How I spent the first day of my vacation — or — The splendor of Toad Suck

My in-laws live in the thriving city of Conway. It was a dinky half-dead town when I first visited 29 years ago, but since then it has become a commuter community for Little Rock and the place where every franchise in America simply must have a store/restaurant. The population has more than tripled in those 29 years and shows no signs of stopping.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I went in search of adventure. I didn’t want to go far, having just spent 14 hours in the car the day before. Fortunately, the most exciting attraction in the area is a mere five miles or so from my in-laws’ house — Toad Suck.

This was the location of a ferry crossing on the Arkansas River until 1970 or so. At some point, a tavern called Toad Suck served travelers on the river. Legend has it that bargemen would drink there until they swelled up like toads — hence the name. The problem is that this legend is neither believable or particularly creative. If you’re interested, here’s a website that discusses other possible origins for the name. I find the “stupid American mispronunciation of a French word” theory to be much more believable and more amusing.

Anyway, in 1970, the Army Corps of Engineers built a lock, dam and bridge on the site and lined both shores with picnic groves and campgrounds. For many years a spring fair called Toad Suck Daze was held in the campgrounds, but lately the town of Conway has appropriated the event for tourism purposes, and the fair is now held downtown. There’s even a Toad Suck Square complete with a painting of a frog in the middle of the road.

It was here that I went in search of entertainment and photo opportunities, with some success.

Here’s an overview from the trail that climbs the nearby bluff.

This is one of the towboats that pulled the barges that carried cars across the river. To give you an idea of how exciting the Conway area is, this boat is listed as an attraction on several Arkansas websites. (You thought I was kidding, didn’t you?)

Autumn apparently happened the day before I arrived.

Here’s a view looking north along the river. The towboat on the left is waiting to lock through. The row of barges it was pushing was so long that only half could fit in the lock at a time. The boats and barges in the background were there all day dredging or building up the shore or somesuch.

After seeing everything there was to see and then some on the east bank, I crossed the bridge and wandered around on the west bank.

I walked downstream until I ran out of park. There were sandbars along the shore for as far as I could see, and nobody else was around. I hopped a short fence and walked along the river for about a mile. I took this pan looking back at the dam from the west side of the river. I think it’s the longest successful pan I’ve ever posted. You can click on it twice to enlarge if you wish.

I took several other photos that I’ll post later on but I think that’s enough toad suckiness for one day.