Little Rock

Anthony Bourdain
Eat your heart out.

I love to travel. It's great. You leave your home, loved ones and comfort. You walk. You Board. You drag. You wait. You're weary. You're grimy. You're alone. Then out of the darkness and the din, a flicker of light appears. It appears in the form of a smile, or a smell or a drink that reminds you of home. You start to get the feeling that you're never far from home if you know where to look. To me that is the magic of travel. It forces me to deeply appreciate family and home and then go out and make do.

My job affords me ample (read too many) opportunities to leave home. But tonight I'm reminded why it's ok to feel homesick, as long as you do something about it, and make the most of my time away. If it's going to hurt, at least learn something.

For the next two weeks the Army will train me as a small arms master gunner. I will complete marksmanship courses across the US military small arms arsenal. I will conduct training on advanced "target interdiction" (shooting people) using pistols, rifles, MGs and even the MK19 Automatic Grenade Launcher (yes we use a machine gun for grenades). I pray to god I will never use these techniques. I thank god my adversary does not attend these courses. I will learn how to take these lessons back to train my Civil Affairs Team and make everybody a better shooter. The Marksmanship Training Center is located north of Little Rock, Arkansas, my new home for the next 2 weeks.

The spartan training compound at the foothills of the Ozarks even lacks a basic chow hall so my first chore arriving at post was to track down provisions for the week.

"Well you got your Walmart. Then you got your WalMart Super Center. Then you got your local market," offered my hopeful bunk-mate with the blues inspiring twang of east Arkansas.

"Oh that last one sounds promising! Where's that?"

"The local market?"

"Yah."

"Oh it's in the WalMart."

Hmm. Walking into the "Fresh" section at the mega walmart store I froze. The abrasive, brash, and frequently blitzed host of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain, appeared suddenly like a little devil on my right shoulder.

"Great choice!" He mocked, taking a long scornful drag of his cigarette, shaking his head.

"I'm sure a struggling farmer appreciates your tenacity in seeking out good local food."

"Tony" I plead, "you don't understand, I'm in a wasteland of fast food joints, the black hole of a military installation, cut off. Surrounded by the pale yellow stain of arches and Waffle Houses! A house made of Waffles Tony!"

"Try harder."

The City of Little Rock is bifurcated by the Arkansas River with the larger South Little Rock, home to President Clinton's Library Center and North Little Rock, just across one of the 4 bridges that mark the center of town connected by a vintage trolley line. The place has experienced a comeback in recent years with some creative city planning and redevelopment of abandoned buildings.



I wander into a section formerly Dogtown, Argenta, or the Art District and am beckoned into the alluring smell of BBQ.The Argenta Market is what would would happen if your kind hippy uncle went on a bourbon fueled meat bender. The place is bright with colorful veges and warm and full of the smell of ribs out back. It has lots of options that make the granola folks happy. I was just pleased to be able to get home made jerky, trail mix and natural peanut butter in the same place. Put another way, it's your local DC Wholefoods sans douche bags. People eat here because it tastes good, not for effete appearances. I don't know, it just feels more genuine here. And the cashier (art student) informs me that it is restaurant week!



I'm in uniform and for the first time in an alternative food market I don't get any odd looks or awkwardness. It's just a soldier buying some locally grown produce. Can I live? Nothing to see here village people. Move along. Go occupy something. (I kid, because I love)

Next stop was a little further south on Main street at the Local Library, a restored auto shop that has those 50's looking panel garage doors. While there I was greeted by all smiles from neighborhood residents. They talked about living in Argenta as a source of pride. It was a rough part of town and is just getting its legs as a destination for art, food and music to rival River Walk Little Rock.



My fiancé kids me about a story my mom tells. In the days before google, when my parents would tire of my insatiable appetite for information. One too many questions about how the world works on a hot summer day and my mom finally said "you know what? Maybe you should ask the librarian."

"Ok."

So I pulled up a chair and a phone book and dialed the local library on my stunning, mickey mouse, rotary phone.

"My mom doesn't know why there are 5 black keys on a piano, do you know why?" She laughed and puts me on hold. Minutes later she comes back with an answer, a book suggestion about the pentatonic scale and a VHS documentary available if I was interested. Interested? I was hooked. I called her almost every week when I got stumped. I'm sure that poor librarian always wondered who this little kid was, seeking her out as his personal source for answers to mysteries of the universe.

So, that I turned to the local library as my starting point in an exploration of a new city would not come as a surprise to Shayna. As it turned out one of the ladies working the desk today serves drinks at the local Jazz joint. "Come on by for a round. You from DC so I know you like you some Jazz." Yes ma'am I do.




And thus, I sit in a little Inn bar on the River front, listening to an amazing blues duet do a killer version of Nashville's The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow", getting ready to enjoy some Jazz and a Bourbon on the house, with two weeks of shooting school ahead of me. Little Rock is making it slightly easier to feel homesick. I feel a little closer to home.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/17/travel/20100822-SURFACING.html
Your Mama's Good Food is located at 215 Center Street, in the Pyramid Building - 501-372-1811.