Arkansas

We had a brief but very nice time in Arkansas.

Hot Springs National Park is probably one of the only parks that is a row of houses on one side of the street in a town.  In fact, you could argue that it is the oldest national park period since it was claimed as a reservation by the government in 1832 forty years before Yellowstone.  It wasn't renamed as a national park until 1922 though.  It is also the smallest national park by area in the country and a fun place to spend an afternoon.  There are seven old bathhouses still standing that were used to treat any and all ailments with the natural hot water that is 143 degrees Fahrenheit at the source.  Famous people and gangsters regularly came to relax.  Baseball players often came and the tradition of spring training is claimed to have started in Hot Springs.

How would you like to poke your head through one of these and steam?  This is in the Fordyce bathhouse that is preserved as a museum.  There is one that is still a working bathhouse (basically now a spa), one that is a gift shop, and one that was turned into a brewpub.

Hot springs!

Of course Christiana earned her junior ranger badge and I am the proud husband.

The Old Mill (featured in Gone with the Wind).

Special thanks to Andrea and Tony (and Carolina and Macy) for hosting us.  It was great to see you.