Update: Burns Park Light Display

After posting about the driving-thru light displays around the area last night, I came across this article about the Burns Park display in the online edition of the NLR Times. For those of you who are interested, it's $5 per car, $10 per van and $20 per bus. Not sure if the additional cost for vans includes mini-vans or just the larger church style vans.

The article says that the display is open from 6-10 pm ever day between now and Dec. 30th, with the exception of Christmas day. Also, it says the tour goes on for over a mile. Anyone who's been through, feel free to post your reaction in the comments.

Christmas has come to town, but not to the radio!

At the risk of sounding like a scrooge, I'm one of those people who doesn't want to have anything to do with Christmas until sometime after Thanksgiving. It isn't that I don't love Christmas, I just don't want to get tired of it all before it actually gets here! As such, I was disappointed to see the amount of Christmas decorations and Christmas music that found it's way into stores around town well before Thanksgiving. But now, Turkey day has come and gone and Christmas can officially take center stage!

In years past, I recall certain radio stations in Central Arkansas switching over to an "All Christmas, All the Time" format soon after Thanksgiving. This is nice if you're out looking at lights or doing some festive shopping, but there are only so many times you can sit through Feliz Navidad when all you really want to hear is the traffic report. This year, I've experienced the exact opposite. There have been several times when I've specifically wanted to hear Christmas music while driving somewhere and have been unable to find any playing on the radio. This is especially unfortunate since I haven't been able to find my special Christmas mix CD made up of all my personal favorites. So instead, I find myself scanning through stations I don't even listen to regularly trying to find someone playing Christmas tunes. If there is a station that has switched over to all Christmas music, I would love to know what it is!

Apart from Christmas music on the radio (don't know what I've got till it's gone), the other usual reminder to me that Christmas is just around the corner is Christmas lights. I don't put lights up on my own house, but I like seeing them around. If your childhood involved having to help someone untangle lights for hours, search for bulbs that had gone out, and steady a ladder until your arms are sore, you probably don't get as excited about Christmas lights as I do. When I was a kid, we never put up our own Christmas lights, but a couple of times in December, my parents would load us up in the car and make us ride around looking at Christmas lights. I think my parent's did this because it was cheaper than taking us all out for ice cream. So now that I'm all grown up, I have fond memories or meandering through neighborhoods looking for Christmas lights. It felt like a treasure hunt voting on which direction to turn at each intersection and feeling the excitement when you turn a corner and see a house completely lit up. A few years ago, I started satisfying this ritual by driving through Sherwood Forest's annual lights display. It isn't quite as adventurous as trying to find the best house displays on your own, but the excitement is a lot more consistent. If you're not familiar with it, Sherwood Forest is hidden away off West Maryland so that you'll never find it by accident, but I think it's worth seeking out. This is especially true since they fit the bill for "cheap entertainment" by not charging a set admission and simply taking donations instead. I always have a few dollars ready for them at the end where they're handing out candy canes and dog biscuits.

Another great place to look at Christmas lights is down at the riverfront amphitheatre. I assume they have lights set up again this year, although I haven't managed to drive by there at night. I usually make up some cocoa ahead of time and find someone special to wander through the lights with. It makes for a nice evening and it's great for getting you in the Christmas spirit.

If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned the light display at Burn's Park, it's because I've never been. Scratch that- I pulled in one time after seeing it from the interstate and found out that there is a per-car fee to drive through. I don't even know what the fee is, but I'm not one to carry cash, so I was out of luck and haven't ever made it back over. If you've been and think it's worth it, tell me about it in the comments. Otherwise, check out Sherwood Forest and drink some cocoa for me!

Just like riding a bike

Last weekend, I decided it might be fun to reclaim part of my childhood and get a bike. I have fond memories of spending hours riding around in the hot Arkansas sun, exploring my neighborhood and trying to figure out where every trail came out. It's been cooling off lately and spending a few hours outside doesn't seem like torture anymore, so I figured now was as good a time as any.

My one limitation when purchasing a bike is that I wanted to spend as little money as possible. I'm sure any of you who ride bikes regularly or know what a camelback is or who have even halfway considered participating in the Big Dam Bridge 100 are screaming at your monitors right now about how regrettable it's going to be to not have invested a little money to go to a bike shop, get fitted for something decent, and pay a little more for quality. I'm sure J&P Bike Shop in Sherwood could have hooked me up. However, my excitement about new activities like this sometimes lasts about as long as a popcicle. So I foresee more regret from spending too much on a bike than too little. I can always replace a cheap bike later if I actually ride with any kind of regularity.

So, with that in mind, I headed out looking for the best cheap bike I could find. I had an absolute maximum spending limit of $100. Based on that, I checked a couple of websites and narrowed by shopping trip down to three stores: Walmart, Sports Authority, and Academy. I went to Sports Authority first, but that trip didn't last long because they didn't have any adult bikes for less than $100. My second stop was Walmart. I went to the Supercenter on McCain and their bike section is toward the front of the store across the aisle from the shampoo. They had some a display of Schwinns on the end cap, but nothing was priced. The rest of the adult bikes were crammed together on a main aisle, which made it hard to leisurely look over the choices. Walmart had a couple of choices just under my price range, but there wasn't anything I liked enough to keep me from making my final stop at Academy.

When I got to Academy, I found that they had the largest selction of the three stores when it comes to bikes for all ages. They were split up into girl's, boy's, women's and men's, with each section roughly arranged by price. This layout made it very easy to narrow my choices down. They had several options under $100, including the bottom-dollar deal of the day for $59. After pulling a couple off the rack and weighing my choices, I finally settled on one for $80. It was $20 more than I had to pay, but it got me more comfortable grips, easier to reach brakes, and a lighter frame, while still leaving me enough under budget to get a saddle upgrade. All the bikes at Academy came pre-assembled, so all I had to do when I got home was check the tire inflation, adjust the seat and handlebar height, and swap out the saddle. I was off riding in no time!

Once I started riding around, I discovered that there are a lot more sidewalks and trails in my neighborhood than I had noticed before. I also realized that I'm not as young as I used to be. The days of spending all afternoon peddling around the neighborhood are long gone until I can build up some stamina in these old bones. So far, I've gone out riding twice, once down a trail with some gravel and rocks and once on sidewalks and paved areas. I think I'm much more likely to stick with this than if I decided to start walking a couple of times a week. On a bike, I'm able to cover more distance and everything takes on more of a sense of adventure.

I'd like to find out where some longer trails are and I might have to head to the foot of the Big Dam Bridge some weekend. I think trying to peddle up the bridge would use up too much energy and my ride would have to be shortened as a consequence, but I'd love to take off down the biking trails and see where they lead. I've already been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to get around on a bike, and I'm looking forward to getting out again.

Any recommendations out there for biking trails suited for a beginner?

Firefall

I've been to Firefall restaurant three times, most recently for lunch a few days ago. I'm continually impressed that a restaurant snuggled into an off-shoot of the Kroger parking lot can be as nice as it is. I think its proper name (at least when they first opened) was "Firefall Bar and Grill", but it's more Saddle Creek than Applebee's. The food is good, the atmosphere is calm, and I've not had any problems with the service.

So why have I only been there three times? Until my most recent visit, I don't recall them having a lunch menu. As I said, their food is good, but it's more expensive than I want to spend on a lunch, and when dinner rolls around, Firefall usually slips my memory as I run down the list of restaurants bordering the interstate or circling Lakewood Village. But this past week, a co-workder suggested Firefall and to my delight, they have a lunch menu!

The lunch menu was laid out on a separate, one-page menu and you can choose anything from the list for $7.50. They had choices for broken out for chicken, shrimp, fish, etc. Each entree comes with a side item of your choosing. I opted for the tilapia and had a choice of three preparations. I got my tilapia with a Parmesan breading and had red beans and rice for my side. The portion of red beans and rice was bigger than I expected and the fish was delightful. My meal also included a large dinner roll to start, served with whipped garlic butter. Based on the quality of the food and the options available, I thought the price was phenomenal. The lunch menu is available M-F from 11 till 2. Now that I know about this lunch menu, I'll certainly keep Firefall in mind next time I'm looking for a sit-down meal during the week.

Rocky's Pub

I went to Rocky's Pub for the first time last weekend, and it wasn't at all what I was expecting. If you're not familiar with it, it's tucked away in the Kroger shopping center on JFK. It's occupies a corner space, and yes, it's as small as it looks. We got there on a Friday night around 6, and all the booths were full. We could have sat at the bar, but since there were three of us, we decided that would put too much of a strain on conversation, so we waited. What passes for a waiting area inside is very small and can't hold more than a couple of people without blocking everyone trying to get out. Instead, we sat outside on one of the benches and looked over the menu they had posted in the window. Since the waiting area was too small for people to actually wait in and there wasn't any system for keeping track of who was next in line (hostess, pagers, etc) I'm not sure how they keep track of it. Thankfully, one of the waiters was paying attention and everyone was seated in "first come, first served" order.

As I mentioned, Rocky's has a pretty small seating area. If I'm remembering right, there were at most 10 booths, two two-seat tables, and a row of seats at the bar (less than 10). As you can imagine, it doesn't take much to get a full house! In any case, we were seated about 10 minutes after we arrived. In that small of an area, they have enough TVs that regardless of where you're sitting, you have a clear view of one of them.

I said at the beginning that Rocky's wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting it to have the feel of a casual bar, just based on the beer signs in the window and the inclusion of "pub" in their name. What I actually found was a great neighborhood restaurant that happened to have a bar.

Decor:
It's a casual, cozy restaurant. The walls are decorated with paraphernalia from Philidelphia, with an emphasis on Rocky Balboa. This also ties in with their Philly cheesesteak offerings, billed as the best around.

Service:
Our server was very friendly and kept a good eye on our table. He also greeted several people by name as he came in, so I get the feeling that it wouldn't take too many visits before the staff started recognizing you. This is the sort of place where you could become a "regular".

Food:
At my table, we started off with cheese fries, then had a burger, cheesesteak, and chicken parmesan sandwich. The menu had plenty of options, from burgers, sandwiches and wraps, to full on entrees. Everyone at my table was very pleased with their meal, and it certainly exceeded my expectations. I had the chicken parmesean sandwich, and I had the option of grilled or breaded chicken. It was served on Texas toast, which I love. The only problem with Texas toast is that it's often too greasy or too soggy. Rocky's got it just right! The sandwich came with an order of chips, which are made in-house. Let me just pause here and say that the chips alone were reason enough to make me want to go back to Rocky's. They're thick and substantial, and seasoned beautifully. I got too full to finish my sandwich, but ate every one of my chips.

Prices:
The variety of choices on the menu also provided a range of prices. Things started off around $7-$8 for sandwiches, burgers and wraps, then went up to around $15 for full dinner entrees.

Drinks:
The had Guinness on tap, which my table took advantage of. They also had a full drink menu, which included more spirits than cocktails.

Overall:
I would definitely go back to Rocky's. I would probably go at a time that I expected it to be less crowded, but the food was great and the prices were reasonable.

