We arrived at the KOA in Alma Saturday afternoon about 2:00. With the help of our friendly KOA hosts, we found a church in Van Buren (about 8 miles away) for Mass. Also checked out Alma which has a population of about 4,000. It has 3 grocery stores, 3 pizza places, a Cracker Barrel, McDonald's, and a few gas stations and post office. Alma is about 20 miles from Fort Smith. The KOA is small, and tends to have mainly travelers who are only staying one or two nights....we're here a bit longer. They have a pool, but can't open it until the Health Department inspects it. Perhaps on Tuesday. They have DUCKS! They're big moochers and come around the trailers looking for food. We noticed that there was another Airstreamer in the campground. VERY unusual.
Sunday we made our first excursion into Fort Smith -- to find a Panera Bread Co. so we could have one of their delicious muffins or danish for breakfast...a nice change of pace. Success! Also found diesel for $2.85/gal. Nothing was open to tour until 1, so came back to Alma and went back into FS at 1:00. First stop was Miss Laura's Social Club, Fort Smith's official visitors center was the first bordello to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only one of the seven houses of ill repute that remains. It's been magnificently restored to Victorian splendor and besides having info on FS, also offers a tour of the house. Very interesting! Enjoyed the tour.
From there we went to the Fort Smith National Historic Site which includes the remains of two military posts built to keep peace on the frontier. The barracks later housed the courtroom of "the hanging judge", Isaac C. Parker. The courtroom has been restored, and the site also includes a reconstruction of the gallows.
We've also toured the Trolley Museum and rode an early 1900 trolley. I personally enjoyed the calico, tabby, and gray cats that live at the museum. They were fun to pet and sooooo happy for the attention!
We're currently enjoying a break from the 90+ degree heat and humidity that have plagued us since we left home. It was nice to be able to turn off the AC! I understand we're going to have more heat building back in tomorrow! YUCK!
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