I love baseball. Especially minor-league baseball. And that love is shared by all members of my family. So when my daughter and I were in Little Rock, Arkansas, on a road trip, she pulled out her smart phone to see if there was a local baseball team. Yes! The Arkansas Travelers, and they were in town. And Dickey-Stephens Park was conveniently located about 5 minutes from our downtown hotel. Beautiful ballpark, beautiful evening, friendly staff, and a good game.

Healthy and sustainable food is not the first thing you think of when going a ball game. But I found it in Little Rock.  Laurie Harrison has a Le Pops stand at the ballpark. These “gourmet ice lollies” are frozen fruit bars in various flavors, made from local fruit. Delicious, and perfect for a hot summer evening. And only $3 a bar. Local, relatively healthy, and inexpensive. The friendly owner Laurie, who is selling at the ballpark for the first time this year, also has a shop in downtown Little Rock.

Dickey-Stephens Park also had a stand with lemonade that came with a sugar-free option. Not precisely healthy, but lemonade is ideal for a hot night–did I mention that the temperature in Little Rock hit over 100 that day? I’ve never seen fresh sugar-free lemonade at a ballpark before, so much better than getting a few hundred unnecessary sugar calories.

Minor league team owners, take note! I rarely buy food at the ballpark, but I was enticed with local and healthy vendors. I go to a lot of baseball games, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants healthy food that’s still fun.

Now back to Little Rock……. we got into town in the early afternoon and headed for the Little Rock Nine museum, which was SO interesting that we spent twice as much time as we had planned. I highly recommend the museum, small but packed with interesting information and insights, and it’s free. We were lucky enough to start talking to a couple (there with their grandchildren) who lived in Little Rock at the time, and heard their perspectives. The next morning we went to the Clinton presidential library–also interesting–and then to the farmer’s market. Another nice farmer’s market. Not often you can find a farmer’s market on a Tuesday morning, but this one is open Tuesdays and Saturdays, 7 – 3, with a nice variety of produce. Hmmm……guess this post wandered a bit beyond ballpark food. But Little Rock is a great town–yet another place that exceeded my expectations.