Delta Rivers Nature Center, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

My three day camping trip to Cane Creek State Park was cut short by some severe thunderstorms. In my younger days that might have upset me, but I had learned to always have an alternate plan b or c in my back pocket for those times when the planned schedule doesn't work out quite the way I planned.

On this trip I knew I would be passing through Pine Bluff as well as Little Rock and so, I picked some interesting places to see just in case I found myself moseying  through either of these cities. My first stop was the Delta Rivers Nature Center .  While I thought this would be one of those 'usual' nature centers, I found it to be beyond very enjoyable.  It has a nice little nature trail that loops around the property and while strolling I came eyeball to eyeball with a very tame looking deer.  She paused just long enough for me to take her picture and then high-tailed it..literally and figuratively. Since we have all seen deer before, I opted not to post the shot.

After the trail I went inside to see what they had to offer and the first thing I found was this really neat film about the delta region taken from an airplane.  What made it really special was that the seating area was built to create the feeling that the audience was actually sitting in a prop-propeller airplane and viewing the film from above.  Pretty neat.  Not 3D, but still pretty cool!

Of course they had the expected snakes...this one I think is a timber rattlesnake, big enough to make me pay attention.

OK, here is the part that I thought was the absolute best.  Just outside the nature center building but still under a roof, was this aquarium.  Not your regular sea aquarium, but one of the native species of fish that can be found here in Arkansas.  Sadly, I did not write down all the names of the unusual fish but I will include the photos I got anyway.  This alone is worth the trip to see this nature center. There were fish here that I had never seen before and I was just mesmerised by some of them.

This catfish was posing for me I think...how could I pass up a shot like that?

After being rained out at Cane Creek, driving to Pine Bluff and enjoying the nature center by the time I got to Little Rock it was time for lunch.  So I also searched for a few places that I might get a meal before I made the trip and it just so happened that I got to The Pantry just as they were opening for the day. This is a cozy little place that would be great for either lunch or dinner.  Their food is all specially prepared...I saw that they had goulash and spaetzle and decided to give it a try.  It was BEYOND fabulous!  They also had some brats and sausages on the menu under an item called street fare...so I got a brat, and a sausage sandwich to go....knowing they too would be delicious (I wasn't wrong)  AND because I was on a roll..I also got an apple strudel to go with creme angliase.  Oh boy, I was eating pretty darn good for quite a while!

It is hard to make goulash look as good as it tastes...but I gave it a try anyway! If you are in the neighborhood, stop by, you will not be disappointed.