Note: All participants should be in front of the Peabody 15 minutes before departure time.
Sunday, August 29 - The Trolley Tour - Departure Time: 1:00 p.m. Approximate Tour Time: 3 hours - Rate: $27.00 - The best way to see the most attractions in Little Rock is on a Trolley Tour. Your guide will take you on a driving tour of attractions. After the driving tour, you will have the opportunity to get off and on the trolleys and actually visit the attractions of your choice along the route. Your guide will keep everything moving and make sure everyone sees what they want to see. Usually, you will have the chance to go inside 2 to 3 attractions during the allotted time. Attractions include the following:
Monday, August 30 - Hot Springs Getaway Tour with Lunch - Departure Time: 9:00 a.m. Approximate Tour Time: 8 hours - Rate: $60.00 - This tour features a visit to America’s first federally protected area in the Nation’s history and the only National Park within a city. Amazing 143° thermal waters, rich history and beautiful architecture await you in Hot Springs - “America’s First Resort.” One of the highlights of this tour will be a visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens, showcasing floral landscapes and free-flowing streams and waterfalls. The Gardens also feature an E. Fay Jones-designed gazebo and Jones-inspired Anthony Chapel. Lunch will be provided during the visit to the Gardens.
Next, the tour journeys into the city for a day of shopping, museums, hiking or whatever suits your fancy. Famed Bathhouse Row has enticed guests for decades, especially during the heyday of the 1930s.
For the ultimate spa experience, enjoy the famous thermal waters yourself with an afternoon of pampering at one of the bathhouses. This is “The Works” package, including a thermal bath and massage. Legend tells of warring tribes laying down their arms to bathe in the healing waters in the Valley of the Vapors. Why not experience it for yourself!
Hot Springs Tour with lunch, thermal bath and massage - Rate: $130.00 - Type of bath depends on capacity of bathhouse - either private thermal bath or public thermal bathing pool. Bring a bathing suit for public thermal pool.
Note: Due to the need for a head count for lunch, this tour requires registration by August 26, 2010. Registration will not be accepted at the conference.
Tuesday August 31 - Plantation Country Tour - Departure Time: 11:00 a.m. Approximate Tour Time: 4 hours - Rate: $59.00 - The setting for lunch is fourteen miles southeast of Little Rock at Marlsgate Plantation, a stately columned Greek revival mansion shaded by ancient oaks and a pecan grove overlooking the waters of Bearskin Lake. Owned by the Garner family, Marlsgate Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Southern history permeates the mansion as David Garner conducts tours of his home and gardens. Renowned for his expertise as an artist, floral designer, and social caterer, Garner makes his home a magnificent setting for a luncheon.
This tour features a visit to the Plantation Agriculture Museum where exhibits and programs interpret the history of cotton agriculture in Arkansas from statehood in 1836 through World War II when agricultural practices quickly became mechanized. Visit the Dortch Gin Exhibit Building and learn how cotton was ginned. Tour the museum and learn about farming life during the Plantation Era. The Museum is located in Scott, Arkansas, an agricultural community that formed a nucleus for cotton plantation culture that developed and flourished here in the early nineteenth century.
Topping off this tour is a stop at the largest antique showroom in Arkansas, Morris Antiques in Keo. The town of Keo has become particularly notable in recent years for its marketing of antiques, with the largest dealer - Morris Antiques - operating a 10-building complex including space for item sales and antique restoration. As in much of the surrounding region, agriculture is the other driving economic force in the area around Keo, primarily in the raising of catfish and cultivation of cotton and pecans.
Note: Due to the need for a head count for lunch, this tour requires registration by August 26, 2010. Registration will not be accepted at the conference.
Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29 - Wild River Country Waterpark - Rate: See below - Arkansas’ largest water park located in North Little Rock featuring the Vortex, the Vertigo, the Sidewinder, a lazy river, a wave pool, plus much more! Lunch will be on your own - food and beverage stations are set up inside the park. Entrance fees will be collected and paid directly to Wild River Country.
Time: Saturday - Park hours 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Transportation departs the Peabody Hotel at 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Scheduled pick-ups at Wild River Country at 12:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday - Park hours 12:00 p.m. - 8 :00 p.m. Transportation departs the Peabody Hotel at 11:30 a.m. Scheduled pick-up at Wild River Country at 3:30 p.m.
Rate: Adults $29.99 + tax
Child - Age 12 and under $19.99 + tax
Spectator - $13.99 + tax
Age 2 and under - free
Age 60 and over - free
Night water (after 3:00 p.m.) $19.99 + tax for all ages
Saturday, August 28 - Tuesday, August 31 - Everyday Shopping Excursions - Rate: Free activity - Take a shuttle to Park Plaza Mall or McCain Mall. Both indoor malls are anchored by Dillard’s and have food courts available. Park Plaza features 70+ stores including Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Justice. McCain Mall features 80+ stores including Old Navy, JCPenney, Sears, and Gymboree.
Time: Saturday, Monday and Tuesday -Transportation departs the Peabody Hotel at 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Scheduled pick-ups at each mall at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Sunday - Transportation departs the Peabody Hotel at 11:30 a.m. Scheduled pick-up at each mall at 3:30 p.m.
