We always celebrate Josh’s birthday on the Fourth of July because they are so close together. The Fourth of July festivities in Little Rock include a concert by the Little Rock Symphony Orchestra Pops followed by some fireworks. In my research, I also found that there was going to be a party to view the fireworks from the roof of the Peabody which sounded fantastic. So, I bought tickets to the party and a hotel room for Josh’s birthday present. Since I decided to get a hotel room, I thought we’d spend the 4th and 5th bumming around downtown Little Rock to see the sights.

Josh got in late Tuesday evening so we decided to sleep in before heading downtown to enjoy the festivities. The Clinton Presidential Library offers free admission on many national holidays. Since we’ve paid to see the library in the past and I think it is a little boring, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for Josh to visit again. The library was hosting an exhibit about the St. Louis Cardinals including the World Series trophy which seemed fitting as we’re planning on moving to St. Louis. The exhibit was pretty interesting as I had not realized that Arkansas had ties to the Cards.

The 2011 World Series Trophy

After the library we walked back to the hotel through the River Market to see the Fourth of July Festivities. they had some classic cars and a bunch of activities for kids. It was pretty empty though, which I suspect was due to the 100 degree heat! We met the Chick-fil-a cows and got to see some of the Peabody ducks up close. We were very glad we’d decided to pay for the firework viewing party so we didn’t have to sit outside in the heat!

We had to get a picture with the Chick-fil-a cows

Peabody Ducks “B” squad

The party was a lot of fun. They had a well stocked buffet full of classic backyard barbeque. There were hotdogs, hamburgers, grilled chicken and ribs. They also had a great assortment of salads including pasta salad, potato salad and coleslaw. The corn on the cob was slightly overcooked but quite good for buffet corn. Dessert was made up of mini pies and fresh watermelon.

Chairs were set up on the rooftop balcony just outside the ballroom with a good view of the Broadway bridge, where they were shooting the fireworks. The hotel provided a live feed of the Pops concert so that we could hear the great music. The concert was great and had a few musical surprises. Once the orchestra had finished playing the 1812 Overture the fireworks began. We decided not to take any pictures of the fireworks, so you’ll have to use your imagination. The fireworks lasted about 10 minutes with some musical accompaniment and the finale was quite good.

We watched the firefighters set up the fireworks from our room

Waiting for the fireworks to start

All in all, we had a really good time and were glad we made the choice to attend the party and stay overnight at the Peabody. After the fireworks we were able to just head downstairs and collapse into bed without having to sit in traffic or risk driving with drunk drivers.