Day One:
It was about a month ago when Pam first suggested we take a trip during the week of spring break (March 12 - March 19). The two of us hadn't spent this many consecutive days alone since last summer and the need for quality time was at hand. Timing couldn't have been better. My job with the school district gave me the week off with pay. Pam likewise was able to use some vacation days and the kids would be flying Colorado to visit their grandmother. As my wife knew, when she initially brought up the subject, this would be the perfect time for a get-away.
The destination had been narrowed down between New Orleans, Louisiana and Hot Springs, Arkansas. We looked at the former choice as a place we might like to go during Mardi Gras, but the latter would offer a more relaxed atmosphere. We wanted to spend the week in a quieter setting so we decided that we would go north. Pam did researched on the Internet and made a reservation for us to spend a week at the Bartee Meadow Bed & Breakfast located in the outskirts of Hot Springs. We then waited the month and a half making plans and getting excited about our week alone.
Pam and I left Humble shortly after nine o'clock yesterday morning. I was surprised we were able to get away as early as we did. We seemed to have so many last minute details to wrap up, but my wife constructed her list the night before and due to her organizational skills we were able to do everything in a much faster manner then I could have maintained. The van was packed, we moved the bird to a location where he could see view the outdoors and we locked up the house as we departed.
After stopping for fuel and snacks we departed Humble
just before 10:00 a.m. The weather was beautiful and
traffic was at a comfortable level. I drove the first
leg and switched to navigator duties somewhere around
Texarkana. During the entire trek we indulged
ourselves with the audio book "Tis" by Frank McCourt
(sequel to "Angela's Ashes") which helped keep us
focused during the long hours in the car. The drive was
between six and seven hours bringing us into the Hot
Springs area around four in the afternoon. We noticed
later in the evening, while searching for a place to
eat, that the mileage differed from the information Map
Quest gave to us. We had expected the distance from
home to be over five hundred miles rather than the 400
we traveled.
After arriving and meeting Hu White (who told us that his wife, Vista would be home shortly) we unloaded the car and decided to go back out looking for a place to eat. We were told that on Sunday night it might be difficult finding a place to eat unless we wanted to find one of the traditional franchise type establishments. We decided to find the local Outback where we filled ourselves up and returned to the bed and breakfast in time to meet Vista, have a snack and go to bed.
Day Two:
Pam didn't seem to sleep as well as I did last night.
She said I moved around a lot and I did wake up twice,
but I felt well rested at six o'clock this morning.
Upon rising I grabbed my laptop and came into the
reading room where I waited for the coffee maker to
turn on. As I began writing my notes for day one I
finished off the fourth brownie Vista left for us the
night before. Pam woke up a little before 8:00 and
after I admitted my guilt (about the missing brownies)
we made our way into the front room where we drank a
cup of coffee as we waited for breakfast. We had a
wonderful meal of eggs benedict and chatted a little
with Vista before we began getting ready for our day
out.
We left the house early and began our search for the Hot Springs National Park. Although we believed we were doing quite well reading signs we discovered ourselves entering the Historical and Art District of town. From the description we received from Hu we realized we were moving through the section of Hot Springs known as "Bathhouse Row" and as we neared the corner holding the final spa we spotted the information center where we stopped immediately. One of the first things pointed out to us was that this area of Hot Springs was part of the National Park. I found this interesting because, as Emma Townend (the woman giving us information) explained, it was the only national forest having a town growing up within it's midst. It was suggested that we locate parking and begin our exploration of the bathhouses.
Note to readers: If you should make a trip to Hot Springs and find yourself attempting the same tour you will have to pay for parking. From what I observed, the cost to park your car anywhere in the Historical and Art District seems quite reasonable. The average rate seemed to be around $3.00 per day. If you are as fortunate as we were you can find parking behind the Information Center and pay twenty-five cents for every hour you spend there. These meters may be filled up with as many coins as you feel needed so you won't have to keep going back to put more change in the meter later.
The name "Bathhouse Row" should be self-explanatory. In this area of the country exist natural springs flowing out of the ground. The water coming from these springs arrives above ground with an average temperature of 140 degrees making it not only hot, but it can also be considered sterile. Since the days when the local residents were pre-native Americans this water was considered a source of medicinal relief. As time moved forward word spread of these springs and people came from across the country to indulge in the beneficial effects of the waters. Eventually people came, struck land claims and capped the water flowing on their land. Shacks were built where visitors could, for a price, visit and bath in the waters. These shanties were replaced by larger more elaborate structures called bathhouses. Pam and I spent the first part of our morning walking past these buildings and eventually taking the opportunity to tour one of the bathhouses renovated by the National Park. There were about eight of these establishments still standing with only one in use. We walked into the lobby, checked out the prices and said that we'd think about returning later in the week.