Casa Mexicana gets a face lift

If you're a fan of Mexican food in North Little Rock, you've surely noticed the slight relocation of Casa Mexicana in North Little Rock. For years, this local favorite has set back from the road near the intersection of JFK and North Hills. During that time, it's watched as the larger restaurant space just across the parking lot was occupied by one restaurant after another. Each has moved in, changed the sign, and shortly thereafter, closed shop. Finally, when the most recent occupant closed it's doors, Casa Mexicana decided that it's turn had finally come.

When Casa Mexican decided to move to their new location, they did one thing noticably different than the previous tenants- instead of just swapping out signs, they completely re-did the facade. As many different restaurants as have been in that building, the outside has remained largely unchanged. Until now. Standing in the parking lot of the new Casa Mexicana, you can barely tell that it was once a Dixie Cafe, a Buffalo Grill, and a Chinese buffet.

I had lunch at the new location last week. The first thing I noticed when I walked in is that it doesn't look as big on the inside as it does on the outside. This is because of the way the boothes are laid out. One layout remant from the original Dixie Cafe that has remained unchanged over the years is the closed off outer ring of booths. I suppose it was orignally meant to mimic a wrap-around porch, but as a more practical feature, it probably helps keep the noise down. It also allows Casa Mexicana to fit a lot of booths into the space without it feeling crowded.

In the middle of the restuaurant, somewhat closed off from the rest of the seating is a bar area. There wasn't anyone sitting at or behind the bar when I went for lunch, but I suspect it sees more action in the evenings and weekends when the booths start filling up.

There is also an outside patio area. I didn't have a chance to go out there, but it looked very nice. It's technically an outside area, but it's more closed off than an fully open patio. I like this, because you get the breeze and the open-air feeling without being too exposed to the elements. On my next trip, I may ask for a table on the patio so I can get a better look at it.

You may have noticed that I have yet to say anything about the food. This is because I think most people around here who like Mexican food are already well aware of Casa Mexicana's food. Personally, it's not my first choice for local Mexican food, but they're certainly above average and they have plenty of local devotees, as evidenced by their full parking lot every Friday night. If you've never tried Casa Mexicana, or haven't tried it in a long time, let their new location be a reason to give them another look. A good restaurant experience is equal parts service, ambiance, and food. At Casa Mexicana, the service has always been good, the food is better than average, and their new location gives them a definite bump in the ambiance. Whether you're a regular or a first-timer, stop by, check it out, and let me know what you think in the comments.

Check out their menu ahead of time or view their other locations at RestaurantCasaMexicana.com.

Dealing with Car Dealers

Finding a good car salesman is like finding a good plumber - you want someone you can call up without having to turn around and spend 3 hours researching what they just told you to find out whether you're getting screwed. Of course, plumbers and car salesmen have to make a living too, but I think it's possible to get a good deal that lets both parties keep some money in their pockets.

Usually, the dealership you end up at depends on what kind of car you're looking to buy. If you want to buy a Nissan, you go to the Nissan dealership. That means that even if you are willing to drive to Benton or Conway, you've probably got no more than 4 choices of where to buy. I, for one, don't like drive so far when there are so many dealerships right here in North Little Rock and Sherwood. In fact, there has only been one occasion when I disliked a NLR dealership enough to even bother driving over to LR. As a result, the sum total of all my serious attempts to buy a car are limited to three dealerships right along 67/167.

North Point Toyota
Every time I've going out looking to buy a car, I've stopped here. I keep going because I have such a high opinion of the Toyota brand. I think of Toyotas as being safe, fuel efficient cars that hold their value very well. I like some models better than others, but in general, I don't think you can go wrong driving a Toyota. In spite of this opinion and the number of times I've gone to this dealership (3-4) I've never owned a Toyota. Bear in mind that my most recent visit to this dealership was about a year ago before they moved to their new location and I don't know if there have been any changes to their management or sales staff. I do know that each time I've gone there, I've been drug into a long, drawn out process that is neither forthcoming or enjoyable. The sales people spend a great deal of time going back and forth to their sales manager and juggling every number at once trying to re-arrange things to get you to buy the car.

My most recent visit started because I was seriously considering buying a Tundra. I spent several hours there between a test drive, an overview of features, and lengthy discussions about financing, purchase price, and trade in value. The salesman spent too much time obsessing over a 4-square and kept trying to make me care about the monthly payment more than the overall price of the truck. They also kept insisting that if we took a promotional APR, the price of the truck would stay at MSRP, which is ridiculous. I finally left when after waiting 20 minutes for them to run a credit check and give me a specific APR resulted in the sales manager coming over to give me a range of rates that I could have gotten off their website. After I left, I got calls from three different people at the dealership promising to make me the deal of a lifetime if I came back by.

I might one day have the pleasure of counting driving off a lot in a brand new Toyota, but as long as North Point is my neighborhood Toyota dealer, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

North Point Ford
After my last fruitless trip to North Point Toyota, I ended up at North Point Ford. My father and brother-in-law have both purchased vehicles here and I found the dealership to be about average. They also used the 4 square, but obsessed over it a little less and mostly used it to display the numbers as we negotiated them. Our salesman went back and forth between his desk and the sales manager, but it never took more than a couple of minutes and I didn't feel like I was being jerked around. It was a holiday weekend, so there were a couple of Ford incentives going at the time in addition to the dealership offering a $500 gas card with every purchase. We wanted to take the 0% financing, but they still came down on the price after some haggling. Once I felt like we'd come to a fair price and good terms, I mentioned the gas card, which they suddenly insisted had been factored into the amount they'd take off the MSRP. I wasn't willing to concede that point, so they eventually added the $500 card to everything else we'd agreed on.

All in all, I expect there to be some haggling involved in a car purchase at any average dealership. There was some push and pull at North Point Ford, but I did feel like they were trying to con me and everything remained civil along the way.

