Hot Springs and our Return Trip Home

 We visited Hot Springs on a Sunday, consequently the town seemed very quiet and many places of interest were closed.  John and I did walk along bathhouse row, which encompasses nine buildings that once were places to "take the waters", meaning to bathe in the thermal springs piped in from the hillsides surrounding the town.  Pictured below is the only bathhouse left which has baths and spas for  public use.  One of the buildings is now the Fordyce Bathhouse Museum, the others are restaurants and art galleries.

                                                                             

The Buckstaff, as well as the other 8 historic bathhouses, are now part of the Hot Springs National Park.  An interpretive sign located in this area notes that the National Park Service "preserves Bathhouse Row as a significant national landmark in the culture of leisure".    The bathhouses were built around the 1920s.  Yes, it does not seem like much of a national park in the way of any real big pristine beauty, yet besides the thermal springs there are mountain views, interesting geology, forested hikes and many creeks in the middle of town.

                                            

At one of the springs we saw a man sitting on a park bench, covering his head and feet with towels soaked in the thermal waters.  At another spring faucets are available for filling up jugs of the water.  A local man informed me that he regularly comes back to fill up his empty milk bottles because the water makes very good coffee.  We did happen to have an empty bottle in our car to fill up, which we did and brought back home with us.  It did not seem to improve my hot tea, but I happily drank it thinking that perhaps it did have some good health benefits!

                                           

Pictured above is the Arlington Hotel, built in 1924.  Over the years sports figures as Babe Ruth and Joe Dimaggio, actress Marilyn Monroe and 4 presidents have resided here- that is to name only a few of the many celebrities.  In this place the thermal waters are piped into the tubs and spas.  We stayed at this hotel about 20 years ago (on New Years eve) and I have a wonderful memory of being in the hotel's outside pool at midnight.  The water was warm, and we had a great view of the lights of the town.
                                            

After leaving bathhouse row we continued to walk through the town.  It did not have the nice limestone walls as Eureka Springs, but rugged rock walls surrounding parts of the town.  I was very much intrigued by the building pictured above, which seemed to be at least 100 years old and balanced precariously on a rock!
Maybe if I could have seen the building closer at the top my impression of it would be different.

                                            

We took two days driving home following a route mentioned in a book titled The Most Scenic Drives in America (published by Reader's Digest).  It has been on John's bucket list and called the Talimena Scenic Byway.  The drive traverses through the Oachita National Forest of western Arkansas.  We were supposed to see "thick forests.., steep-sided mountains and compact valleys".  Also an "abundance of lovely scenery and varied attractions".  We saw absolutely nothing, and when there was a break in the clouds I took the above picture.  We had left Hot Springs in a heavy rain storm, and this scenic byway was socked in with fog.  We very quickly turned off it and took another road into Oklahoma.  Slowly then the rain let up and we had a wonderful drive through eastern Oklahoma. We found here forests of oak and hickory as well as green rolling hills of pastureland.  A lot of that land is on Native American reservations.  We passed by The Cherokee National Heritage Center, another day we want to visit that.  We also drove by Tahlequah where marchers of the Trail of Tears ended their journey.  Our route home also took us along a meandering channel of the Illinois River.  There is much to explore in eastern Oklahoma, but time did not permit that.  It remains a trip for us on another day!
                                          

Eureka Springs, Ark

 This small town in Arkansas, founded in July 1879, is known as the "city that water built".    Native Americans, as well as early pioneers to our country, discovered that the area had numerous springs (over 66) which seemed to have healing properties.   Not only was healing to be found in this beautiful spot set in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas, but also a certain feeling of beauty and peace.  It was most fortunate that in 1886 some of the area was protected by an act of congress.   On our first day in this town we took the Northern Arkansas scenic train for a brief trip into the Ozark hillside outside of town, and received a very thorough history of the town courtesy of our conductor.

                                                        

The train we rode was one of the originals which brought tourists from Seligmann, Mo. to Eureka starting 1883.  It still has the old wood burning stove in the train car which we rode in.  In the late 1800s this was a prime spot to visit away from the big cities.  Currently Eureka has 14 properties which are on the National Registry of historic places- many Victorian styled homes can be found here.  Also miles of hand stacked limestone walls line the town, and while driving through the narrow winding streets of Eureka I got the feeling that I had been transported to a small town in Europe.

                                                     

  My daughter Melissa, Susan (a family friend) and I took one afternoon (sans the grandchildren) and did a walking tour of  the town- visiting the many small parks and springs as well as stepping into the small shops which just happened to pop up in front of us.  In the picture below Melissa and Susan are standing in front of Sweet Springs, a springs which derived its name from early townspeople who thought the springs had a pleasant,sweet taste.  In the picture you can get an idea of the limestone walls which line the town.  Adding to the beauty of the parks and springs were ivy covered walls and a variety of blooming flowers.

                                                    

On another day John and I wandered around the Crescent Hotel and spa, built in 1886.  She is also known as the "Grand old lady of the Ozarks".  This hotel was the idea of a group of railroad tycoons who wanted to sell more seats on their trains to bring tourists to this wonderful town of healing waters and green hills.  This hotel has so many interesting features that tours are given- which we did not have the time to do, certainly some day I would like to see more of it!  

                                                    

Behind the hotel is a very long staircase which led us down to the church of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church.  It is the only church I know where access to it is through its steeple.

                                          

The rotunda was built in 1904, the famous bell tower in 1909 and the sanctuary in 1910.  Beautiful garden and stations of the cross surround this edifice.                                                                           
Another interesting town with springs in Arkansas is Hot Springs, which John and I visited on our one week car tour of Arkansas and Oklahoma.  Stay tuned to my now infrequent postings- but hey, they are still happening!  We may not have our rv, but now that the pandemic has lessened we have plans to take a few trips this year!