Next we climbed a set of steps behind the bathhouses
and continued strolling along the promenade located on
the hill behind the row. We kept stopping to shot
photos of various flowing springs and beautiful
foliage. As we arrived at the end of the walkway we
headed back in the direction of the van deciding to
cross over the far side of the street and investigate
the shops. After moving in and out of several stores
we discussed lunch and decided we'd eat fast food as we
headed back to the Bartee Meadow. On our way, Pam
suggested stopping at a rock and crystal store near our
destination. There was so much to look at and since
this is not my area of expertise I found myself
following Pam around as she would point out various
crystals to me. She took her time picking out just the
right gifts for our kids and her sister and before we
left she suggested a nice heart shaped stone for my
daughter Hannah which we added to our purchases.
We left the gem store and headed back here for the rest of the evening where we spent the night relaxing and I tried out the hot tub for the first time. Pam didn't join me, but stayed nearby and kept a fire going until I got out.
Day 3:
We took the concept of not making plans to it's
pentacle today. I woke up early and spent the morning
watching Good Morning America until Pam awoke. We ate
breakfast, drank coffee and without discussing the
matter with one another decided to stay home. I
returned to the reading room and continued to work on
my notes for yesterday when I suddenly realized that
the noise coming from our bedroom had ceased. I had
heard the sliding glass door leading onto the hot tub
balcony open and close a few minutes earlier and I
guessed that my wife had stepped outside.
I carefully placed my laptop onto the floor and left the room heading to the bedroom where I no longer could hear Pam. Looking out onto the deck I could see that the wooden door leading out into the world was open and so I looked around for my shoes with intentions of finding her. I walked through the doorway, passing the hot tub and moving through the second door found myself outside. Walking around the side of the house I looked down where I knew the tennis court existed and spotted my wife exploring.
I headed down to where she was and as we gave each other a kiss we noticed Hu and Vista's dog scampering through the leaves toward where we were. I walked over to the hammock and working my way onto it I grabbed the dog and lifted him onto my stomach where he remained until I finally decided my rest was complete. During this time, Pam had left me and returned to the house. I had no idea what our plan for the day would be and I actually anticipated leaving Bartee Meadow much earlier then the time that we did leave. As I entered the house and turned into our section I noticed my wife laying on the bed reading again so I decided to take this as a cue that we were not in a hurry to go anywhere. I proceeded into the reading room and once again continued writing as I spent my morning watching daytime television.
Hours later, about three in the afternoon, Pam woke from her nap in time for us to decided that we wanted to do "something". I suggested that we drive over to the theater behind the local mall and go to a movie. After that we might decide to explore a book store located near the theater. Pam agreed and we left shortly after 3:15 p.m. When we got to the movie we decided we wanted to see "Mission to Mars". I believe we both decided that it could have been better, but it was worth the matinee priced tickets. Afterwards we followed my earlier suggestion and drove to Books-a-Million and made a purchase. We then walked next door to the Albertson's to buy something to eat and from there we drove back to the house.
Upon returning Pam suggested that we watch the movie
"First Wives Club" staring Diane Keaton, Bette Medler
and Goldie Hawn which we found in a collection of
videos in the closet of the reading room. I set up the
movie and we closed our evening out with the film.
Day 4:
One thing I can say, without hesitation, is that Pam and I will not be eating this well after we return to Humble. We are not breakfast people; not because we don't enjoy a nice morning meal, but we both get ready for work early and the best we can expect is a fiber bar on the way to work. We haven't worried about such things during our trip and once again we enjoyed another wonderful morning meal to start our day. Vista served us coffee, juice, fruit, fresh pastry rolls, bacon and waffles with fruit and cream on top of it. Throughout the meal we chatted with Vista who talked briefly about the Bruce Springsteen concert she and Hu attended in Little Rock last night. She also explained to us a little about the research they did prior to opening their own bed and breakfast last year (the one we are staying in).
Following breakfast Pam and I decided that we needed to make our plans for the day and leave the house earlier then we did yesterday because the weather report suggested the possibility of rain. Our goal was to leave here and drive to the Hot Spring library (which we were sure they must have). There we wanted to find out if we could get on the Internet where Pam could take a look at our bank statement and we could both check our e-mail and what other areas we might want to visit. Following this we wanted to drive up to the top of the mountain where the look-out tower stands. After that we weren't really sure what we would be doing.
During breakfast we mentioned to Vista that we were
interested in going to the library and before leaving
the table she showed us a map of the area pointing out
where we wanted to go. She asked us if we wanted to
take the map with us and we declined the offer since
the directions didn't seem to difficult to follow.
Upon leaving the house we headed toward town and very quickly found the street where the library used to stand. The building we found ourselves in front of turned out to be a senior citizens center. While I was inside I asked an elderly woman for directions and we were off in search of the new location. I don't want to suggest that this woman gave me wrong directions and it was possible that I didn't fully understand what she said to me, but we ended up driving in the opposite direction of where we should have gone. Instead we ended up in a section of town which could possible be considered the real Hot Springs.
For those of you living in an area catering to tourists
you should understand what I'm telling you here. In
Hot Springs, as in places like Charleston, South
Carolina or Washington DC there is a section of town
where visitors like to go. These are the tourist
sections and they tend to bring in a lot of money, but
they really don't give a true picture of an area. Just
as the average person in Charleston does not live near
a plantation, here in Hot Springs most people do not go
to Bathhouse Row every day. Well, we found ourselves
in that area where the non-tourists dwell. Once we
located this section we drove around and through it
with the intentions of returning back to where we could
once again stop for assistance and directions to the
library.
