Two Flying Spots in Little Rock

Two Flying Spots in Little Rock

Have you ever been to Little Rock, Arkansas? It’s not that high on the list of touristy destinations. It’s not a place you’d say, “Oh! Let’s go to Little Rock!”

One of the nicer things about my job with an airline is seeing places you might never take the time to go visit. One of the un-nicer things about my job with an airline, is seeing places you would never take the time to go visit.

Little Rock falls in the former.

We had a long lay-over there, landing about 10:45 am and not leaving until the next morning. We’d started out at 4:30 am on the east coast. When we got to the hotel, it was 11:30 and we felt like it should be suppertime. Roberta & I were tired, hungry, and thirsty.

I’m a bit of a “shut & click” flight attendant. That’s one who gets to her hotel room, shuts the door, and clicks the lock. My shoulder is sore from hauling my bag around. I’m drained from getting up before anyone’s body should be awake. I’m tired of changing planes, pushing that drink cart, and being charming to strangers. I want to get to my room, get out of my monkey suit, heat up my dinner, and collapse in the bed with the remote. Away from anyone.

Generally.

Most of us bring a small cooler with food from home while we’re out. It’s expensive and fattening to eat out every meal. It’s also convenient when we’re getting in late in the day, not having to hunt down some place still open to buy food. The majority of our hotels have refrigerators and microwaves in our rooms. Those that don’t, have them available downstairs. I bring food every flight.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to eat out. I love to eat GOOD FOOD out. I don’t like greasy, overcooked, over-seasoned, franchised, fast food. Yes, I will have a taste-bud scream for McDonald’s french fries or a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. And I eat them with great love. Just not every week.

But, Roberta gets out more than me. She runs and is more fun. So she knew Little Rock. I had a guide!

First place she took me was the Flying Fish. A hole in the wall joint right downtown on President Clinton Avenue. The front door may have needed new paint, but at 11:30 am, it was packed. We had great fried catfish and grilled grouper.

This is what our dining room looked like right above our heads:

And this is what the rest of the room looked like:

I’d forgotten all about Billy. Remember, he’d turn his head and wiggle his tail and talk to you. Evidently, when he lost favor with the world, instead of abandoning him to the trash pile, they began to bring him to the Flying Fish. He has a new home.

Next, she took me to the Flying Saucer. It’s a restaurant/bar.

And it’s about a block from Billy, right downtown on President Clinton Avenue. We didn’t eat because we were stuffed with fish. But we’d been up since before dawn and it’s now 2ish. We had a drink.

Or two. Or three. Or four. They were busy when we arrived, but suddenly it cleared out. Everyone went back to work, I guess. We stayed awhile.

They’re a thematic establishment like the Flying Fish. Only this time, it’s plates. Thousands of plates.

That wall behind the bar is covered in pennies and each of those beer taps work. I thought they were decoration at first, since everything seemed to be in multiples here.

Our waitress said the owner’s mother collected plates from her travels. He decided to use them in his bar. There were plates above the wainscoting on every wall and up across the ceiling. 

See the chart numbered 1-10? Each number is valued at 200. Black means someone drank 200 different beers. Yellow means they drank 400 beers. Right up to pale pink, which means they drank 2000 beers. Each customer taking part in the Ring of Honor gets a bronze plates with their name, corresponding color, date, and their numbered entry mounted on the wall in the strip near the ceiling and all around the bar area.

If you look at the first picture of the bar itself, you can see the number one plate. I saw one as high as 247, but didn’t check each one.

We had a fun day.

PS

We all know Sam Walton opened the first Walmart in Arkansas, but did you know….

• It’s legal to shoot a bear, but you can’t wake one up to take his picture
• You can’t mispronounce their name, Arkansas, while you’re in the state. (Once you leave, it’s okay.)
• It’s illegal to keep an alligator in your bathtub.
• You can’t watch moose from an airplane and you can never push one out of a moving plane.
• They bought one of the US’s decommissioned submarines, the Razorback, because the mascot for the University of Arkansas is the razorback hog. But, the submarine was named after a species of whale.