23 degrees, a gorgeous day, we walked along the Arkansas River to the Clinton Center.

Visiting the Presidential Library of William Jefferson Clinton encouraged me to not lose hope in a country that is crucial to not only Canada but every country in the worlds, relationship with each other. Clinton is a good man and was an excellent president.

He in his career always thought beyond himself believing that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, everyone has a responsibility to act, and we all do better when we work together. Working together he did and this is made very clear as his history in his life to date is illustrated at the Library. Clinton was respected without question by leaders and ordinary citizens from around the world. Children and young adults were influenced by him and now are some of the major decision makers in their chosen field. The library is a world class educational and cultural venue that has brilliantly presented in the context of the American experience, Clinton's life and politics.

It was impressive to sit in replicas of the Cabinet Room and Oval Office. In the Cabinet Room interactives are used to introduce visitors to critical decisions and how they were made, explaining also how the White House staff and Cabinet were organized. The Oval Office replicated just as Clinton had it was small, personal and impressive. The desk brought back from archives by Jackie Kennedy, bears a plaque recording this gift from Queen Victoria.

The Library is divided by alcoves focussing on significant policies, the floor to ceiling piers of the alcoves are filled with archival boxes containing White House correspondence that represent only 3 percent of the 80 million documents in the Clinton Archives. As you wander in and out of the alcoves in the background recordings of Clinton speeches are heard. Inaugural addresses, State of the Union addresses are heard when you step along the timeline in another exhibit. Powerful words, never heard the words, very, very at all. I would love to hear Clinton lecture today.

A fun exhibit is the lined walls of gifts received from individuals of all ages and levels of importance. Valued from priceless to precious they were displayed together. Personal letters, table settings of State dinners, everyday photos of life in the White House private quarters out of the public eye. There are binders of daily schedules to leaf through, loved it.

The temporary exhibit which just opened "Louder than Words: Rock, Power and Politics" clearly illustrated the effect music has on politics. Worth a visit, with respect I am definitely going to visit more PAST Presidential libraries. I will see about future ones afterall I have already been to Disneyland.

Clinton was successful in his vision to have a presidential centre that is a symbol of heritage, a record of the past and a jumping off point for the future. There are six bridges over the Arkansas River, this building is bridge like reaching outward towards the other shore. It does invoke a tangible physical link between yesterday and tomorrow.

Little Rock, Arkansas’s capital with a population nearing 200,000 is located in the Center of the state. It was named after a rock formation found downtown along the river that was discovered in 1722 by a French explorer. “La Petite Roche” is still there. Simple but good.

We walked, relaxed and the ventured out for dinner after a bit of a break. Tony felt like pasta and he was not disappointed with his Eggplant Parmesan and Sicilian cannoli. It was a fun dinner,
I had veal piccata which was perfect, lots of capers and a very nice olive oil, lemon in every bite! No dessert for me.

Time for sleep, loved the Spring planters here!