Little Rock Peabody Hotel is just ducky

I just knew that former President William Jefferson Clinton and now New York's junior Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had made their home in the governor's mansion in Little Rock before ascending to the White House. In just about 10 minutes, I found myself at the newest addition to the Peabody family of luxurious hotels - the Peabody Little Rock (formerly Arkansas' stately Excelsior Hotel). The hotel has undergone a total renovation, remodeling and redecoration. I found it adhering to the principles of the Belz family's Peabody Orlando and the Peabody Memphis brand of extraordinary hospitality and service that I have experienced in those cities. There was my spacious room with that wonderful pillow-top mattress, a glorious view of the Arkansas River and the USA Today newspaper at my door each morning of my stay. (Copies of the New York Times are available at the Concierge desk free of charge as well). The excellent cuisine at the Capriccio restaurant is a standout in Little Rock, too. I always take pleasure in the March of the Peabody Ducks and they are in all their splendor in the marble halls of the lobby of the Little Rock Peabody Hotel. A red carpet is rolled out at about 10:50 a.m. all the way to the magnificent marble fountain, and at precisely 11 a.m. the military brass beat of John Philip Souza's "King Cotton March" fills the air. The hotel patrons' curiosity is aroused as to what royalty is coming to the Peabody. The VIPs have arrived. They are the Very Important Poultry, five North American mallard ducks, four hens and a drake who are escorted by a crimson-and-gold liveried Duck Master, who carries a duck-head walking cane, and wears a silk tie with a duck motif, no less. I joined the other adults and children in enjoying the parade of the ducks to their fountain home where they swam and frolicked until 5 p.m. There have been occasions when the drake or one of the hens decides to leave the fountain to explore marble halls to the delight of the guests. The wanderlust does not last too long and they are back to rejoin their feathered friends before the celebrity march at 5 p.m. when the Duck Master leads them back to their private elevator and their lavish living quarters on the ball room floor. They will feast on a repast of chopped Romaine lettuce, live mealworms and special duck-friendly, nutritious "trail-mix." Before I took off for the wonderful Little Rock Peabody Alliance For The Arts and Culture inaugurated by the Peabody's Maureen Brigid Gonzalez and Tim Gonser of unimaginable cultural events, I wanted to learn more about the tradition of the Peabody Ducks. I learned that the tradition began in the 1930s at a hotel that was dubbed as "The South's Grand Hotel," the Peabody Memphis, Tennessee. The hotel's general manager and some friends went on a hunting trip to Arkansas, but forgot to return the decoy ducks that they had rented from a nearby duck farm. Rumor had it that the hunting party may have imbibed a bit too much of the local barley juice, and jokingly placed the decoys in the ornate lobby fountain rather than take them back to the duck farm. The loudly quacking ducks became an instant attraction for the hotel guests who crowded around the fountain and booed the management's efforts to remove the noisy ducks. And so the ducks stayed on and took to the water, as ducks are known to do, in their opulent marble fountain. A special penthouse "palace" was built for the ducks, so that they could enjoy the solitude of the nights to themselves. Ten years later, in 1940, a former Ringling Brothers animal handler was assigned to care for, and train the mallards. He lined an elevator with plush red carpet and continued the red carpet all the way to the lobby fountain where a set of red-carpeted steps led the way to duck heaven, water and what I believe the Peabody does best, served great food. In addition, he trained the ducks to march to John Philip Souza's Music on the red carpet and up the steps for the dive into the fountain waters. Today, more than 70 years later, the March of the Peabody Ducks is the twice-daily signature event at all three Peabody hotels in the American South, The Peabody Memphis, the Peabody Orlando, and the Peabody Little Rock. I have enjoyed all three and in my next columns, I will tell you about the wonderful Arkansas Symphony, Repertory Theater, the Wildwood Cultural Park, the Historic, Art and Military Museums. Above all, I will bring you up to date on the Clinton Presidential Library, which should be inaugurated in November of 2004.Copyright © by Marcia AbramsonE-mail: mascribe@aol.com