinner. 

Tuesday: 

Today's theme was GAMES! We started off by going to Fashion Mall in Murray ... about 10 miles from Salt Lake City. We went to a spot called Immersive Gamebox. IG had various interactive games ranging from Paw Patrol to Ghostbusters. Since Paige and I are HUGE Squid Game fans ... we decided to do the Squid Game challenge. Now BOTH of us have talked a lot of ish about how we would WIN Squid Games if we ever participated. Chilllleeeeee....

The first game, red light green light, almost took us out. But this experience was FUN! It lasted for an hour, and we were good and tired from running around the room. It was about $30 per person but totally worth it. Paige ranked it a 10/10 and so did I. 

Ready for Squid Games

After we left, we hit up a local spot called The Crack Shack. It is a chicken spot similar to the Shack Shake. Paige ranked it a 4 out of 10 😬 She said the food was bland. I was a little nicer and gave it a 6 out of 10. My food was ok but it's not a place that I would highly recommend. 

Chicken sandwich with fries

We left The Crack Shack and went to Nicklemania which is about 2 minutes down the road. Now THIS place is a place that I highly recommend. Paige gave it an 8 out of 10 but that is because in this case, Paige is a hater. I would give it a 15 out of 10 if I could but you get my point ... GO! First of all, the nostalgia. They had games from the 80's and 90's. I'm talking Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, Galaga, Pacman ... I could go on and on. All for a mere nickel! It's $2.50 per person to enter, whether you are playing or not and then you are able to load up your card. I was not thinking. I put $20 on my card. Do you know how far $20 goes in a space that operates on nickels. We were there for 3 whole hours. Honestly, I could've stayed an additional 1-2 hours if my daughter was not in the background hating because she could not beat me in the games. 😂 

This was one of my favorite activities!

Wednesday

The real life UP house is in Utah

Wednesday was our first day NOT sleeping in. We had a full day on this day. We decided to go to the UP house first and I'm glad that we did. The UP house is in Herriman Utah which is a good 30-minute drive away depending on traffic. It was a nice and pleasant drive. Upon entering the neighborhood, you notice that all of the houses are brown ... and then BAM, there is the UP house. I was a little disappointed because the owners (yes real people live in the house) decorated the house for Christmas which kind of took away from it's UP appearance. Either way, this is a quick stop...maybe 2-3 minutes tops. 

After visiting the UP house, we went to the Hogle Zoo. While we were there, they had a special for $5 Wednesday and we took advantage. Honestly if I would have paid more than $5 I would have been highly upset because the zoo is small. We finished the entire thing in 1.5 hours. Given the climate, cold AF, you can understand why they don't have as many animals as other zoos. It was nice to see grizzly bears for the first time though ... and boy are they HUGE! Paige and I spent about 15 minutes staring and debating whether we would run or play dead if we ever encountered one in the wild. 

After the zoo we went to R&R BBQ. This was our best meal in Salt Lake City. We went to the downtown location. Since we were downtown, we decided to ride around and look at sites that Salt Lake City is known for ... Temple Square and the Mormon community buildings. The Mormons are serious about their buildings. They are huge and downtown SLC is basically their playground with a church museum, conference center, university and various temples. While I understand that some people are truly intrigued by this culture, I was not. I drove by, looked and went to my next destination. Gilgal Sculpture Garden. This is a quirky sculpture garden with various displays. It is something free and out of the ordinary to do. Beware the parking is a whole nightmare. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Momo's Gourmet Cheesecake. It is imperative that I try as many local spots as possible while visiting other cities. We got a sample pack. My daughter HATES cheesecake with a passion but murked the Oreo cheesecake in 3 minutes. It's safe to say that she highly recommends Momo's.  

Thursday

We slept in Thursday because it was our last day in Salt Lake City. After checking out of the hotel, we went downtown to the Clark Planetarium. We parked at The Gateway, a notable mall in downtown Salt Lake City. The Clark Planetarium is free and features 3 floors of interactive science games and stations. Paige and I both were locked in and excited. We spent a good 3-4 hours there.  

Afterwards we went to the state capitol. This spot is beautiful and features a few history lessons about Utah that I did not know. Did you know the first woman to vote was in Utah? The capitol is beautiful, informative and free with free parking as well, something that is rare in downtown. Surprisingly my daughter, who favors science over history, really enjoyed it. 

