Hot Springs, Arkansas
The drive from Memphis to Waco is way too far to drive in one day. So we broke out the map and decided to stop in Hot Springs Arkansas.
Have you heard of it? Me either!
We had no luck swimming in the warm springs in Warm Springs Georgia so I was pumped for Hot Springs. My friend from Arkansas said you can swim in the wild in natural hot springs. So we found ourselves a camp ground and hit the road.
We are about 30 minutes away when Kaitlin decides to do more research on the hot springs. You know, how long the hike is, where they are in relation to our camp ground and you know what she finds? Not only can you not swim in the hot springs because they are 140 degrees but they have also all been capped.
Lets just say I was not a happy camper.
We pull into J&J RV and Storage park where JJ himself checked us in and put us in a spot right by the bathroom. He was an older guy wearing a Hawaii shirt and drove a souped out golf cart around the park for fun.
He gave us a map, we got settled, and we decided to go to Walmart to be domesticated and make our own dinner.
Now, my grandpa has a lot of funny sayings but I think in this case we will go with “dog shit town” when entering the Walmart in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Heres some advice, never stare too long at anything. The general manager caught us looking at a bag of cookies, apparently they were the best cookies and he sells 3,000 bags a day.
Somehow that transitioned to if Kaitlin and I believe in marriage….
We grabbed a bag of cookies and ran off. We checked the items off our list and headed to the produce isle.
SPOTTED: General manager man. Run!
Too late. He caught us and tried to sell us this charcuterie plate. His selling point was that him, his two kids, and his wife ate it for dinner one night. He asked us what we were doing in Hot Springs and we told him about Trudy, he replied with “I wouldn’t tell too many people that.”
I was having flashbacks to middle school where they make you watch the video about strangers. I felt like the meme when guys buy girls a drink and it is Bart from the Simpsons backing into a bush and disappearing. Except Kaitlin and I just backed away to the parsley.
He was weird but we did get the cookies and the charcuterie plate and they were pretty good so I will give him credit on his sales technique.
The next day we set out to hike. But, the trail was closed.
So we walked back down to the downtown area (a few miles away from the Walmart don’t worry) and headed towards the bath houses.
Fun fact about Brittany, I hate baths. I am uncomfortable and I have to sit on a wash cloth even in my own tub and I only last about 5 minutes. I always wish I could be one of those girls who take bubble baths with candles and wine but no, not for me. So why I thought I would enjoy a public bath house is beyond me.
There are about 5 bath houses in a row, they all close at 3 on Tuesdays, except two, one of which is closed on Tuesdays and the other is in the hotel down the street. Did I mention we were there on a Tuesday?
We walk to the hotel and make our way to the 3rd floor. They were kind enough to let us walk in before we decided to pay $30 to experience the hot springs.
Let me paint a picture, do you remember the scene in Pearl Harbor where right after the bomb hit the base and it flashes to the hospital with all white walls, weird beds, and totally 1940s decor with wounded people all around? Thats kinda what this was like. The pale pink changing room looked an awful lot like the bedroom in the Shining and it smelled like chlorine.
Nope.
We went to the next bath house that had been turned into a brewery and grabbed a beer. Now that is a bath house I can get behind.
We wandered around town and into a few shops. We met a guy who moved from Pittsburgh to Hot Springs Arkansas. We went to the oldest bar in Arkansas called the Ohio Club and we learned that Hot Springs was the Las Vegas before Las Vegas was built. Yeah, I know, I was shocked too.
Hot Springs was actually really fun and the most obscure place I have been too next to Eureka California. But, we did purchase one of the greatest things of all times here. A little package of rattle snake eggs, when you open it, it rattles and scares the shit out of whoever opens it. Needless to say we have had way too much fun with that.
