Since most of you will be staying in Jonesboro, here are a few tips. Most of the restaurants and shopping are located on Caraway, Stadium, Nettleton and Highland Drives, along with several restaurants located south of U.S. 63 on Parker Road. Fairfield Inn, Hilton Gardens, and the Holiday Inn Express are off of U.S. 63 at the Caraway exit. For the most part, the streets in Jonesboro run a grid pattern, N,S,E,W and is easy to get around. Traffic can be heavy at times, but if your use to Ft. Smith, it shouldn't give you much trouble, except for not being as familiar with where you are going.
Depending on where you are staying in Jonesboro, you may either take Highland Drive out east of Jonesboro, which is State Hwy 18 that goes to Monette or take U.S. 63 to exit 39 (Commerce Drive) then go up to Highland Drive. Commerce Drive is also shown as State Hwy 18. I reccommend the U.S.63/Commerce/18 route because the less you have to drive on Highland, the better. It's like driving on Rogers Ave at rush hour.
Jonesboro will have a lot of the same types of restaurants as Ft. Smith, but I'll recommend some that I liked when I was in Jonesboro, and hopefully they are still as good. For Italian food, Lazzari Italian Oven, 2230 South Caraway Road, is very good. There use to be a wait in the evenings, but I don't know if that's still the case with all of the new places to eat. I mentioned Tamolly's Mexican Restaurant, 2506 East Highland Drive, in my Paragould post. Before I moved to Tucson, I ate at Tamolly's in Jonesboro about everytime I went down there. O'Charley's, 2312 East Parker Road, is a chain that I'm not sure if it's in NWA yet. We ate there several times when it first opened in Jonesboro. There is also a Shorty Smalls, 3000 E Highland Dr # 305, located near the Mall at Turtle Creek. I have not eaten at the location, but I love the Little Rock locations.
The Mall at Turtle Creek is the last indoor mall that has been built in the U.S. I have not been to it since it didn't come along until after I left the area, but by looking at the store directory, it has several nice stores. It even has a Build-A-Bear location.
The following is a list that my friend Myleea recommended for things to do in Jonesboro.
Forrest L. Wood Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center
The Hollywood Malco
Downtown has some nice shops and eating places.
Arkansas State University
If anyone has questions, let me know and I'll see if I can find out the answer for you.
Go County Line!!!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A Helpful Guide for Attending the Class 2A State Tournament Part 1: Staying in Paragould Edition
I'm sure most of you were wondering, where in the world is Buffalo Island Central? Even I had to remind myself that it's located in Monette. Since I'm am somewhat familiar with northeast Arkansas, after living in Paragould for five years, I thought I would suggest some places to eat in Paragould and Jonesboro for those traveling up to Monette for the state tournament.
In part one, I'm going to focus on the town that I'm most familiar with, Paragould . Paragould is a town of about 24,000 that's located on Crowley's Ridge. The main roads that pass through Paragould are U.S. 49 and U.S. 412. If you are staying in Paragould, you will take U.S. 412 east into Missouri. The first road on your right once you cross into Missouri is State Hwy AC, which is next to Mr. T's at Riverside (Convenience/Package Store). Turn right onto State Hwy AC and follow it until it turns into State Hwy K. When you cross back into Arkansas, the road name changes to AR State Hwy 139, which you will follow until it intersects with State Hwy 18 (Drew Ave) Turn right onto State Hwy 18 (Drew Ave)and follow it until you reach 803 W. Drew Ave.
If you are needing a place to stay in Paragould, make sure you make a reservation. A hotel or two has been added since I lived up there, but they are still limited. Quality Inn, Best Western Rustic Inn and the Holiday Inn Express are your best choices. Avoid going with any hotel/motel in the area that is not with a national chain. The Quality Inn use to be a Ramada Inn and can be hit or miss at times. It use to have a nice indoor pool area and I'm assuming it still does. I've had good luck staying at the Best Western. It does not have an indoor pool, but does have a free breakfast. I've heard good things about the Holiday Inn Express. It does not have a pool, but does have breakfast included. The Holiday Inn Express and Best Western are both located on U.S. 49, south of the U.S. 412 intersection, while the Quality Inn is located on U.S. 412, east of Wal-Mart.
