Hot, Hot, Hot Springs

Mary and I made it to Hot Springs Arkansas just in time for 100+ degree temperatures, we didn’t think it was too conducive to sitting in hot water, so we decided to check out the other things this area has to offer.  We were pleasantly surprised…a huge lake, crystal mines, mountains, forests, rivers, barbeque, music, motorcycles and even a presidential library.

Lake Ouachita

Mary has a friend that just moved to Hot Springs from Maui.  We connected with her and she was very gracious and gave us the inside scoop.  We rented a boat and spent an afternoon on Lake Ouachita (wash-i-ta) with Mary’s friend and her dog.  The lake has over 200 islands, 1000 miles of shoreline and nice clean water for swimming. 

We heard some great blues at the Ohio Club – a small nightclub that has beeb in continuous operation since 1905.  Hot Springs is a small city surrounded by a National Park that was first created as a national reserve (before the national park system was created).  The reserve was created to protect and provide public access to the natural hot water springs. The national park includes some trails on the hills surrounding the town, a 210 foot observation tower on one of the hills, and a string of architecturally significant historic bathhouses. Some are not in operation and one of them serves as the National Park visitor center. 

Downtown Hot Springs

After the weather cooled a bit, we visited two of the bathhouses. The Quapaw is the only one with communal pools so we started there since Mary and I like to sit in hot water together. The Buckstaff Bathhouse still carries out the traditional routine.  Mary and I were led off to separate men’s and women’s locker rooms where we disrobed and were given a sheet and a loofa.  An attendant then led us to a large 100 yr old porcelain tub filling with the magical natural hot water.  After a few minutes the attendant comes in and starts scrubbing you with the loofa!  Next stop is a steam cabinet – mine was like a closet, but Mary had the classic cabinet where your head sticks out and your body par-boils.  The steam was followed by a “needle shower” (sounds scary – but it’s just a lot of small jets of water spraying at you from all directions – but the piping does look like the same vintage as Frankenstein’s).  After a soothing hot towel and sheet wrap you get a 20-minute full body massage.  Mary’s massage was quite modern, but mine reminded me of those old boxing movies where the trainer slaps, pats and rubs vigorously. It was actually pretty good.

Clinton Museum

We took a side trip to Little Rock to check out the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.  What a great place!  We were there the day after Bill’s speech at the Democratic convention. The library includes replicas of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room and had very well done displays chronicling the events, decisions and results of the Clinton years.  It also has a fabulous restaurant.

Mary and I drove 15 miles north of Hot springs to the Coleman Crystal Mine. They pile up the “tailings” of the mine and you can dig up your own crystals for a small fee.  We had planned to do some digging, but we found such reasonably priced stuff in the store that we skipped the digging and cleaning and bought a few lovely specimens. This area has many crystal mines and there are rock shops along several highways.

We stayed in Hot Springs for a week.  We found a very nice RV Park along the Ouachita River, but we also discovered that there are some great State Parks in the area.  The Arkansas State Parks are free for day use, and many of them have full RV hook-ups, and marinas with rental boats.  We visited Lake Catherine State Park in the early evening and found a free Bluegrass Concert, and the Rangers were making peach cobbler in a “dutch oven” and handing it out free to the audience.  What a nice touch!

We found some great BBQ at Stubby’s, good burgers at the Ohio Club and a fantastic wide-ranging menu at the Bleu Monkey Grill!  Food prices are also very reasonable in this part of the country.

When we were at Sturgis, SD we got there just after the Motorcycle Rally.  Well, we were here for the Hot springs Motorcycle Rally, and while it is not on the scale of Sturgis it was fun to see all the bikes and it gave us a small glimpse into what the Sturgis Rally must be like.

All in all, we really like the Hot Springs area and we’re sure we will visit again someday.  Oh yes!  I almost forgot to mention….Arkansas was the last state to fill up our map of the lower 48.  Mary and I cracked a small bottle of champagne and toasted as we placed the decal on our map.

We’re heading to Memphis tomorrow.