Russell Honda
I bought my first car at Russell Honda right after I graduated college. At the time, I didn't have Honda high up on my list of prospects simply because I saw so many of them already out on the road. I wanted something more distinctive, but I went to Russell Honda anyway because at the end of the day, I know Hondas are good cars. Along with Toyota, I think a Honda is one of the best cars you could drive when it comes to price and quality. I understand that there are some luxury brands that could leave Honda and Toyota in the dust, but I'm not made of money.

During that first car buying experience, I went to the local dealerships for Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, and finally Honda. Being wet behind the ears, my dad went with me to help weed through the B.S. I got a variety of receptions from the salesmen at each dealership, and liked some vehicles more than others. After weighing a lot of choices and getting a feel for the driving experience in several models, I eventually decided that there was a reason I kept seeing so many Hondas on the road. After coming to this conclusion, I sat down with a salesman at Russell Honda. Surprisingly, he didn't start off by quoting me the MSRP and falling over himself trying to make sure I bought the car on the spot. He quoted me a fair price for the car right off the bat, told me the going interest rate, and helped me find a car with the features I wanted and in the color I wanted. Then he let me walk off the lot without a fight. I went home that day, did some more research online, and weighed my options. The salesman didn't leave me phone messages, but he was happy to see me again when I went back to buy the car. It was a painless process and I got a fair price without breaking a sweat.

Since that first purchase, I've gone back to that Russell Honda and and traded in that car. I always ask for the same salesman, Stan Wilder, and have recommended him to everyone I know who's in the market for a car. As a result, I've had two room mates and three family members buy new or used cars from him. Everyone I've talked to at Russell honda, from the sales staff to the service department is always helpful and curteous. They'll give you a good price and treat you like more than a dollar sign. And on top of all that, you'll walk away with a great car!

Conclusion
There you have it, my take on three local car dealerships. Ultimatly, I think the car has to come first. I would rather go through a few hours of a frustrating dealership experience if it means I get to drive the car of my dreams for the next 10-15 years. This is especially true if you have a good, trustworth repairman to handle any future mechanical hiccups. If that's the case, you can fight tooth and nail with a dealership, walk away with the car you want, and never have to speak to them again! For the time being, my first stop is still Russell Honda because they have good cars and they won't make you fight too much for a good price.

Keep in mind that the best way to get a good deal on a car is to be informed ahead of time. No matter how much you trust the salesman, don't take his word that something is a good deal. Do some research ahead of time, know what you're looking for and know what the going price is. I always make Kelly Blue Book and Edmund's my first stops when researching a car. Also, don't be afraid to walk off the lot and sleep on the decision before signing on the dotted line. Buying a car can be a high pressure situation and it's easy to let the shine of the paint get the best of you.

Junction and Big Dam Bridges

In case you haven't heard, there are two new ways to cross the river. This isn't exactly new news, but I recently had a chance to put both to use, so I wanted to share my impression of each one.

The first bridge to be completed and the first one I got around to using is the Big Dam Bridge.

It spans the river from Murray Park on one side to Cook's Landing on the other. I got a little turned around the first time I went looking for it, probably because I'm not familiar with Cook's Landing. On the upside, I got to take a little driving tour of the business park going up down there. If you want to avoid the same type of meandering by actually looking at a map beforehand, there is one available at BigDamBridge.com.

The bridge got it's name because it goes right across the lock and dam at that part of the river. This makes for an incredible view when the dam is churning. You can stand right on top of the damn and see the water perfectly still on one side and wildly turbulent on the other. There is a little informational plaque part way across the bridge that gives some information about the purpose of the dam and how much electricity is can produce, so look for that if you're interested.

I've been to this bridge several times now and there always seems to be a good mix of people. Some people come for the view and stroll across while others jog for exercise. There are also plenty of people riding their bikes and walking dogs (although not at the same time). The bridge has a "lane" divider running down the middle as a reminder to observer a common sense flow of traffic, and it's plenty wide to accommodate visitors of any inclination, so come and enjoy at your own pace.

The bridge is longer than the span of the river to allow for a steady incline on either side. As a result, the walk up either side feels about as long as the middle section. Once you get right over the dam, there are a few seating areas that jut out of the way of traffic. This gives you the perfect opportunity to take a short rest or enjoy the view in either direction.

If you're into longer walking or cycling trails, the bridge connections trails on either side of the river so that you can actually ride all the way up to Conway and end up traveling about 100 miles if you did the entire circuit. There is a shorter circuit that takes you around to Pinnacle mountain and through the river market. Check out bigdambridge.com or rivertrail.org for a bit more information.

I've really enjoyed walking the bridge every time I've done it. I usually take my dog with me and it's just enough of a walk to get the day going without wearing myself out. There are also some picnic tables and fishing areas, around Cook's landing so you could make a day of it.

Until I went looking for the Big Dam Bridge, I didn't know where it was, but not so for the Junction Bridge. I've ever been anywhere near downtown, you probably know exactly where the Junction Bridge is. It used to be a railroad bridge, but hasn't been in working order for as long as I can remember.

Look familiar?


The Little Rock side starts just west of the amphitheater. From that side, you have to take stairs or an elevator up to the start of the bridge. This is because one section of the bridge is higher to allow barges to pass under it. Being a little higher up makes for a great view, but it's a little disjointed to have to take stairs up at the beginning, the back down halfway through. The first time I used the bridge through, I just went up to the raised section, enjoyed the view for a bit, then headed back down. This bridge is more useful for its scenic view and connection between the cities than for exercise, so having to go up and down isn't too big of a deal.

One thing that surprised me about the Junction bridge was how nice and clean it looked once you're on it. Looking at the bridge from the shore, it looks like the weathered, unused railroad bridge that it is, but once you're on it, there are trash cans, benches and plenty of lighting. While I'm glad the area is well-lit, there were a lot of bugs when I went at night, especially around and in the elevator.