Most of the restaurants are located on 412 or 49. If you want to get off the main drags, head downtown to Red Goose Deli, 117 N. Pruett St.. It was one of my favorite places to eat when I lived up there. I also recommend the Brick Oven Pizza,
2410 Linwood Dr. (U.S.49). They have very good pizza and is one of my must visits when I'm in Paragould these days. I have not eaten at the TaMolly's, 1700 Linwood Dr., location in Paragould, but I loved the one in Jonesboro. Out west of town on 412, you have the BBQ Barn, 6115 W. Kingshighway. I usually get the catfish plate when I get there. You also have your chain places like Dixie Cafe, Chilli's, Zaxby's, McDonalds, etc. I'll list a couple of addresses for places to eat at the bottom of the blog.
One downside to staying in Paragould will be things to do, if you have some free time away from watching basketball games. Paragould does have a movie theater, Paragould Cinema 8. Also, if the weather is nice, you can visit, ,Crowley's Ridge State Park . Also, stop by Crowley's Ridge College and take a tour. I might even be around the college depending on what day I we go up. Jonesboro is a 20 minute drive south of Paragould on U.S. 49.
I will post some suggestions on things to do in Jonesboro in a day or two. My friend, Myleea Hill, that is a professor at ASU has given me some suggestions to pass along to you all.
Additional Restaurants
Kimono Japanese Steakhouse
1600 W. Kingshighway
Guy's Buffet
403 W Kingshighway
Grecian Steak House
210 Airport Rd.
In part one, I'm going to focus on the town that I'm most familiar with, Paragould . Paragould is a town of about 24,000 that's located on Crowley's Ridge. The main roads that pass through Paragould are U.S. 49 and U.S. 412. If you are staying in Paragould, you will take U.S. 412 east into Missouri. The first road on your right once you cross into Missouri is State Hwy AC, which is next to Mr. T's at Riverside (Convenience/Package Store). Turn right onto State Hwy AC and follow it until it turns into State Hwy K. When you cross back into Arkansas, the road name changes to AR State Hwy 139, which you will follow until it intersects with State Hwy 18 (Drew Ave) Turn right onto State Hwy 18 (Drew Ave)and follow it until you reach 803 W. Drew Ave.
If you are needing a place to stay in Paragould, make sure you make a reservation. A hotel or two has been added since I lived up there, but they are still limited. Quality Inn, Best Western Rustic Inn and the Holiday Inn Express are your best choices. Avoid going with any hotel/motel in the area that is not with a national chain. The Quality Inn use to be a Ramada Inn and can be hit or miss at times. It use to have a nice indoor pool area and I'm assuming it still does. I've had good luck staying at the Best Western. It does not have an indoor pool, but does have a free breakfast. I've heard good things about the Holiday Inn Express. It does not have a pool, but does have breakfast included. The Holiday Inn Express and Best Western are both located on U.S. 49, south of the U.S. 412 intersection, while the Quality Inn is located on U.S. 412, east of Wal-Mart.
Most of the restaurants are located on 412 or 49. If you want to get off the main drags, head downtown to Red Goose Deli, 117 N. Pruett St.. It was one of my favorite places to eat when I lived up there. I also recommend the Brick Oven Pizza,
2410 Linwood Dr. (U.S.49). They have very good pizza and is one of my must visits when I'm in Paragould these days. I have not eaten at the TaMolly's, 1700 Linwood Dr., location in Paragould, but I loved the one in Jonesboro. Out west of town on 412, you have the BBQ Barn, 6115 W. Kingshighway. I usually get the catfish plate when I get there. You also have your chain places like Dixie Cafe, Chilli's, Zaxby's, McDonalds, etc. I'll list a couple of addresses for places to eat at the bottom of the blog.
One downside to staying in Paragould will be things to do, if you have some free time away from watching basketball games. Paragould does have a movie theater, Paragould Cinema 8. Also, if the weather is nice, you can visit, ,Crowley's Ridge State Park . Also, stop by Crowley's Ridge College and take a tour. I might even be around the college depending on what day I we go up. Jonesboro is a 20 minute drive south of Paragould on U.S. 49.
I will post some suggestions on things to do in Jonesboro in a day or two. My friend, Myleea Hill, that is a professor at ASU has given me some suggestions to pass along to you all.
Additional Restaurants
Kimono Japanese Steakhouse
1600 W. Kingshighway
Guy's Buffet
403 W Kingshighway
Grecian Steak House
210 Airport Rd.
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