...but then again it is not all that different. Traffic sucks proportionately and yes there are plenty of out and out arsehats driving down here. Prices on many things are just about if not actually the same (except for a buy I just found tonight on Franziskaner Hefe Weizen Bier). People are nicer somewhat but there are obnoxious arsehats here just like anywhere, simply not as many per square inch as in Nuevo Yorkistan. One thing that seems lacking although I am told that they are everywhere is Mexican illegal aliens. I have seen maybe two so far but have not heard a single word of Spanish being spoken since arrived here, nor any language excepting English (how nice).
Have not done a whole hell of a lot since I got here except hanging out with my son. We did go on a bit of a pub crawl on Sunday with Brendan's friend Walter and his mom and dad who were also visiting from NY. That was fun, they have some nice brew pubs with some excellent IPAs in Little Rock.
It is the damnedest thing, in Arkansas you can buy beer and booze in a bar or restaurant on Sunday but not in a store to take home. I guess going to hang out in dens of iniquity is A-Okay on the Lord's day in AR but just do not try to buy booze at a liquor store cause that might be a bad thing somehow. So, I bought an extra 6-pack of cider on Saturday night because I have had enough experience inside the bible belt to have known enough to ask at the supermarket if they could sell beer on Sunday and they said no. Regardless, I had a case of Hofbräu München hefe weizen bier with me from NY along with a 6 pack of McKenzies seasonal cider for Brendan, so with that extra 6-pack of cider I picked up at the supermarket we had plenty.
I stopped by Bass Pro Shop to pick up a fishing license and a box of 35 REM ammo. Went to Gander Mountain yesterday expecting to get a deal on it but they did not have it. They did have their going out of business sale ongoing but to tell the truth I foind most of their prices above their competitors even with the offered discount figured into the mix. Maybe more on them in a later post about the BS I went through trying to cancel an order I had placed for a scope while in West Palm Beach last week. With prices like theirs and customer service like I experienced, they need not wonder why they failed and were bought out is all I will say for now.
Tomorrow, while Brendan is working, I think I will head out to the post office to send some mothers' day cards by priority mail (from both he and I), and then after getting anything else done that needs be done, I am going fishing. Funny, the only other thing I can think of now that needs be done is making a reservation for canoe for this coming Sunday or Monday so Brendan and I can go fishing on a local river on one of his days off.
We have wanted to go shooting but there is a lack of public indoor and outdoor ranges in the area around Benton. The one indoor range I found, that is open to the public, that allows rifle as well as pistol only allows rifles on Thursday and Friday - go figure - and that is in North Little Rock. I think there re less ranges in close vicinity to Brendan's place than there are to my home in NY and that my friends seems quite odd considering how pro-gun they are in AR and how anti-gun most folks are in NY. Most ranges here are accessible only through private membership and there are not many of them. There is a National Forest west of here that offers several free ranges and we may go to one of those (probably more like sand pits than rifle ranges but who cares).
Other than that, I went grocery shopping a couple of times and cooked fresh dinner for us twice. Used a Crock-Pot slow cooker for both means and I must say both came out excellent (and Brendan said so too). One was a rack of lamb in a sort of stew and the next was a beef stew both with a slight to medium flare of peppery heat in a beer or cider base. Delicious.
Wish me luck in my fishing expedition tomorrow.
All the best,
Glenn B
Have not done a whole hell of a lot since I got here except hanging out with my son. We did go on a bit of a pub crawl on Sunday with Brendan's friend Walter and his mom and dad who were also visiting from NY. That was fun, they have some nice brew pubs with some excellent IPAs in Little Rock.It is the damnedest thing, in Arkansas you can buy beer and booze in a bar or restaurant on Sunday but not in a store to take home. I guess going to hang out in dens of iniquity is A-Okay on the Lord's day in AR but just do not try to buy booze at a liquor store cause that might be a bad thing somehow. So, I bought an extra 6-pack of cider on Saturday night because I have had enough experience inside the bible belt to have known enough to ask at the supermarket if they could sell beer on Sunday and they said no. Regardless, I had a case of Hofbräu München hefe weizen bier with me from NY along with a 6 pack of McKenzies seasonal cider for Brendan, so with that extra 6-pack of cider I picked up at the supermarket we had plenty.
I stopped by Bass Pro Shop to pick up a fishing license and a box of 35 REM ammo. Went to Gander Mountain yesterday expecting to get a deal on it but they did not have it. They did have their going out of business sale ongoing but to tell the truth I foind most of their prices above their competitors even with the offered discount figured into the mix. Maybe more on them in a later post about the BS I went through trying to cancel an order I had placed for a scope while in West Palm Beach last week. With prices like theirs and customer service like I experienced, they need not wonder why they failed and were bought out is all I will say for now.
Tomorrow, while Brendan is working, I think I will head out to the post office to send some mothers' day cards by priority mail (from both he and I), and then after getting anything else done that needs be done, I am going fishing. Funny, the only other thing I can think of now that needs be done is making a reservation for canoe for this coming Sunday or Monday so Brendan and I can go fishing on a local river on one of his days off.
We have wanted to go shooting but there is a lack of public indoor and outdoor ranges in the area around Benton. The one indoor range I found, that is open to the public, that allows rifle as well as pistol only allows rifles on Thursday and Friday - go figure - and that is in North Little Rock. I think there re less ranges in close vicinity to Brendan's place than there are to my home in NY and that my friends seems quite odd considering how pro-gun they are in AR and how anti-gun most folks are in NY. Most ranges here are accessible only through private membership and there are not many of them. There is a National Forest west of here that offers several free ranges and we may go to one of those (probably more like sand pits than rifle ranges but who cares).
Other than that, I went grocery shopping a couple of times and cooked fresh dinner for us twice. Used a Crock-Pot slow cooker for both means and I must say both came out excellent (and Brendan said so too). One was a rack of lamb in a sort of stew and the next was a beef stew both with a slight to medium flare of peppery heat in a beer or cider base. Delicious.
Wish me luck in my fishing expedition tomorrow.
All the best,
Glenn B
