Last national park of the year! Neil and I slipped out for a few days to celebrate our anniversary with a road trip to a national park--doesn't everyone dream of this??
It was a long drive and we didn't get there until after dark, but it was so fun to see all the Christmas lights.
And to start exploring the thermal waters!
Hot Springs is a really unique national park; it's preserving both a natural feature and a major chunk of history. The thermal baths here became a huge health industry and it was "the place" to go to see and be seen for a certain chunk of society (including Al Capone!) but most people came here and spent a month or two "taking the cure." The bathhouses were built so people could experience relative luxury, but there originally people were just soaking their disease-ridden selves in the springs above the town. Overall there are 47 springs; the average temperature of the water is 143 F.
Bathhouse Row is really cool to walk down and see all the bathhouses; only the Buckstaff has been in continual operation and still offers the standard baths that you would have been able to receive a century ago. (The Quapaw does offer a more modern experience.)
And some have been turned into things like breweries! We ended up eating here two nights of the three we were there (not a lot of variety in town). The fried cauliflower is excellent.
We thought about staying at the Arlington Hotel but the reviews weren't great (essentially saying that the lobby/public areas are nice but the rooms are really run down) so we just went over to check out the lobby, etc.
And of course the room that Al Capone always stayed in.
The next morning we were up bright and early to get in line at the Buckstaff since they don't take reservations!
Obviously not a place you can really photograph once you get inside, but I did grab a photo of the services sheet posted inside the changing room cubicle. I really loved the bath experience (except the steam cabinet because I think my bath attendant lost track of time) but I got out a full hour after Neil finished, so I think I had the deluxe extended version...unintentionally. (My initial soak was 40 minutes! You're just kind of waiting at each station until the attendant comes to get you and takes you to the next one.) Also sidenote on apparel: all the women skipped bathing suits, and apparently the men's side did not.
Then after our baths we went for a run. I would have greatly preferred to reverse this, but I also didn't want to get up at 4 am. So we went for a run and it was sooooo humid and gross.
But we partook in the terrain cure! I think it would have been more fun to hike.
But it was cool to run down the Grand Promenade!
All of these boxes everywhere are capping off springs, and they're hot to the touch.
Then we went over to the Fordyce Bathhouse, which is now a visitor center and hands-down the most interesting visitor center I've ever seen.
It's been restored to look as it would have in its heyday.
I was actually very interested to do the needle shower (above) but it was closed at the Buckstaff because of legionnaire's disease, so that's fun.
Sitz bath (left) and steam cabinet (right). My sitz bath was much more luxurious than this and had a backrest and magazines to read, but Neil said this is what his looked like (in his words "a nasty sink"). The steam cabinet is kind of crazy; that hole is for your head and the rest of you is just sweating more than you would believe possible.
Gorgeous stained glass in the men's changing room.
And all kinds of crazy mechanical massage devices and exercise equipment!
So if you come here to "take the cure," you have a nice hot bath every day, a massage, a walk through the mountains around town, and then you come sit with your friends and talk and eat. No wonder everyone felt great afterwards!
These are all from the ladies' parlor in the Buckstaff.
Gymnasium (above) and elevator mechanism (below).
I thought this was a really cool exhibit to see how much mineral deposition was going on from the thermal water.
And of course, we got our sticker!
That night we went to go see a movie and I can't even remember what it was except that our kids wanted to see it too and I felt slightly guilty. But not enough to stop, apparently.
The next morning we got up bright and early for a day of mountain biking, first filling up our Camelbaks at one of the cold water taps in town. (I did not say anything to the MAGA guy about what his felon president is doing to the country, but I wanted to.)
And then we spent the day mountain biking which was soooo fun!
And then the next morning we went home. A quick and very fun little visit!
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