GREETINGS FROM HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas (AR) USA
Well we have made it to our final new state for this trip – Arkansas. So that now takes us up to 36 states ticked off and it will fill in a lot of the gaps left on Adrienne’s photo map at home.
But whilst that’s the last new state, we still have a bit of travelling to do for this trip.
As today was not a very long drive, we spent a bit of extra time at the hotel sorting out internet connections for our blogs and having a leisurely breakfast before crossing the bridge over “Old Miss” into Arkansas.
The I 40 between Memphis and Little Rock is a bit of a mess ! There was a lot of roadworks along the first section – which slowed us down for a while – and it is obviously a big truck route. There were hundreds of trucks heading in both directions and often they were taking up both lanes in each direction as they overtook each other. About halfway along we had to get off the interstate to get petrol and when we got back on, we saw nothing but trucks for miles – “Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy” – just look !
In Little Rock we left the trucks for a while and stopped for a bit of movie trivia – to look at the mill in the opening credits of Gone with the Wind (click on the link if you want to see the opening credits – the mill shows at 1.31 – but don’t blink !)
The “Gone with the Wind” mill – that’s wind-mill not windmill
Our destination today was the town of Hot Springs – which is also a unique National Park. The center of Hot Springs is the oldest federal reserve in the United States, today preserved as Hot Springs National Park. The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess medicinal properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town. Incorporated January 10, 1851, the city has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, illegal gambling, speakeasies and gangsters such as Al Capone, horse racing at Oaklawn Park, the Army and Navy Hospital, and 42nd President Bill Clinton. Even now, the park still collects 700,000 gallons of water each day for use in the public drinking fountains and bathhouses still operating. Many residents collect their home drinking water from the fountains.
Today, the National Park Service preserves the eight historic bathhouse buildings – Bathhouse Row – and gardens along Central Avenue. Downtown Hot Springs is preserved as Hot Springs Central Avenue Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city also contains dozens of historic hotels and motor courts, built during the Great Depression in the art deco style. Due to the popularity of the thermal waters, Hot Springs benefited from rapid growth during a period when many cities saw a sharp decline in building, much like Miami’s art deco districts. As a result, Hot Springs’s architecture is a key part of the city’s blend of cultures, including a reputation as a tourist town. The National Park side of Hot Springs was interesting however I don’t think the town itself was particularly inspiring – a bit rundown really. It may be because we are “outside the season” but it seemed very quiet and dead as a town – certainly not a tourist town. That being said, there is a big convention center in town and the Embassy Suites hotel we are staying out (8 or 9 stories high) seems pretty full !
The National Park also operates the Hot Springs Mountain Tower above the town which provides views of the surrounding mountains from the 216 foot observation tower – including the Ouachita National Forest where we will head tomorrow.
Hot Springs Mountain Tower
Today’s Trivia – Forty seven hot springs flow from the southwestern slope of Hot Springs Mountain, at an average temperature of 143 F !