We slept in a little bit since we had pushed so hard the day before. We headed straight to Hots Springs, AR which was about 30 miles away. It was all interstate highway for the most part until driving into town.
National Historic Site #37 - Hot Springs National Park
We parked and then walked to the the Hot Springs National Park, which is right in the center of town. We walked down Bathhouse Row. We had heard that at the last bathhouse, there was a good restaurant to get lunch. We decided to start there.
We got to Superior Bathhouse and went inside. The restaurant, Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery, was at the front of the building, adjacent to the grassy park. We were seated looking out on the park. The waiter had highly recommended the root beer floats to go with our hot pastrami sandwiches. He explained that they make the floats with the water from the city springs. We watched birds, people, and squirrels as we waited for our food. When it came, it was very good. The floats were extra yummy!
When finished, we walked back up the Bathhouse Row, except this time we stopped and read the signs. We went to the Fordyce Bathhouse, which is now the Visitor Center. We went inside and explored the exhibits. We watched the movie about the history and value of the springs. We passed on the movie about how they used to give people their mineral soaks.
We did go on a Ranger-led tour of the Fordyce Bathhouse. It was very interesting, especially about how the men and women were treated so differently. The women's side of the bathhouse was quite small. There were only a few personal stalls with bath tubs. The men's side, on the other hand, was very palatial. There was a whole room, full of stalls, with a beautiful stained glass skylight and a bronze statue in the center.
We also learned on the tour that Bathhouse Row is on the west side of the main street. It is federal property because it is a national park. The road is actually property of the state of Arkansas. The east side belonged to the city of Hot Springs. Gangsters stayed and gambled on the east side of the street, because, if they crossed it, they could be arrested on federal property.
The Lamar bathhouse housed the National Park Service gift shop. They had many cool things there, especially spa items. Robin found herself trying out the model bathtub just for fun. It was very deep.
The famous Buckstaff-Bath allowed visitors to still get mineral baths and other spa services. The porch was full of men, waiting patiently for their wives to finished being pampered. Dean got lucky this time! Robin didn't want to take the time to be pampered when there were things to do and see!
Behind Bathhouse Row, there was a little part of the springs visible where visitors were cautioned not to drink the water. We were able to touch the water and feel the heat. After seeing the water in this spring, there was no question about not drinking this water. However, on the wall of the stairs, there was a shell fountain where people can taste the spring water. Next, we went to explore other places in the city where people could get fresh spring water. Many people brought plastic gallon jugs and filled them weekly for their drinking water supply. The NPS gift store sold fancy water containers while local shops had bins of plastic jugs for sale. We tasted the water in the NPS store, but didn't take any with us.
In addition to the view, there were exhibits all around. They provided history of the town, springs, and information about the boyhood life of Willliam Jefferson Clinton. Hot Springs is where he grew up as a child. Seeing newspaper articles and yearbook photos were very interesting. The city of Hot Springs was really proud of this claim to fame.
Before we left Hot Springs, we drove past the Arlington Hotel. This hotel was still in service. According to history, the Arlington Hotel was frequented by many famous people.
We drove back to Benton. The weather was very rainy. Upon arrival at the hotel, we found our room had not been serviced. Later, we found out that they had a soccer team arrive and had 15 rooms to get ready in 1.5 hours. However, they didn't let any of the guests know what had happened. The hotel was new and apparently hadn't finished setting up all of the rooms. When the soccer team called, they needed to quickly set up those 15 rooms. Obviously. all of their procedures had not been established yet.
When the rain let up, we headed to Colton's Steakhouse. It was very similar to Texas Roadhouse, but not quite the same quality. We ate and then went back to the hotel. Robin had 2 loads of laundry to do before resting for the night.
We had a day full of seeing history that is no longer. Gone are the days of bathhouses for medicinal reasons. Gone are the days of gangsters; well, in the sense of long ago. Gone are the days of free spring water. Life has moved on and so must we!