So, this was our time in Salt Lake City. There is soooooo much to do. We literally could have spent an additional 3 or 4 days there. I wanted to go to the Salt Lake, salt flats, view a few of the national parks, explore Park City more, and go and see the bison but we didn't have enough time. However, there is always next time. 😉 Especially since Paige has already said that Salt Lake City will be our destination for Christmas next year. 🙄

So what do you think ...... Would you visit Salt Lake City? 

Top 5 things to do in Seattle

Seattle has been on my bucket list for a long time, and I finally was able to go this summer on a solo trip. So here in my top five things of what you should do when you go to Seattle. 

1. Space Needle

The first thing you should do while in Seattle is go to the space needle. Now I have been atop a lot of towers. I've been to one world in New York City. I've also been to the top of the CNN Tower in Toronto.  I was a little hesitant about going on a space needle because I felt like once you've done one, you've done them all. But I was so wrong. The space needle is a must do when you go to Seattle. It is very different from the other towers that I mentioned previously. What I like about the space needle was they had a see-through elevator, just like the CNN Tower but it was less scary.  The guys were so nice and friendly, talking to you and telling you funny stories, that you didn't recognize that you were going up so high. Also, when you got up to the top of the space needle it was very calm because they do timed admissions, so it's not overcrowded.  They had several restaurants serving various food and the food was actually affordable.  I mean, it was just a pleasant atmosphere. When you look outside, you notice that you can actually go outside and walk on the outside of the space needle. Now I was freaking out about this because I have a severe fear of heights and I have an anxiety disorder. So, I was like, there is no way I'm going out there. 

But it looked so interesting that finally I found myself inching towards the door, going out the door, holding on to the door, and then finally being outside. Whew! Now I did have a little panic attack while I was standing outside but I did some breathing techniques to get through it. It was amazing. It probably would've looked better on a sunny day. It was very cloudy and rainy when I went. That also prevented me from walking around outside because I was just so nervous that I was going on to slip, and then I was going to fall off the space needle and die. 😂 Of course that is not going to happen because they have protective barriers around. But when you have an anxiety disorder, you always think the worst. 😢 So I just stood there and looked out. Also, you can go down to the bottom floor, which not only is glass, but it also moves. I kept looking at the sign and thinking I am not going to do that but once I went outside, I felt more courageous. So I went downstairs. It wasn't that bad at all. I have motion sickness so the whole moving ground just didn't work for me. But it wasn't that bad.  I highly suggest that you go to the space needle. 

2. Chihuly Garden and Glass

The second thing that I suggest you go to is the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. It is amazing. Now, I can admit that initially I did not want to go to this because I thought it was going to be boring. However, I had a visitor city pass for Seattle and it was one of the things that you could do on the pass. So, I figured why not? I'm glad that I went. It was beautiful!!!!! It was astonishing!!!!! It was breathtaking!!!!!  I want to go back here when I have someone to take my pictures because baby, it was very nice. The pictures that I took were nice, but they weren't giving what it was supposed to have gave. The place was truly mesmerizing, and I could have just stared at the pieces forever. 

3. Museum of Pop Culture

Number three on the list is the Museum of Pop Culture. Now I will say when I first went to this museum, I was excited because it was the museum that I was really looking forward to. However, when I got in there, it was just a lot of pictures and stuff. I'm not the type of person that likes just pictures. I like interactive museums. However, the museum of pop did redeem itself because they had a section that was dedicated to horror films. I'm a scary person but when I tell you I loved that part. That part was very interactive and just very creative overall. I could've spent a long time just in the horror section, but I arrived late and had limited time in the museum. But I really liked this part. They had a hip hop room that consisted of just pictures (BORING!!!!!) but the music was a vibe. So, if you're a hip hop fan, check that room out. They had a Jimi Hendrix room because the creator of the museum, Paul Allen, was a huge Hendrix fan. Fun fact: Jimi Hendrix is actually from Seattle. He has a small park located by the Black History Museum and is buried in Renton which is not far.  The museum also had a technology part that was dedicated to video games. By the time I got to that part, I was super tired and just ready to go back to my hotel. I also knew that I was coming back to Seattle with my daughter and that she would probably really like this room. So, I didn't really spend a lot of time in the video game room. The museum is very big. I believe it is 3 floors. It is included in the ticket for the Seattle City pass. So why not go? Also, when I checked in to get my ticket, the guy gave me a comeback tomorrow for free tickets. So yeah, definitely go there. 

