We've spent the last few days in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The last time I was here I was 7 years old. We took a family vacation here. I'm afraid I don't remember much about the trip, because I was so enamored with the new doll that Mom and Dad gave me to keep me occupied on the trip. It worked. Anybody remember Betsy McCall dolls? Well, that's all I remember about Hot Springs, except the fact that Mom and Dad went to get some kind of special baths and a massage (I had no clue what that was!).
We found a really convenient KOA campground. How were we to know that this campground is the Mecca for a huge off-road rally that just happened to be this weekend? There has definitely been a lot of action around here the past few days!
We've had a great time celebrating our 39th anniversary. We started out yesterday morning escaping the roar of the 4-wheelers and strolling through the Garvan Gardens which are maintained by the University of Arkansas. What a lovely, relaxing morning!
We even saw Sasquatch in the gardens!
loved these Japanese maple trees. I wish we could see them in their fall colors.
Then we headed for a local winery to taste a couple of wines. Our favorite was called Slick Willie's Grape Wine, named after a former President from Warm Springs!
We met Shay and Morgan inside, who were very friendly and accommodating. Shay is a musician, and this was his second day on the job at the Winery. He did a wonderful job. Morgan is the manager, and she even sent us off with two pretty wine glasses as an anniversary gift. How sweet!
We asked for a recommendation of a place to eat, and they both spoke very highly of a great sushi place: Fuji Steakhouse and Sushi Bar. So that was our next stop, and we enjoyed it so much that we went back again for lunch today. Curt was pondering stopping on our way out of town tomorrow, but I love sushi too much to risk overdosing on it, and perhaps not wanting it for months or years to come.
A delightful young family from China own and operate the restaurant. We got to know them since we ate there two days in a row. Here are Lucy and JinBin, and their daughter Jenna, whose third birthday is tomorrow. Jenna is already a big helper in the restaurant. She brought us our menus and showed us to our table... The perfect hostess!
The Hot Springs National Park is not separated from the town as National Parks so often are. It's right down in the main part of town.
The original beautiful bathhouse buildings of the early 1900's are still there along Bathhouse Row, although only one is operating as a bathhouse that's similar to the way they originally did: the blue and white Buckstaff Bathhouse.
The others serve different purposes now. One is a high-end spa, another is an art gallery, another is a micro-brewery, and still another is the National Park Visitors Center.
We toured the former luxurious Fordyce Bathhouse, which is now the Visitor Center. It has beautiful stained glass windows, sculptures, and almost everything inside is imported marble.
People came from all over the world to soak in the waters of Hot Springs, seeking healing for various ailments as a last option after exhausting the medical treatments of the day. Soon it became a real upscale resort area as well.
This stained glass is in the ceiling of the Fordyce men's' bathhouse...
And this sculpture depicts an Indian maiden offering the healing waters to Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto.
There are fountains located several places in town where the 143 degree water bubbles up. It's very clean water, and the Park Service encourages people to fill containers and use it for drinking or washing, or any purpose. They want it to be available for anyone.
Today I spent several wonderfully relaxing hours at the Buckstaff Bathhouse, experiencing everything they had to offer...a long soak in the hot springs water, a wrap with hot towels, a steam bath, a cold "needle shower" (which was actually much more comfortable than it sounds, cooling off after the steam bath), a massage, and a hot paraffin dip for my hands. Curt offered to carry me out, but I managed to ooze my way across the street to the truck. Actually, rather than being drained of energy, I was really quite refreshed after all that. I could do it again tomorrow!
But it's time to move on. We'll be heading for Robeline, Louisiana to visit our friends Dean and Judy Fisher. If you were reading this blog when we first started our trip, you may remember that Dean and Judy were volunteer grandparents with us at the Big Springs Ranch for Children. Their new house was our first stop outside of Texas at the beginning of our trip, and it'll be our last stop before we return to the Lone Star State.
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