A few weeks ago Nate and I took an adventure. An adventure to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
If you’re not familiar with the area, suffice to say that Pine Bluff has a bit of a reputation for being a rough area of the state, but at the time we didn’t realize that. Regardless, we went and ended up having a really great time and making a ton of memories! Which is what travel is all about, and a big reason we are working really hard on our little Travel Project!
If I’m being honest here I was way less than impressed with the place we ate lunch at, so much so that I don’t even remember the name of it. However, after lunch we decided to go to the Arkansas Railroad Museum and check it out. And y’all? This place was AWESOME.
I don’t know about you guys, but I really love seeing old stuff. Not in a hoarder way, but because things that actually have a history behind them are really beautiful. Seeing someone’s handwriting, seeing old lanterns, old signs – I eat it up. It makes me dream about who these people were, what their lives were like, what they faced, what they loved. I wish that I could meet them and hear their stories! I always imagine this happening over a cup of coffee or maybe a condensation-soaked glass of iced tea.
On a porch, because all fun conversations like this should happen on a porch 🙂
While I’m certainly glad I live in the time that we live in, I also dream about the people who came before us. What an amazing gift to hear about their lives!
All of the things we saw in the museum were donated, and all of it harkens back to another time. You can actually get in the train cars and climb around, and there are so many bits of history that I could probably spend a whole day there and still not see it all. Granted we had Wes with us, and so staying all day wasn’t really an option, but I think it’s something we definitely want to bring him back to when he starts becoming interested in trains.
Honestly by the time we left the museum Wes was letting us know that he HAD TO GET HOME RIGHT AWAY, so we didn’t do anything else in Pine Bluff. And while I wouldn’t really recommend visiting if you only have a few days to really get to know Arkansas, if you live here you really should check out the Railroad Museum! It’s free (donations are optional), fun, incredibly interesting and a huge piece of history – not just for this area, but the entire country as well!
I may be a little biased since I’ve from the area, but if you want to go to a beautiful part of the state, you need to check out the Ozarks and the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas. It’s a truly beautiful place!
Really enjoy your blog!!
Thanks Donya! We are hoping to check those areas out a little later in the Spring – I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about it!
Wow, I’ve NEVER heard of someone going to Pine Bluff for fun. I love that you are embracing Arkansas in such a bold way. Have you been to Charlotte’s Eats and Sweets in Keo? It’s near Little Rock and there is a huge antique shop in Keo to visit as well. It’s worth the short drive. Oh, and order your pie first…they run out and you won’t want to miss it!
Haha oh Amy – we had no idea what we were doing! Bold is a great descriptor though 😉
I haven’t been to Charlotte’s Eats & Sweets yet! A good pie sounds amaaaaaazing right now though. We’ll have to make it a trip soon!!!