Hot Springs, Arkansas

On Thursday, Warren and Joslyn took us to one of Arkansas' most famous destinations:  Hot Springs.  After speaking with the ladies at the Visitor's Center for a few minutes, we began walking up towards Bathhouse Row.

There are several points throughout downtown Hot Springs where people can fill jugs of water up directly from the hot springs in Hot Springs.  :)

Not only was Hot Springs known for its bathhouses, it also had some "side" businesses of ill-repute like gambling and brothels.  Maxine's was a famous brothel back in the 1950's and had some "high-class" clientele including both politicians and mobsters.

We continued walking up "Bathhouse Row".  The buildings have been beautifully restored and a few of them still operate as bathhouses.

The first one we walked in was the Lamar.

The Lamar no longer operates as a bathhouse but has a nice little gift shop in front.  I did find a nice big tub in the gift shop.  :)

Can somebody get my back?

Don't you love my cap!

Ah...nothing like a soak in the tub.
I may take a nap!  :)

We walked by a few more bathhouses.

The Buckstaff

The Ozark

The Quapaw

The Buckstaff and the Quapaw still operate as bathhouses where you can soak in the Hot Springs mineral water or have a massage or other type of spa treatment.  The Ozark serves as an art museum now.

Our next stop was the Fordyce Bathhouse that now serves as the Visitor Center for Hot Springs National Park.

The Fordyce was open from 1915 to 1962 when it closed due to declining business.  It remained vacant until it opened as the Hot Springs National Park Visitor Center in 1989.  The bathhouse has been restored so you can see what it looked like when it was operational.

 Behind all the doors are individual big tubs
for soaking in the hot springs mineral water.

The stained-glass window above was beautiful.

An individiual stall with the big tub.

Saunas...not for me!

Is this a shower or a car wash??

The Cooling Room where ladies
rested and cooled off from the hot baths.

We watched the film in the visitor center that provided information about how the hot springs originate.  What was surprising to me is that the water did not stink.  I fully expected the water to smell like sulfur as it did when we were near hot springs at Yellowstone.  Hot Springs, Arkansas, is not in a volcanic region (like Yellowstone).  Here, rainfall "percolates" down through the earth, as much as 8,000 feet deep.  For every 300 feet the water "percolates," the temperature of the water increases 4 degrees.  Eventually, the water meets faults and joints leading up to the lower west side of Hot Springs Mountain where it re-surfaces as hot springs.

What is really interesting is that in this the 100th year of the National Park Service, we learned that Hot Springs was the first U.S. "reservation" to protect a natural resource.

Notice the sign says:
"U.S. Hot Springs Reservation"

The year after Thomas Jefferson had purchased the Louisiana Territory (which included Arkansas), an expedition was sent out by President Jefferson in 1804 to explore these newly acquired springs.  Soon after, more and more people began coming to soak in these hot waters and for its therapeutic and medicinal effects.  In order to protect these natural springs, the federal government set aside four sections of land here in 1832 making it the first time the government set aside land to protect a natural resource.

After leaving the visitor center, we continued down Bathhouse Row stopping at Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery for some good ol' Arkansas ice cream called Yarnell's.  Chuck and I shared the Whoo Pig Chewy which was delicious!

Next, we stopped at the Hot Water Cascade where you could actually see the hot springs coming out of the ground and cascading over the rocks.  The water comes out of the ground at a piping 143 degrees!  A little warm for a soak in the tub!  The bathhouses cool the water to keep it at 104 degrees (like most hot tubs today).

Next, we walked across the street to the historic Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa.

While the original Arlington was built in 1875, after demolition of the original wooden structure and a fire of the next Arlington building, the current building opened New Year's Eve of 1924 and has been operational ever since.

Can you imagine some of the parties and balls the Arlington may have hosted over the years???

O.K. kids.  Stop running up and down the stairs!

We finished our walking tour of Hot Springs along the Grand Promenade which is a beautiful brick walk on the hill behind the bathhouses.

We walked by another open hot spring where you can see the steam coming off the water.

Most of the 47 hot springs are capped off with these big green boxes to prevent contamination.

At the end of the Grand Promenade is the Army Navy Hospital that was built in the 1930s.

After returning to their truck, we rode a very windy road up Hot Springs Mountain and took the elevator up to the top of the tower...

,..where we could look out and see the green hills of Arkansas.

Downtown Hot Springs

Magic Springs Amusement Park

Of course, we had to get a selfie before leaving the tower.  :)

Hot Springs also has a famous horse racetrack:  Oaklawn.  

The racing season at Oaklawn begins in January and ends in April before the Kentucky Derby in May.  In fact, the latest Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, won the Arkansas Derby in April of 2015 before going on to win the Triple Crown:  Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.  

After all our touring around, we were ready to have a nice sit-down dinner.  Warren and Joslyn took us to one of their favorite restaurants in Hot Springs:  Steinhaus Keller.  Chuck and I enjoyed our first-ever meal in a German restaurant and it was absolutely delicious.  Chuck had a schnitzel with garlic mashed potatoes and I had cabbage rolls with brussel sprouts and a potato pancake.  A perfect ending to a perfect day!  

Thank you, Warren and Joslyn, for showing us around Arkansas and for all the fun and good eats during our visit!  What a great time we had!  Looking forward to seeing you in San Antonio this winter!