With the addition of these bridges to the city landscape, there are now two new ways to cross the river. Each with it's own purpose and each doing a fine job of it. If you're looking to get a little exercise and enjoy some scenery away from the city, give the Big Dam Bridge a try. If you're looking for a leisurely stroll and a nice view of the city after dinner downtown, make your way over to the Junction Bridge. Just two more reasons to get out and enjoy the city. You're here, might as well make the best of it!

North Hills Animal Clinic

Last week, my dog got into a bit of a scuffle and we ended up having to take her to vet. Let me start off by saying that if anything requiring a visit to the vet happens between noon on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Monday, an after hours vet is your only option. Thankfully, there's one on Smokey Lane that's open the entire weekend. This is where we ended up.

I was afraid that the visit was going to cost an arm and a leg, but after the doctor had examined my dog and talked about what she recommended doing, they wrote it all up and let us determine which of the optional treatments we wanted to do. We crossed a couple of the items off the list to keep costs down, but paid to have her sedated, stitched up, and sent home with some antibiotics and pain pills. It ended up costing about $275 for the whole ordeal. I figure the only thing that would have been cheaper at our regular vet would have been the visit fee. For a visit requiring an examination, most vets I've been to charge around $35 whereas the after-hours clinic charged $69. I figure the extra $35 was worth the trouble of being able to get it taken care of right away. I think that the after hours visit fee doubles after midnight, so I'm at least glad we were able to avoid that.

My dog spent most of the evening sleeping off the medicine, but at 2 o'clock in the morning, I woke up to the sound of her moving around more than normal. I got up to check it out and she'd managed to remove the stitches. Her wound was now completely open again, so I begrudgingly drove back up the clinic, fearing the charges that might be incurred. I called ahead and the doctor was waiting when I got there. They stitched her back up, sent us home with an e-collar (aka "cone") and only charged us $28. I don't even know what the $28 was for, but was just excited the fee didn't include a staggering charge for dragging the doctor out of bed.

Let me just pause here to say that my dog did do well with the e-collar at first. Initially, she refused to walk anywhere. She hadn't yet figured out to keep her head elevated, so the front of the cone kept dragging on the carpet and she didn't know what was going on. I'd also find her standing still staring at walls, for what reason I don't know. After a couple of days though, she was running around the yard and jumping up on the bed like nothing was going on.

They told us at the after hours clinic to take our dog to her regular vet after a certain number of days to have the stitches removed. About a year and a half ago, North Hills Animal Clinic became our new "regular" vet. We switched from another vet when I found out that I had to have an updated rabies shot in order to register the dog with the city. Our vet at the time wanted to charge a $35 visit fee in order to give the dog a $15 shot that would take less than a minute to administer. So I called around and North Hills Animal Clinic had no problem just charging us for the shot. We've been going there ever since.

When we went to N. Hills Animal Clinic to have the stitches removed, we saw Dr. Willman. She got all the information on what had happened and what treatment had already been done, then she took the stitches out and sent us home with some more pain pills to help with any inflammation. I was probably in the office for at least 20 minutes, and we even spent some time talking about tick treatment. In the end, in spite of the fact that the visit had lasted a while and they hadn't done the initial work, they didn't charge us anything! Even the pills were a free sample they had. Maybe they don't even charge office visit fees and I just think I keep getting off easy, but whatever the case, I couldn't be happier with them and the way they've taken care of my dog. The office staff is always friendly and helpful, and Dr. Willman is great. She obviously loves her job, loves animals, and knows her stuff. I never want a reason to make a special trip to the vet's office, but for those times it's inevitable, I'm glad to know the staff at North Hills Animal Clinic is there to help.

Mi Burrito II

Last Saturday night, I made my first trip to the new Mi Burrito in Sherwood. It's in the old Mazzio's building near the Neighborhood market, if you're not familiar. Apparently it's not the first "Mi Burrito" as their sign actually reads "Mi Burrito II". I couldn't tell if the "II" was Roman numerals for 2 or an 11, so there is somewhere between one and ten other Mi Burritos somewhere out there.

When we got there around 7:30 on Saturday, there were only about four other groups of people seated, although one group had 6 people in it. I was surprised to see so few people on a Saturday night.

Decor/Layout: The walls had been painted bright colors, in glorious contrast to the white ceiling and trim. It was lively without being garish. There is a small bar area in one corner and booths all around the outside walls. The entire center is tables with no partitions or half-walls to break up the area. The booth I sat in had a big lump in the middle of the seat, so I sat a little to the side. The tile floors are no doubt easy to clean, but when the person bussing tables came through with a push-cart, the sound of the dishes rattling as the cart bumped along the tile was distracting.

Prices: I thought the prices were about average. I didn't notice the lunch menu, but my Chimichanga dinner was $7.25. I can't find a menu online, but two dinners (One chimchanga and one Mi Burrito) plus two frozen margaritas came to a total of $28 before tip.

Food: I tend to judge Mexican restaurants on two criteria: 1) Rice and beans 2) Chimichanga. I realize this may be neither scientific or fair, but the Chimi is almost always what I order when going to a Mexican restaurant for the first time. As for the rice and beans, those are the staple sides, so if they can't get those right, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the meal. At Mi Burrito, the rice was good, but the beans were a little runny. The flavor on both was good, but I would have preferred the beans to be more substantial. I got the chicken chimi and it was very good. It was cooked to a perfect golden brown and was just crispy enough. My companion had the Mi Burrito dinner and had no complaints. The chips and salsa were tasty, but we only got one bowl between us, so we kept bumping chips.

