Loretta Lynn’s Lunch Buffet, A Temporal Paradox In Arkansas, and Other Notes From the Road to LA

Greetings from Van Buren, Arkansas; only five miles from Oklahoma! The story of the day was traffic delays. There was construction right out of the gate causing traffic to move at a brisk walking pace for about an hour. Memphis congestion was terrible, and its drivers are all degenerates and I hate them. There was also construction on the bridge over the Mississippi River, causing more delays. About 60-70 miles deep into Arkansas, the heavens opened up, dumping rain and a bit of hail all over. Understandably, traffic slowed to a crawl. Seriously, it looked like a tornado would materialize any second. Finally, an accident just outside of Little Rock delayed my arrival to Van Buren. Every major metropolitan area I passed through today had delays, except for Nashville. I debated exploring Nashville for a couple of hours, but decided against it. In hindsight, I made the right decision, considering all the delays I had.

I’m tired and cranky. This will be short.

I stopped at Loretta Lynn’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Humphries County, TN; in between Nashville and Memphis. Loretta Lynn, of course, is the famous country singer from long ago. Outside the restaurant is a giant statue of a bull. Here’s its head:
And here’s its rear:
The place was adorned with Lynn memorabilia. The table I sat at had a “Coal Miner’s Daughter” movie poster hanging on the wall above. I ordered the lunch buffet, which wasn’t that notable. Loretta definitely does music better than the restaurant business. The gift shop, though, was impressive. There was the standard kitsch you expect from a touristy place like that, but there was a prominent, large display of albums from Lynn and her contemporaries, as well as a lot of Elvis selections. I got a couple guitar picks and a shot glass, which I left in my car so I can’t take a picture of them right now.

There is a replica of the cabin she grew up about ten miles further down the road from the restaurant. I would have gone after lunch, but there was some threatening rain clouds coming, the wrath of which I fully experienced in Arkansas.

I stopped at a lonely, stuck-in-time gas station 30 miles in to Arkansas to fill up and stretch my legs. Besides the electronic gas pumps, it looked about 25 years behind the rest of us. I can’t speak for the rest of Arkansas, but this little gas station was a portal back to 1985. If I had any doubts about this gas station’s disruption of the space-time continuum, the teenage girl in line in front of me had a Quiet Riot t-shirt on. I wish I had photo evidence of that.
And right outside the gas station:



And before I pass out, here’s a couple more driving pics, both from Arkansas:

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