4. City Tour

Number 4 on my list of things that you should do is do a city tour. I was in Seattle for Juneteenth and wanted to support a black-owned business. Therefore, I booked my tour with Earl Alexander who is the owner of Puget Sounds Tour. He was amazing! So down to earth, funny and knowledgeable. I didn't want the tour to end, and he took you all over Seattle. With this tour you're able to go out to the floating house, you're able to go to Kerry Park where you see a viewpoint of the entire downtown Seattle, you're able to go to Fremont and see the notorious Fremont troll, and you're able to go out to Ballard and see the salmon if they are currently in season. They were not in season when I was there, and I was very pissed about it. 😂 But I did see some seals and some type of special bird, so all was not lost. Earl's tour can be booked by going to Earl Alexander. You won't regret it. 

5. Pike Place Market 

The 5th place that I suggest that you go and I'm saving the best for last is .......Pike Place market. Now this was right up my alley!!! Initially I thought the market would be like the famous reading market from Pennsylvania. It was not that...at all!!! It was more! Half of the market is inside, and half of the market is outside. And when I told you it's just vendors and vendors and yumminess on top of yumminess! It can be a little overwhelming. I did it after my tour and I was a little tired and hungry. It was just too much for me but you can easily spend an entire day there.  There's so much to do down there. There's the original Starbucks that you can go through. The line is insane so be warned! There's Beechers who claims to have the best macaroni and cheese in the world. Once again the line is insane so I did not get to see if they were telling the truth.  There's the famous gum wall which was nasty and amazing at the same time. You can chew a piece of gum and put it on the infamous wall. I mean, there's just so much to do down there and let me not even talk about the food. The food was delicious. They had all kinds of like special concoctions that I've never seen like frozen apple cider .... what?!?!? Like I said you can easily spend your entire day down there. The aquarium is located behind it and it's included in the City Pass making Pike Place an ideal spot to spend the day. 

The original Starbucks

                

Have you ever been to Seattle? What would you add to the list? 

A weekend in St Augustine

 So normally 4th graders are treated to an end of the year trip to St Augustine. My daughter's school decided to do Disney instead. So upon seeing that we would have a 3-day weekend, we hopped in the car and did a mini girl's road trip to St Augustine.

First and foremost, I have been to St Augustine as a teacher many times. I have never been as a tourist and without 20-50 students. I quickly realized that it is much busier and hectic when you're not using a guide. Parking is a whole nightmare but we survived.

We started our trip off at Fort Mose. Despite being in St Augustine many times, I have never visited Fort Mose. I always have wanted to go since it is the first FREE legally sanctioned black town. On the day that we came they were having a jazz concert so our time was limited. However our time there was pleasant. It is very serene and they have done a good job of highlighting important information about the fort.. Of course due to it's important nature, the fort itself no longer remains. It was destroyed. However I highly recommend that you take your child to see what remains. While the schools routinely visit St Augustine, they never take the children to Fort Mose which is only down the street from Ponce De Leon's fountain.

Afterwards we went to the Castillo fort. This is when we discovered that parking in St Augustine is not sweet and nice. It's a hot mess. Even with a giant parking garage a few yards away from the Castillo, parking is still not guaranteed. After circling and circling once again we headed to head to the beach for lunch. We settled on Crabby Beachside. The atmosphere was great, the service was good and the food was even better. We started off with the spinach crab dip which did not stand a chance. It was so good that my daughter begged us to go back to the restaurant the next day. If you're ever in St Augustine check them out. Their drinks were pretty stellar as well.

The next day we visited the Alligator farm. It was nothing that I remembered. My daughter and I still had a blast but the shows were not as exciting as they were in the past. Each show probably took around 5 minutes but the gigantic alligators and the expansion of the park made up for it. We spent a good hour here before heading downtown to shop and visit the fort.

Of course it would not have been a trip without including some Black History. A quick search on the history black sites for Florida and I found a black history tribute. I learned about Robert Hayling who was a graduate of my alma mater, Florida A&M University. He was a dentist and civil rights activist. His story is very interesting.

We ended our trip at Island Donuts which had the best key lime donut I have ever tasted.

So would you visit St Augustine?