Bar: We didn't sit at the bar, but the drink page on the dinner menu had lots of varieties of frozen and mixed drinks. We both ordered a frozen margarita. I got peach and my dinner companion got a specialty one whose name I can't recall. Mine didn't have a very noticeable peachy flavor. The specialty one had some sort of extra alcohol added and ended up being MUCH stronger than my peach one was. I'm not sure what the price for each one was since the ticket was hand written with no breakout on prices, but the total for both drinks and two dinners was $28 before tax.

Overall impression: The food was good and the atmosphere was agreeable. It's convenient location may be enough to get me back for another day, but with the wealth of excellent Mexican restaurants around town, if I had my choice, I'd probably head to El Porton or end my long hiatus at Casa Mexicana.

Morningside bagels in Maumelle

Last Saturday morning, I was out towards Maumelle so I decided to stop in at Morningside Bagels. I've always thought it was a shame that there aren't more bagel shops around Arkansas. Maybe there are more than I know about, but Morningside was the first bagel shop I've ever been to in Arkansas. I heard there used to be one out around Bowman but no more. In any case, I took the opportunity to stop in and try it out.

They make their bagels fresh every morning, and even have a glass window overlooking their baking area so you can see it firsthand. Check out their website to see a fully menu, but they have 17 different kinds of bagels ranging from plain to spinach parmesan. They also have 5 different kinds of cream cheese, plus peanut butter, honey, jelly, or even lox. They even have breakfast sandwiches (on bagels, of course), soups, and basic latte choices.

We got there around 8:15 on a Saturday and although there were a steady stream of people through the door and the drive through, nothing seemed hectic or rushed. Everyone there was extremely nice and helpful.

I started off by ordering an Everything bagel with vegetable cream cheese and my companion got spinach parmesan with plain cream cheese. I also had a hot chocolate. Both bagels came out perfectly toasted and generously schmeared. I got to try the spinich parmesean and it was very good without being overpowering. I ate the bottom half of my everything bagel first and it was delicious. The vegetable cream cheese was actually much better than I expected it to be. I would definitely order that again. When I got to the top half, I got to taste the "Everything" part of the bagel. Everything bagels are usually my favorite kind of bagel. They're topped with a mixture of all the toppings that get put on the other bagels, so there's usually poppy seeds, onion, sesame seed and whatever else. At Morningside though, they have a salt bagel that's topped with big pieces of salt (not sure if it's kosher, sea salt, etc). I like salty, but the addition of salt to my everything bagel kept me from being able to taste anything else, including the vegetable in my vegetable cream cheese. If I go back again, I'll definitely skip the salt or everything bagel.

Before we left, I wanted to split a chocolate chip bagel with chocolate cream cheese. I love chocolate, so I didn't want the chance to pass by without trying that. I already had my hot chocolate, but I was still waiting for that to cool down, so I ordered the bagel. It came out very quickly, and was fairly good. The cream cheese with chocolate mixed in was an odd combination, but I suspect some people might like it. I probably wouldn't order it again.

Overall, my experience was good enough that I'll definitely stop in again if I'm out that way around breakfast time. If you like bagels, stop in and give it a try. It's a nice departure from the usual donut choices that usually dominate the weekend breakfast circuit.

Google Streetview comes to town

On March 27th of this year, Google added Street View data for Little Rock and surrounding cities. According to Wikipedia, it covers the following cities:
* Alexander
* Benton
* Bryant
* Cabot
* Carlisle
* Conway
* Greenbrier
* Heber Spring
* Jacksonville
* Mayflower
* Maumelle
* Pine Bluff
* Searey
* Sherwood
* Stuttgart
* Ward
* White Hall
I think that's a pretty impressive coverage area for an initial offering. Some roads are missing, especially newer subdivisions, but most of what I've looked for has been available.

If you're not familiar with Google Streetview, it's basically another layer of information that's been added to Google Maps. Before, when you looked up an address on Google maps, you could either use a satellite view, a street map, or a combination of the two. Now, they've added Streetview, where you can actually view a three-dimensional picture of the area. You can see anything that would be visible from the road. When you have the StreetView activated, roads that are covered are highlighted in blue.

To gather all the data, they got cars equipped with cameras on top and drove all over town. Then Google complied that information so that when you look up an address, you can view what the camera saw when it drove by. Once you're looking at an area, you can use arrows to move down the street or scroll the camera view in any direction for a better look. I'm not sure when the data was collected, but gas was $2.59 at the time:



The one complaint I do have is one I also have with google maps. The location you're at when you pull up an address is not always right in front of the address. This means that if you search for an address, you might have to move down the street a couple of houses to see the one that's actually at the address you entered. The service is still wildly useful for all sorts of things.

Redbox

This past weekend, I finally tired out one of the Redbox movie rental kiosks that have been popping up around town. There is one in the Neighborhood Market, and at McDonald's off the end of Kiehl, across from McCain Mall, and on JFK and N. Hills. You'll know it when you see it. It's literally a big red box.

The way it works is that you swipe your credit card and it dispenses movies. You pay $1 a night and you just have to return it before 9pm the day after you get it. If you don't return it in time, they just charge you another dollar for each extra day.

The movie I was looking for had just been released the previous Tuesday, but the Redbox had a copy, so I swiped my credit card and entered my email address and zip code (to verify my billing address). The movie came sliding out and I was on my way. The whole thing took a couple of minutes and the dvd came in a hard plastic case.

I wish I'd checked to see whether entering an email address was optional, but at the time, I just wanted to see what kind of confirmation email they'd send. I ended up getting three emails from them: one verifying my rental, one verifying its return, and one showing the charge. Three emails over one rental seems a little much, but I can see why each one is useful.

