Horseshoe Lake Celebrates Independence Day
June 28, 2008 6:43 PM
Kimberly J. Williams, travel writer
DeltaTraveler@gmail.com
Horseshoe Lake, a scenic oxbow lake located east of Hughes along the Great River Road, is ready to celebrate! Since late April, the lake has been back at its full level for the first time since 2005. At almost 3,000 acres, Horseshoe Lake is a popular fishing and boating destination for residents of the Arkansas Delta and the region. The town of Horseshoe Lake is hosting its annual Independence Day activities beginning on Friday, July 4. The day will start with a 5K run. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. and the run starts at 7 a.m. at Bonds Marina. For those who prefer bicycling, the Tour de Horseshoe Bicycle Race will begin at 8:30 a.m. Both races give participants a great opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Horseshoe Lake.
On Saturday, July 5, activities and games will be held throughout the day at the Surf Club. A boat parade will start at 6:30 p.m. at Clyde’s Boat Ramp. As evening gives way to dark, the sky will light up with fireworks! According to Pat Bonds, Horseshoe Lake resident, the fireworks display will kick off right before 9 p.m.
To learn more about the activities being hosted by Horseshoe Lake, phone 870-339-3381.
To find out more events commemorating Independence Day, click here.
Arkansas’s Road Food
June 20, 2008 8:20 AM
Anyone who does any amount of traveling at all knows who Michael and Jane Stern are.
They created the crème de la crème of dining guides years ago and named it
Roadfood.
These food experts have traveled the country, looking for good home-style cooking located off-the-beaten path.
Their books have created a whole new genre of travel – foodie travel, cuisine travel or cuisine culture.
Whatever it’s called, it pretty much began with the publication of
Roadfood.
And, bless their hearts, in a November 2003
Gourmet Magazine article, they stated "
Arkansas is known as one of
America's foremost pie states…"
Recently I was lucky enough to receive the “revised and updated” version with 200 new listings. As I always do when I receive such a book, I immediately look at the Arkansas selections. Though I’ve lived here my whole life and feel like I’ve eaten my way through the state, there are still a bunch of places out there I haven’t discovered.
Feltner's Whatta-Burger, Russellville
Wagon Wheel Restaurant, Greenbrier
Their comments make interesting reading – and they also make you want to go jump in the car and visit one, no matter how much gasoline costs.
You gotta eat, right?
You can order a copy of the updated
Roadfood guide along with others written by the Sterns, plus read their recommendations, on
www.roadfood.com.
They are all great books to keep in the car – ready to go when you are.
What are your favorite “Roadfood” places in
Arkansas? Which dining establishments do you think should be suggested to the Sterns for the next edition? E-mail me your suggestions at
NaturalStateBlogger@gmail.com.
The Pink Tomato Festival
June 10, 2008 9:08 AM
Zoie Clift
travelarkansas@gmail.com
The Pink Tomato Festival (which
runs through this Sat.) in
Warren
is one of the oldest running
festivals (it started in 1956) in the
state. It’s a celebration of yep, the tomato. As the official symbol of
Bradley
County
, the tomato plays a central role in
town. But did you know that the South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato is also
the official state fruit and vegetable? I didn’t. Actually, I didn’t even know
we had an official state fruit and vegetable. But that is a blog for another
time.
The state symbol recognizes
the role of this fruit/vegetable in agriculture and pays homage to a cropping
technique rarely seen today. In the early 1900’s, American’s started viewing the
tomato as a staple to their diet. Many varieties were grown. By the 1920s,
southeast
Arkansas
market farmers became partial to strains
that ripened to a pink color, which could be picked and shipped at first
ripening or ‘breaker’ point.
The strain caught on and by
the late 1950’s, the state’s commercial tomato production had a market value of
more than $2.5 million.
The pink tomato’s market
share has since fallen due to supermarkets’ reliance on durable strains, picked
green and force-ripened. These are available year round to buy, but gourmets
say they don’t possess the flavor and texture of vine-ripened fruit. The good
news is, for local consumers, during the summer months the vine-ripened pink
tomato can be found in farmers’ markets and other local produce stands.
Warren
continues to celebrate this fruit/vegetable
and its history every year with The Pink Tomato Festival. For a schedule of
what’s going at the festival this time around, check out: bradleypinktomato.com/