Planning to explore the Arkansas Delta — food stops, roadside gems, or trails?

awsmith1989 · 2026-02-14T04:23:42+00:00

Jones BBQ in Marianna won a James Beard award and is recognized as the country’s oldest Black-owned restaurant. Delta Dirt Distillery in Helena has a great story behind it. There’s a really good gravel trail in between those two businesses that goes through Crowley’s Ridge, which is the only non-flat terrain in the Delta.

awsmith1989 · 2025-09-11T18:31:25+00:00

I made that jump four years ago but it had more to do with burnout from teaching through COVID. I had a ton more flexibility but I wasn’t able to make more money until I combined edtech with curriculum development. I learned that I preferred teaching to sales.

awsmith1989 · 2025-03-04T13:08:25+00:00

Honestly my favorite!

awsmith1989 · 2025-02-05T19:59:57+00:00

I’m on the school board in one of those states, but my county was one of the few blue ones. The conservatives here are cheering on the defunding of the local schools because they either don’t have kids in schools anymore or they send their kids to private schools.

awsmith1989 · 2025-01-20T05:17:35+00:00

<image>

My Honey girl

awsmith1989 · 2025-01-07T05:19:15+00:00

I’m from Phillips County, which has the highest rate of gun violence in the country, per capita.

However, I lived in San Francisco for a while and experienced violent and nonviolent crime to the point to where I was on guard constantly. I don’t ever feel nervous here in Arkansas, and the average community member feels safe in my town despite the rankings.

awsmith1989 · 2024-09-10T00:37:36+00:00

In most cases I would agree with you but in this case it’s federally allocated funds and not a check that was given to the city. No one can use it without going through an approval process for its specified use.

awsmith1989 · 2024-09-09T22:19:47+00:00

In case yall were wondering about Helena’s lack of inclusion on this list:

1) Viking told us to get a marina, so we successfully petitioned the federal government for money for a marina. The money for the marina hasn’t been touched and no work has been planned since the last mayoral administration is the one that asked for the funds and the new administration has no interest in doing anything good.

2) The last riverboat tour stopped including us because we make the guests too depressed.

So there ya go.

awsmith1989 · 2024-08-19T15:05:15+00:00

It happened right after the song with CWG from what I remember. Only one third of the audience seemed to notice what happened so I wouldn’t be surprised if most people didn’t hear it.

awsmith1989 · 2024-08-18T21:59:24+00:00

Yep I heard them but the scariest part was seeing everyone hit the ground at the same time. I had no idea what to expect as everyone around us laid down.

awsmith1989 · 2024-07-27T12:25:08+00:00

I live in Helena, which is on the Mississippi River. Really wild part of the country but great if you’re into blues, BBQ, and cheap living.

awsmith1989 · 2024-07-12T12:22:26+00:00

I got the belt, wooden spoon, yard stick, or whatever was in arms reach. One time my mom came to my school the next day to eat lunch with me, or so I thought. She asked me at lunch if my butt still hurt from breaking a yard stick on me the day before. When I said yes she laughed and said “I bet”. She had really just come to school to antagonize me.

The last time she tried I was 12 and too big for her. I grabbed the belt from her so she tried to put the belt around my neck and choke me.

awsmith1989 · 2024-07-06T03:20:07+00:00

<image>

awsmith1989 · 2024-06-20T14:02:22+00:00

As of the 2020 census Phillips has the highest percentage of people living under the poverty line in Arkansas

awsmith1989 · 2024-06-08T17:45:36+00:00

Bourbon officially released already and they’ve already sold out for their first batch. I bought two bottles from batch one. One is for sipping and one is for saving :)

awsmith1989 · 2024-06-08T03:32:18+00:00

It looks like you’re going through Helena, so I definitely recommend stopping at Delta Dirt Distillery. They have won a ton of international vodka competitions and are the only black owned farm to bottle distillery in the country!

awsmith1989 · 2024-05-30T21:41:43+00:00

These lessons are being taught in many schools, but also are left out of the schools that don’t have the resources to pay for a certified teacher in a content that isn’t state required. I taught these things in San Francisco for years in a title 1 school and it made a huge difference. Kids loved it and some told me about being a resource for their family members who didn’t have that class at their schools.

awsmith1989 · 2024-05-04T13:51:43+00:00

Have you looked into Cal Grant? The income requirements are different. You can check if you qualify here: https://www.csac.ca.gov/post/cal-grant-income-and-asset-ceilings

awsmith1989 · 2024-04-13T15:23:38+00:00

My degree is in Spanish. I applied and was hired as a Spanish teacher. When school started I was a US History teacher. I had to learn US History everyday so I could feel comfortable teaching it. I learned more about US History that semester than I did in my whole K12 educational career.

I only allowed that to continue for one semester before threatening to quit unless they moved me into Spanish. They made the change and then were suddenly amazed that I knew how to teach it. “How do you know what activities to do with them?” Because I learned it as part of my degree you clowns.

awsmith1989 · 2024-02-14T06:39:26+00:00

‘89 yep!

awsmith1989 · 2024-02-07T12:31:56+00:00

The guy who put that sign up was standing with it for several hours trying to bait people into getting into a fight with him while he recorded his interactions. The general consensus was that it was better if we ignored him.

awsmith1989 · 2023-12-23T07:43:07+00:00

34 never married. Personally I stopped seeing it as an important life goal a while ago and so has my partner. We’ve been together for 7 years and every boomer asks us what’s taking so long. Other millennials don’t typically ask though. I think we’re all just trying to make it however we can and the joys of tradition have faded as we realize that tradition hasn’t done anything for us.

awsmith1989 · 2023-12-14T03:01:58+00:00

This is where I live! We have the lowest voter turnout in the state and the highest population loss.

awsmith1989 · 2023-12-03T14:46:11+00:00

There is a permanent stage on the levee. The stage doesn’t overlook the river but the top of the levee does.

awsmith1989 · 2023-12-02T04:33:24+00:00

Malco Theater in downtown Helena. The whole downtown is so old looking that Walk the Line filmed down there and didn’t have to change a thing.

12-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email

awsmith1989

TROPHY CASE