I currently subscribe to Blockbuster through the mail and return them in the store, but I actually liked Redbox enough that I might suspend my blockbuster subscription for a month or two and try Redbox instead. My blockbuster plan is $16 (plus tax) a month, which would buy me 16 Redbox rentals if I manage to return them all on time. If you use Netflix or Blockbuster Online and always send the movies back through the mail, Redbox probably seems like a huge inconvenience to you. On the other hand, if you're like me and you usually swing by a Blockbuster to return movies in the store, Redbox only adds the inconvenience of having to pick up the movie ahead of time.

I checked out the Redbox website and I really like that you can see what movies are available at a location prior to leaving the house. You can even reserve a movie and have it on hold for you when you get there. The one thing I can't believe is missing is a quicker way to locate movies. You basically have to look through screens showing 10 dvd covers at a time. They're sorted by title, release date, or availability, but you can't just view a list of all available titles at once or even search for a movie title and see what locations nearby currently have it. I can definitely think of some basic features that would make the website more useful, but the very fact that you can check a Redbox inventory and put movies on hold before driving down there makes the website worth using.

The one disclaimer I will add is that Redbox's inventory of movies is (from what I've seen) exclusively new releases. If you're into foreign movies, or seasons of tv shows, or old classics, don't count on Redbox to have anything you're looking for.

Schlotzsky's got a makeover

I went to Schlotzsky's for lunch this past weekend. It's been around for as long as I can remember, so I'm not going to even bother telling you where it is. If you don't already know, I'll let finding out be part of the adventure. It'll build character and be worth it. You'll thank me.

I don't go there very often, but their fresh-made bread is worth the trip. I don't know baking, but the bread is the perfect density and is full of air pockets. There is probably a name for this type of bread, but I just call it "delicious". I always think of them as being on the expensive side for a sandwich, but I don't think it's any more than Jason's Deli or McAllister's. Plus, you can check out their website to get some coupons (.$50 - $.75 off a sandwich, depending on size).

Schlotzsky's also has the best chips around. They have their own chips, in all sorts of tasty flavors, so don't go in hoping for Dorito's or Lay's. I always get the Cracked Pepper ones, which are probably my favorite kind of chips ever. You can also get Schlotzsky's chips at some grocery stores around town (Walmart Supercenter on McCain carries them last time I checked) so pick some up even if you don't make it by for a sandwich.

But like I said, this place is been around forever, so I hate to act like you don't know anything about it. If you haven't been, go. Nuff said. The reason I'm posting is because if you haven't been in awhile, they've redone their dining area. It used to be a big open area and you could see everything from everywhere. Now they've added a brick divider so that you can't see the front counter from the seating area. It looks a lot nicer than it did before, so check it out. It'll be a good excuse to go. It also looked like they were working on adding a back patio area, but it was still under construction as of about a week ago.

Crazy Hibachi Review

Last Friday night, I decided to go out for dinner and a movie with a couple of people. To be honest, we usually drive out to Rave to see movies, but we wanted to save some time, so we went to Lakewood 8 instead. We bought the tickets first, then drove around looking for a restaurant with a short wait time. We ended up at Crazy Hibachi in Lakewood Village, where they were able to seat us immediately. I went to Crazy Hibachi not long after it opened a couple of years ago, but for no particular reason, haven't been back since. This time, we ate at the Mongolian Grill.

If you're not familiar with Crazy Hibachi, it's got three different areas. There is a sushi bar (which I've never been to), there is an area where groups of about 6-8 people sit around a chef while he fixes your meal and does tricks along the way, then there is the Mongolian grill. At the Mongolian grill, there is a buffet with various kinds of meats, vegetables, and sauces. You pick whatever you want, throw it all in a bowl together, then give it to a chef next to the buffet. He throws your food on a giant grill and cooks it while you wait. It just takes a minute and your food come out hot and fresh.

Selection: The buffet had a very nice selection of meats to choose from. The choices included: beef tenderloin, pork tenderloin, chicken, shrimp, sausage, calamari, mini scallops, and crab (imitation). The other half of the buffet included lo mein noodles, and vegetables of all kinds. I'm not big on vegetables, so I don't remember everything they had. I know there were two kinds of bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, onions, and probably about 15 others I didn't eat and therefor don't remember. To all this, you can add at least 8 different sauces, peanuts, salt, sugar, garlic or an egg. In addition, the chef will add your sauce of choice right before taking your food off the grill for that extra bit of flavor.

Atmosphere: Nice decorations and ambiance. My only complaint was that as the tables filled up and the chef was grilling up a storm, the constant clanging of his tools on the grill was a little annoying and made conversation harder to maintain. We were only a couple of tables from the grill, but the area for the Mongolian grill is such a size that you couldn't get too away if you tried.

Price: It was $14.99 per person to eat at the Mongolian grill. The food is only as good as you make it, but it's all-you-can-eat, so if you don't like what you make, you can try again. It was much better than anything I've had at other all-you-can-eat buffets, and I did get to control how much of my favorite things I got. The drawback was that apart from a cup of rice (steamed or fried) and a small salad, there wasn't anything to go with it. Maybe I'm missing the point of a Mongolian grill, but for $14.99, an egg roll would have been nice. Cokes or iced tea were $1.50.

Overall: The food was good, and while I would certainly go back for a special occasion, but I won't be adding Crazy Hibachi to my regular rotation of restaurants. If you're the kind of person who never needs a to-go box, Crazy Hibachi is for you. As for me, at most restaurants where I would pay $15, I end up taking home enough to make lunch the next day. At Crazy Hibachi, the food was good, but I didn't eat enough to make it worth what I paid considering my lunch the next day was back to tuna fish.

