Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It always has been. I love to eat, watch football games, and exchange stories with friends and family members.
I'm thankful to have the opportunity to travel this place we call Arkansas and write about its interesting towns and the colorful characters who inhabit them. As I often say, I find this state endlessly fascinating and sometimes frustrating. I remain frustrated that we don't place the highest priority on ensuring that the Buffalo River remains pristine. I'm frustrated that we're not replanting more of the bottomland hardwood forests of the Delta, that we don't keep our roadsides free of litter, that we're not doing more to restore bobwhite quail habitat. God blessed us with a beautiful place to call home, and far too many Arkansans aren't doing their share to protect what we've been given.
Still, I'm far more thankful than frustrated as another Thanksgiving approaches. I'm thankful to live in a place where I can watch the toad races during Toad Suck Daze in Conway, have one of America's best breakfast experiences at The Pancake Shop in Hot Springs, attend the Gillett Coon Supper each January and then show up a few weeks later for the annual Slovak Oyster Supper. I'm thankful I can be a part of the all-tomato luncheon during the Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival at Warren, attend a meeting with political leaders in the room behind the kitchen at Doe's Eat Place in Little Rock, hear the bagpipes during the Scottish Festival at Lyon College in Batesville, and eat a big slice of melon at the Hope Watermelon Festival.
I'm thankful I can watch the rice harvest near Weiner on a fall afternoon, go to Garvan Woodland Gardens on Lake Hamilton when the tulips are blooming, have my photo taken while straddling the Arkansas-Texas line at the federal courthouse in downtown Texarkana, and attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade at Hot Springs. I'm thankful to be able to spend the night atop Petit Jean at Mather Lodge, atop Mount Magazine at the newest state park lodge and atop Rich Mountain at the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge. I'm thankful I can tour the Lakeport Plantation near Lake Village and walk the boardwalk through the swamp between Brinkley and Marvell in order to see the Louisiana Purchase Monument.
I'm thankful to live in a place where I can float a canoe down the Caddo River when the dogwood trees are blooming, search for the Gurdon Light late at night, run jugs for giant catfish on the lower White River and fish for trout in the early morning fog on the upper White River. I'm thankful to be able to attend a Battle of the Ravine college football game between Ouachita Baptist University and Henderson State University each November in Arkadelphia, watch the sun rise on a winter morning from a duck blind on the Grand Prairie, and sample dozens of versions of duck gumbo in Stuttgart on the weekend after Thanksgiving.
I'm thankful I can spend the night at both the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs and the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, drive along the Talimena Scenic Drive when the leaves are changing, spend a late February or early March day walking around Historic Washington State Park when the jonquils are blooming, and have a Sunday night squirrel dinner in the fall in the back room at Gene's in Brinkley. I'm thankful to live in a place where I can have a steak at Jerry's in Trumann, combine fried chicken with spaghetti at the Venesian Inn in Tontitown, and drink the water at the Mountain Valley headquarters in Hot Springs.
I'm thankful I can hang out on Dickson Street in Fayetteville after a Razorback football game, listen to the mountain music on a Saturday night in downtown Mountain View, take a mineral water bath on Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs, or stand along the rail at Oaklawn Park on Arkansas Derby day. I'm thankful to be able to drive the Pig Trail through the Ozarks, watch the elk graze in the Boxley Valley, and read the Civil War markers at DeValls Bluff before having pork barbecue at Craig's. I'm thankful I can have a gear salad and a filet mignon at Herman's in Fayetteville or order Stanley Young's fried catfish at Murry's on U.S. 70 near Hazen. I'm thankful I can visit the Johnny Cash boyhood home at Dyess, see the English Tudor architecture at Wilson, and grab a turkey sandwich at the origial Burge's in Lewisville.
I'm thankful I can order the plate lunch at the Pickens Store in Desha County, consume buffalo ribs at the Lassis Inn in Little Rock, pig out at the James Beard award-winning Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, and have a Friday night catfish dinner at The Whippet in Prattsville. I'm thankful I can go to a winery near Altus before visiting the monastery at Subiaco, climb Pinnacle Mountain near Little Rock, fish for smallmouth bass on the Kings River, and attend the craft fairs at War Eagle.
I'm thankful I can try to finish a tamale spread at McClard's in Hot Springs, listen to music at the King Biscuit Blues Festival at Helena, eat a turkey leg at the Arkansas State Fair, and stand on the east end of Mount Nebo while watching the sun rise over the Arkansas River Valley. I'm thankful to live in a place where I can spend a summer Saturday morning at the farmers market on the square in Fayetteville as the locals walk their dogs, take a slow walk through history at Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock, and dig for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro.
I'm thankful for this place called Arkansas.
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Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.
Editorial on 11/21/2018