The 2025 Arkansas State Chess Championship was a fun event to play in. It was held in Jonesboro at Arkansas State University from Friday August 22 to Sunday August 24. Chief TD Jerika Eppel of the Scarlet Chess Club did a very good job of hosting this event. The rooms were well lit, the parking was easy to find, the rounds started on time, & they managed to secure a partnership with chess.com to give each tournament player a free diamond membership for 45 days on chess.com. (I blacked out the code on the instagram photo so that others can't use it.)
Chief Jerika made timely announcements about pairings, round times, prize categories, & other pertinent information. There was a funny moment where she asked if I was eligible for the Under age 20 prizes of the tournament. I laughed, pointed out that I am 41, & there was clear understanding a moment later when I took off my hat. I did enjoy the fact that spectators were not allowed in the room, so the rooms were spacious & really quiet.
I played average in this tournament, going 2 wins, 2 draws, & 2 losses, & my rating dropped from 1858 to 1848. My wins & losses were not upsets in either direction, & my rating drop occurred because my upset draw in the lower direction was a bigger rating gap than my upset draw in the higher direction.
I am going to showcase my 5th round draw right now.
And that concludes the chess portion of State No. 42
On Thursday afternoon, I went to Garvan Gardens. I posted some pictures on my instagram, but here are a few additional pictures of the place.
It was fascinating to see the beautiful plant life all throughout & even the chapel at the end.
After I was done, it was late in the day on Thursday, so I didn't have time to go on the trails in Hot Springs National Park, but I did manage to make it to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower & take a look at the beautiful views from the Tower.
It was really beautiful see views from up high, looking out in all different directions.
Traveling note: It is a winding road up to the tower, & there may be joggers on the road. Please drive slowly as you go up.
On Friday midday, I went to Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. This was the site in 1957 where nine African-American students entered the previously all-white school under federal troop escort, three years after the Brown vs. Board of Education case where the Supreme Court had declared racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional.
While going through the visitor center, I was horrified but not surprised to learn that people within the school that wanted to cause trouble actually figured out the schedules of these 9 students & seemingly distributed copies to other troublemakers so that they could harass these students at every possible chance. Throughout this visit, I tried to imagine how I would have fared if I was a student facing overwhelming hatred from all sides, with the verbal & physical harassment coming from any direction. That would have been very scary to attend school under those conditions.
There's an old gas station, the Magnolia Mobil Gas Station, at the corner opposite of the school & the visitor center. It was one of the few businesses with a pay telephone on site, so all media types at the time (journalists, radio correspondents, tv reporters) converged on this site.
There were some interesting traffic conditions along my travel. Now since I was traveling alone, I did not take live pictures of these signs you will see, but I will describe these unusual traffic conditions as best as I can.
From Hot Springs, traveling Eastbound on US Business 70, there are 6 exits on a divided highway & then it transitions into a 5-lane highway with a two-way left turn lane. The speeds are so high that the advisory speed sign for curves was 55 miles per hour. (Picture screenshot from Google Maps Street View) I can't imagine, as a NJ person, advisory signs of 55 miles per hour, so I had to save this photo.
There was also a warning sign I had never seen before accurately depicting the lane options as you travel eastbound on I-630 towards I-30. (Picture screenshot from Google Maps Street View)
And here's a state route sign for Arkansas
And a sign (color a bit faded) on the Arkansas State University Campus
Traveling Little Rock to Jonesboro on Friday, I had to come to a complete stop on I-57 as a maintenance worker ran across the road to pick up a tire piece lying on the left shoulder. I don't blame him for doing so, but that was really scary. I had already moved over to the left lane where the maintenance vehicle was on the right shoulder, so him running across was unexpected. I was glad I saw him & able to stop. After he crossed back, I continued along my way.
Food. There were a few places that stood out to me. Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen was so good I visited the Orlando location during the bonus trip down below as well. Huddle House had a great waffle breakfast I enjoyed & the service was able to pivot me to a different table as they noticed the original table they assigned me was still dirty. Shipley Donuts looked like an interesting place to eat donuts from, but I never got to do so. The Maui Magic Pizza from Hideaway Pizza was very good. However, I had a slight service issue at the location I visited & the management has offered to send me some coupons for a future visit.
Mandarin Oranges & Pineapples, yum yum! I am giving that cup & a similar cup to some younger relatives of mine.
That concludes the non-chess for State No. 42. #fiftystatesofchess
After the Chess Tournament, the Bonus Trip for me was traveling to Super Nintendo World at Universal Epic Universe in Orlando. (Why the only reasonable flights available timewise from Little Rock had layover stops in Chicago or Houston I will never know)
I wanted to drop in at the crossfit place I visited in 2014. However, since they were now closed, I had to pivot, & so I dropped in at CrossFit Broken Chains in Orlando on Monday. I bring this up because the coach of my class was familiar with Arkansas State University & Jonesboro & is familiar with Cherry Hill. (Yes, you may cue the "It's a Small World After All" song). Class was very good, she was a very good coach, & the other athletes there were engaging & fun to talk with before during & after class.
Tuesday was my day visit to Super Nintendo World. I had a lot of fun there representing #TeamToad There were noticeable similarities & differences between Super Nintendo World in Universal Hollywood & Universal Orlando as follows:
- At Universal Hollywood, you have to reserve a time for Toadstool Cafe in 2023, where at Universal Orlando, you just line up & they will find a table for you eventually. (Easier if you are a smaller party)
- The 8-bit Mario pushbuttons are not mapped out in Universal Orlando, so you really have to look far & wide for them. I missed 1 of the 8-bit sticker buttons.
- There are more achievements in Universal Orlando, 200 to 132. (Approximately 29 of the 200 are in Donkey Kong Country)
- The Games with keys are closer together in Universal Orlando.
- The Yoshi's Snack Island had a good apple melon smoothie.
- Not a lot of Daisy presence in either location, which was disappointing as a Daisy fan. This is actually true of Pauline & Rosalina as well, though seeing Rosalina through the binoculars is achievable according to the app.
- Getting stamps on the binoculars can be hit or miss. I got some things but not others.
And finally, here are my maps for #fiftystatesofchess
Until next time, have fun my friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment