Hot Springs! Let me repeat… Hot Springs! Can hardly begin to describe how much I loved this place. Didn’t realize until I got there that it’s both a National Park AND a town, but both are incredible! Pulled into Bathhouse Row early in the day, and after a brief stop in the visitors center to add to my growing collection of maps, I hit the trails. The Grand Promenade runs along the entire back of the row, and it’s a lovely way to start a stroll, lots of historic buildings and private little corners.
Eventually, I decided on a trail, and began the hike up to the top. None of the trails are very long, a few miles each, but they loop and intersect with each other in quite the neat little maze, and along most of the paths, little canals have been dug / paved to allow the water to flow down along the path. Even though it was a relatively short hike to the top, I sweat more in the first five minutes than at any point on this trip. The most humid place I’ve ever been to by far! The hot water seeps into the air, making it feel like you’re swimming as much as walking. Despite all that, I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. The birdsong was constant and lovely, and I even saw a deer right by the trail!
Would have been happy enough with the view from the top of the hill, but when I got there, I discovered a way to get an even better view, and to escape the soupy air for a while:
The view from the top was incredible, and the humidity was palpably lessened. You can see all of Hot Springs and the surrounding area. And I had the whole deck to myself as well!
Didn’t want to leave, but eventually I made my way back down. The elevator plays an interesting little audio log during the ride. I guess the water from the springs comes from the rain that falls on the hill, after taking a 4000 year journey through the earth! And I thought I was taking a meandering journey!
The trip back down was just as pretty as the way up. I know I’m loading this post with pictures, but it really was incredible, I can’t seem to help myself!
Worked up quite the appetite by the time I made it back to town, so I wandered around until I found an awesome looking spot for dinner.
Some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. If you’re ever here, I highly recommend the Cosmic Charlie. While I was eating, a huge clap of thunder shook the building, enough for the windows to rattle, and the next moment, it was dumping rain harder than I’ve ever seen even back home in Oregon! Luckily I was parked pretty close, so I made a dash for it, and headed back to the inn I was spending the night at.
I had a campsite booked for the next day, but as I looked out the window that night, I started to get a little concerned, it looked fit to flood out there! By the morning the storm had passed, and it turned out to be a lovely and sunny day, but when I swung by the campsite to check it out, a ranger was stationed at the entrance, letting folks know that conditions weren’t the greatest. I hadn’t slept in my car yet this trip, so I decided to give it a go for the night, more comfortable than I thought it might be, but I’m glad this is the only time I’ve had to do so. But I’m getting ahead of myself, that came later, for the day, I headed back into town, and spent the morning wandering around the town portion of the area, loved it almost as much as the park! Tons of neat old buildings and shops.
Met this amazing little dog called Dixie, who was shuffling along the sidewalk, before stopping and scratching at the door of this little cupcake shop that advertised cupcakes for dogs. One of the workers came out and greeted the dog like an old friend, before giving her a cupcake and wishing her well. Needless to say, I was completely charmed. Sounds like she comes by fairly often for her daily treat before walking home.
After a lovely brunch at the Pancake shop, I went over to a spot my waitress recommended, Cedar Glades Park, and wandered up to this cool old treehouse in the middle of the woods.
Next up was the Mid-America Science Museum, which I stopped at on a whim. Really cool and interactive exhibits, reminds me of Omsi in a lot of ways.
Could easily fill another post with things from the museum, but I’m running long enough as it is! To cap the day, I took a soak in one of the bathhouses back in town, but the power went out while I was in! Still pretty cool, and honestly just made it more memorable.
Whew! Did you make it to the end? I almost didn’t, quite the couple of days! Slept in my car in the campsite parking space that night, as I mentioned, but I was tired and relaxed enough not to mind. I promise the next post will be a much more reasonable length!
Where’s George? 