That’s when Little Rock started clicking for me. First-person experiences in real places are available here.

I so needed to talk to my parents after hearing more history inside the school, and after interacting with the hands-on and audio exhibits in the Visitor Center, plus watching the news clips I think I remembered.

I was nine that year and my folks thought those children should have stayed at their own school. Certainly hope if they were alive today they’d tell me they changed their minds.

Travel has a tricky way of bringing up connections, and confusions and desires tough to act upon.

Set yourself up for some of the same in Little Rock by taking this tour. Reserve a spot at least a week ahead; it’s only available Monday and Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. and Friday at 1:15 p.m.

Garden visits ask less of tourists—unless you go home and start pulling weeds and planting crops—and the eight acres of gardens at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion provide a wonderful stroll. Pretty gardens are full of 1840-era Arkansas flowers at Curran Hall, too, built in 1842 and easy to visit since it’s the Little Rock Visitor Information Center.

The Governor’s yard features an eating garden, and generous paths separating tomatoes, squash, lettuces, greens and beans for daily dining plus a practical space with herbs in raised beds so no backache required to sniff the fragrances.

A reproduction of the original picket fence on this site in the early 1800s surrounds the crops. Gala apple trees and a crabapple orchard provide a backdrop.

Tour the flowers too, and native tulip poplars, red maples, sweet bay magnolias and loblolly pines.

Mansion tours happen on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons; call first. The Quapaw Quarter District is a grand old neighborhood but the house is only 58 years old.

Fine art and craft are displayed, including the legendary “Arkansas Traveler” painting, a working 1770 grandfather clock, 71 pieces of silver dinnerware commissioned in 1912 for the USS Arkansas and “The Scout” by Frederic Remington plus many contemporary works by Arkansas artists.

I recommend a walk around the neighborhood; lovely homes of many styles and their lush yards are easier to appreciate on foot. Might plan a trip when homes tours are happening.

Bill Clinton lived in the governor’s mansion, but you’re more likely to bump into him near the Arkansas River in the lively River Market art, shopping, eating and overnighting district, or in his Library, Foundation office and School of Public Service.

His is the 12th Presidential Library built and it’s jam-packed with more information than I could digest in an afternoon. The $3 audio tour, narrated by Clinton, is a good help.

A full-scale replica Cabinet Room lets you punch up issues faced during his eight years and see big-screen video how decisions were made. I had fun with this, and with extensive displays of letters written to and from the White House---hand-written on fine paper, no e-mails, stating polite, courteous sentiments.