Miscellaneous: Since I was headed straight to the theater after dinner, I utilized the bathroom at Crazy Hibachi instead of taking a gamble with the theater's facilities. In hindsight, I should have waited. The bathroom smelled like smoke, I had to hold the handle down in order for the toilet to flush, and the stalls were about on par with what I would expect from a public high school. Nothing was dirty or broken, but it was certainly not what I expected based on how well decorated and maintained the restaurant as a whole was.

Update: Central Arkansas Hobby Shops

This weekend, I continued my search for local hobby shops. I couldn't find any in NLR or Sherwood, so I drove to Hobby Shack in Jacksonville. I found there hours online, so I didn't call to verify that they were open. As luck would have it, I picked the one weekend of the year where there was a regional scale model convention going on, so the Hobby Shack was closed in order to have a table there. I wish I'd had time to stop by Pulaski Tech and take a look around, but I had lunch plans in Cabot, so I couldn't make it there and back in time. Instead, I waited until after lunch and drove to HobbyTown USA in Little Rock.

From looking for them on the web, I found out that HobbyTown USA is a national chain of Hobby Shops. The local store is in a shopping center at the intersection of Bowman and Markham. They had a larger selection of model car kits than I found at Hobby Lobby, and tons of other scale model related items that I didn't even know existed. They also had a ton more options when it came to paint options. While I was there, I picked up a couple of the colors I'd been unable to find at Hobby Lobby (semi-gloss black, for example) and got to choose from spray paint colors in several different finishes. I went with a metallic finish for the spray, which proved more difficult when it came to getting and even tone, but after a little sanding and re-spraying, it came out alright.

The prices at HobbyTown USA were slightly higher than Hobby Lobby, but the selection in paint alone make it worth the trip. As for kits, there were several that caught my eye, but in the absence of a front-runner, I picked the only one I saw that was on clearance. It was a 2002 Camaro for $7, which was more than half off. I do love a good deal.

On Sunday, I decided to go out looking for some sort of organization box to hold my growing supply of paints and glues. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted at Target, so I drove across the interstate to Michael's. I don't go in Michael's very often, so I did a bit of wandering, and low and behold, they had half an aisle devoted to model car kits! They had about as many paints and supplies at Hobby Lobby, but they had a bigger selection of car kits than Hobby Lobby or even HobbyTown USA. In addition, they had 5 kits on extreme clearance. Even though the Camaro was sitting half finished at home, I bought three of the clearanced kits at a grand total of $20 before taxes. You can't beat that, considering most kits are around $15-$17 regular price. I don't know if Micheal's always has a couple of models on clearance, but I do know they almost always run an ad in the Sunday Paper that has a coupon for 40% off one regularly priced item. This ads up to a pretty steady flow of discounted kits.

While I'll probably still end up at a true hobby shop for paints and tools, I'll be surprised if I can find kits for a better price than what I've seen at Michael's. Hopefully there's a regular rotation in what cars are available, but in any case, it would take me a while to run out of options. I'll try to go by the Hobby Shack in Jacksonville some other weekend, and report back on what I've found. From looking around on google and viewing shop reviews, they're supposed to be one of the best around for hobbies from scale models to trains, so I'm looking forward to that visit.

Hobby Shops

Last weekend, I realized I need at least one hobby that doesn't involve a mouse and keyboard, so I decided to work on a plastic model. I was already in LR when I decided this, so I went to the Hobby Lobby on Markham. They happened to have their plastic models on sale, so I went ahead and got everything I needed. I did have to compromise on some of the specified colors, but after working on the model this weekend, everything's looking great. I've already decided to do another one when I'm finished with the first, which got me wondering whether NLR had any decent hobby shops that carried much in the way of plastic models.

The phone book led me to HobbyTown USA, Mark's Hobby Shop across the River, and Hobby Shack in Jacksonville, so I'll probably check out at least one of those this weekend. Anyone know of any hobby shops in NLR that carry at least as good an inventory as Hobby Lobby on JFK?

Results of my excursions later.

Restaurant Review: American Pie Pizza

Last week, I finally made it over to American Pie Pizza in North Little Rock. It's located near the intersection of North Hills and McCain in the Kroger shopping center. If you're interested, you can view their menu online.

Expectations: It's in a nondescript strip mall and you can't see in the front windows, so I didn't know what to expect. Having driven by it dozens of times, the only thing I could see where a couple of neon beer signs, so I actually expected it to be more of a bar feel.

First Impression: Not at all what I expected. Looks like a typical family restaurant.

Decor: There is a factory somewhere where green seated chairs with wicker backs* fly down an assembly line. They probably produce hundreds every hour, store them in warehouses, and sell them in bulk. In my imagination, this is where American Pie got all it's furniture. I don't mean this as an insult. In fact, the entire affair is completely without insult. If American Pie ever shuts down, I imagine any other restaurant could open in it's place without the need to change the decor.

Food: We ordered a large pizza with half beef and half beef and pepperoni. My date also ordered a bowl of chili and we both ordered a coke to drink. When the waitress brought the chili out, she asked to make sure it was hot enough, so I'm assuming it was reheated. I'm not sure if it's better to have chili kept hot and tended to all day or fixed once and reheated, but the chili was good either way. It was very meaty with almost no filler and came with a basket full of several cracker choices. The pizza was thin crust. The edges were cooked perfectly, but the bottom was too floppy for my taste.

Cost: All said and done, it set us back less than $20.

Conclusion: If I had the option between a pizza buffet somewhere and American Pie, I'll take American Pie. The pizza was good, the atmosphere was relaxed, and the price was great. On the other hand, If I had to drive by U.S. Pizza on my way to American Pie, I wouldn't make it to American Pie. In any case, American Pie is now my second favorite thin crust pizza in town.

* I don't actually remember if the chairs had wicker backs, but the very fact that I can't remember sort of embodies the point I'm trying to make