At the end of each trip, LEAPsters try to reflect on their trip and select our favorite activities. More than most trips, we had some real consensus on our itinerary.
Among our favorite restaurants, we had a tie for third place, with Community Bakery and Three Fold Noodle getting votes from about half the LEAPsters. Community Bakery is a LEAP standby, and Three Fold Noodle was suggested by our Park Ranger at the Clinton Birthplace.
Consensus came in a tie for first place, with Mother Kelley’s and Brave New Restaurant receiving almost unanimous LEAP love. Despite their tie for the top place, the two restaurants couldn’t be more different.
Mother Kelley’s is soul food. It make no pretense to fancy, but the food is wonderful.
The staff is also friendly and helpful. We even go to meet “Mother Kelley!”
Brave New Restaurant is a fancier restaurant, and their menu items reflect their goal of having “every be a celebration of food.” We had wonderful appetizers, entrees, and desserts–and their coffee is great, too!
In terms of favorite activities, there was less consensus, but the votes were just as close. In honorable mention, the visit to the Clinton School and the Capitol received strong votes. These two visits were also largely responsible or shaping our opinion of Little Rock citizens as being among the nicest in the United States.
The Little Rock Central High and the MacArthur Museums were tied for third place. Both offered fascinating insights into history and did a good job of providing information in digestible amounts.
In the top spot, two very different activities ended in a tie: the play, “Wicked,” and a hike up Pinnacle Mountain.
In many respects, this was the quintessential LEAP trip. We engaged in diverse activities, relating to politics, public service, food, culture, history, civil rights, art, and nature/environment. In this manner, we were able to learn many new things, have fun, and pursue career and educational opportunities, while visiting a new location (none of the students had been to Little Rock, and one of the students had never been to a state other than Texas).
It was a great way to spend five days during the break, and another fantastic reason to go to Sam Houston State University.
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 