We stopped off at the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce office and along with directions to the new library I grabbed a map on my way out of the office. With Pam driving we located our target in a matter of minutes. We entered the library at about 10:30a.m. and within thirty minutes we were both on computers tending to various things back in our real world.
We left the library and headed back to the historical where we found the road taking us up to the top of the mountain where the lookout tower sits. It was raining and we decided not to actually go into the structure. We pulled into a parking space near the top of the mountain and got out to check out the view. We didn't stay long though due to the weather and after getting back into the car we decided we would find someplace to kill an hour, find a place to eat and return to the house.
Pam and I drove to a local outlet mall and walked through a couple of stores before heading back to the historical district again for lunch at a restaurant/bar named Shiparos. Pam at something with chicken (not sure) and I ordered a Patty Melt. The only problem I had with the meal is that I requested that they do not put pickles on my plate (something I am adamant about) and they did it anyway. I asked the waitress to take my plate back and she returned immediately with what I believe was the same plate. I didn't complain any more since it didn't seem to do any good the first time. Anyway, they under charged us for our drinks. After eating lunch we headed back to Bartee Meadow for the rest of the evening.
Day 5:
This morning we decided to start the day by heading back to the tower. Unlike yesterday, the weather proved to be much nicer. Although it was a bit breezy, the view was quiet clear. We took the elevator to the top in an elevator which gave us a look at the ground all the way to the top. During the ride up (as well as down) I tended to stand behind Pam. I have never been one to enjoy such things. We stayed on the top of the tower about fifteen minutes and after taking a few pictures we descended and returned to the car.
Next we headed, once more, to the library where we checked our e-mail and this was followed by a trip to some of the local shops. There's a small outlet shopping center on the south side of Hot Springs and we purchased some Corningware then headed to a discount book store where I bought the Anne Rice novel "Vittorio, the Vampire". We then decided we would take in another movie. This time we saw something with Madonna. Following the film we headed back to Bartee Meadow for the evening.
Day 6:
Here it is the sixth day of our trip and what do we do
to start our day? We go back to the library! Hey, we
have to stay in touch with the rest of the world. Even
when we want to get away from it all we don't really
want to be completely out of touch. We spent an hour
checking things on the net and then went on our quest
looking for evidence of prior residence of the area.
We traveled to Murfreesboro where we visited some Indian burial mounds. As we pulled up to the site my first thought was that we were about to encounter was not going to be all that interesting. Still Pam had been here before (years ago) and so I was willing to give it a shot. As it turned out, this was one of the highlights of our vacation. We viewed several excavated graves which were tended to well. We took a few pictures and took a quick look inside the gift shop before leaving.
Our next destination was the national park, which happened to be contain the only natural diamond field in the United States. What they actually have there is a gold mine. We were among the 100 plus people who went out into a big muddy field looking for diamonds. At $4.00 a person (plus rental fees for equipment) I believe the National Park Service is raking in a lot of money. Pam and I gave it a shot without the extra equipment and although we found nothing to get excited about we had a good time just the same.
We next headed back to Hot Springs where we decided to check out a local Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed a nice meal and chatted about our day. Following dinner we headed back to the bed and breakfast.
Day 7:
The original itinerary for our last full day here was to go to the horse track located in the center of Hot Springs. We had to change our plans because we couldn't find a working ATM so we decided to go back to the historical district and do some shopping. When we arrived at the visitors center we noticed a sign announcing the Arkansas Walk of Fame ceremony for Billy Lee Riley. Our first reaction was, of course, "Who is Billy Lee Riley?" I told Pam that I would go inside the visitors center and find out. As I began walking into the building a man came out and presuming we were there for the ceremony he told us that it would be held across the street inside a local theater. We kept quiet about our ignorance and learned that he was one of the founders of Rockabilly music. We sat and listened to several people talk about him and then we followed the crowd over to the sidewalk in front of the visitors center where the new plaque was uncovered. We then went back across the street and enjoyed a short performance by Billy Lee.
We next decided to take a walk down the street where we went to the same bathhouse we visited earlier during the week. We had decided that we couldn't leave Hot Springs without treating ourselves to a bath. For the next hour we were bathed, given a hot towel treatment and I received a massage.
We then did a little shopping and continued down the street where we stopped inside a small pub where we enjoyed a drink and some conversation with the owner. He told us that he was originally from Chicago and had moved to Hot Springs only a few years ago. After finishing our drinks he gave us directions to a nearby steak restaurant named The Backstreet where we ate one of the best steak dinners we have ever had. Following the meal we returned to Bartee Meadows for the night.
We left for Humble the following day after a wonderful week in Hot Springs. For those who might be interested in vacationing there we highly recommend it if you are looking for a relaxing adventure. Hu and Vista at the Bartee Meadows Bed and Breakfast were wonderful hosts and if we ever return to this area we would be more then pleased to spend more time with them.
