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Gooooood morning GBD!  Are you excited?  You should be!  Because today we’ve got Emily C here to tell us about her hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Here we go!

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Howdy! I’m from a little town called Fort Smith, Arkansas (it’s Arkan-SAW, not Ar-KANSAS). Well, we actually aren’t that small compared to other cities in the state, but next to, say, New York… we’re nothing.  Why is Arkansas pronounced the way it is? I honestly haven’t a clue. My first guess would be because it’s a French pronunciation, so the S is silent. Thank goodness for Google – here’s a site that clears it up a bit.

First off, to settle a few Arkansas rumors… Yes, we do wear shoes in Arkansas. And yes, most of us have noticeable Southern accents – or so people tell me when we take a vacation up North. Wal-Mart is often referred to as “Wally World,” sweet tea is a common drink, mosquitoes are hell in the summer, people actually say “y’all” and “ain’t,” going to the lake is a common vacation, deer hunting is a major occasion for the guys (Sorry, Bambi lovers. They’re not that cute when they’re dead), and everyone went to their first Razorback football game before they were old enough to remember it.  (A razorback is a type of boar. Like a hog or pig. Hence, “Let’s call those hogs… woooo pig sooie!” And yes, it’s a college team, University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.)

Okay. So about Fort Smith, in particular. Fort Smith is in Northwest Arkansas. It’s right on the Oklahoma-Arkansas border. The main road in the Fort, as we sometimes call our hometown, is Rogers. Rogers runs perpendicular to the OK-AR border eastward. Historic downtown is on the street closest to OK. That’s where we have a lot of cute little diners, churches (including my beautiful church, Immaculate Conception), historic buildings, the Fort Smith Museum of History, etc. Also, all the old downtown houses are gorgeous! We live closer to downtown, and our house is so awesome. Old houses have character… ya know, squeaky floorboards, original plumbing, ghosts in the attic, the real deal. =P

The farther east you go, the newer you get. Also, we have come to the conclusion that Fort Smith roads were laid down by drunks. Roads loop-de-loop and cut off only to be continued 5 blocks down and 2 blocks over.

Immaculate Conception Church

Belle Grove Historic District

I go to Northside High School – the downtown school. The more “uptown” school is Southside. Northside vs. Southside has been a MAJOR rivalry since Southside was built. Football games are pretty intense, because friends are fighting against friends. But it’s a healthy rivalry. =) ‘Cause I’m a Northside student, I’ll put in a few good words for us. We are the more racially diverse school – I rarely hear English walking down the hallways sometimes – and we’re just, well, better. =P

One of the best things about Fort Smith in particular is Sweet Bay Coffee Co. It’s like a Starbucks, only BETTER. And no other city has one. It’s sooooo delicious.

Now… Southern cookin’. Since Kathy particularly told me to mention food. My mother is an AMAZING cook, second only to her mother. Some favorite dishes in my family include: white rice and brown gravy, fried okra, fried catfish, biscuits and gravy, spaghetti, beef stroganoff, meat loaf, and every type of pie you can imagine. =D  My personal favorite is strawberry rhubarb.

What to do in free time? Er… Hmm. We do have a movie theatre, and restaurants and places to go out to eat, and a mall. But truthfully, we don’t have THAT much exciting stuff to do. Here, just the fact that you’re spending time with your friends is more important than what you’re actually doing with them. For example, my typical weekend goes something like this: Friday – basketball game (I’m a cheerleader), hang out with cheerleader friends for a bit, maybe go out to eat. Saturday – sleep in, do chores around the house, spend time with family, maybe go see a movie or just hang out with a friend or small group. Sunday – Whatever during the day, church at 5, then homework. Right now I don’t have much of a social life because of basketball season. =/

At my grandma’s is a different story, though. I have a big family on my mom’s side. Visits there involve a LOT of family, food, 4-wheeling, and card-playing. =)

What people talk about? Sports. A lot. Arkansas Razorback football has more drama than a junior high cheerleading squad. Trust me, I’ve been there, and I know. UT, OU, LSU, and Ole Miss fans are generally shunned by society. Sorry. If you want to make a true Arkansan mad, say something good about Houston Nutt or the Longhorns, or how many times they mention that Damian Williams is a “transfer from Arkansas” during a USC game. Grr. Also, we talk about typical teenage things, too – movies, music, fashion, TV shows, etc.

Weather in Arkansas is screwed up. Y’all have no idea. It can be snowing one day and 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12.8 Celsius) the next. That actually happened last week. Sometimes we get out of school for 2 inches (5 cm) of snow. =)

A few historical facts about the Fort – Fort Chaffee is nearby, which was a major fort that a lot of troops went through during WWII and the Vietnam War. It was also a POW camp during WWII, and Elvis Presley stayed there shortly during his military career. Also, Judge Isaac Parker, aka “the hanging judge,” had his court in downtown Fort Smith. Zachary Taylor’s chimney is still standing in our church parking lot.

Random fun fact – If my review has given you enough reason to visit Fort Smith, and you’re getting plane tickets right now, our airport has the best public restrooms in the country. So if you fly in, check ‘em out. =P

I’ll end this with our city catch phrase, courtesy of our Mayor – “Life’s worth living in Fort Smith, Arkansas!”

There ya go. Sorry if I got a bit long-winded. There’s more about my little town than I thought. =P

-Emily

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Emily said that she would eat some catfish in my honor this summer at her family’s annual fish fry.  And she doesn’t even like seafood!  So either that catfish is really good, or Emily thinks I’m ALL THAT and a bag of chips.  Thanks Emily!

Tune in next week for our second Stateside hometown…El Segundo, California!  Brought to by none other than Taylor Nikole.  Whoohoo!