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Year-long Retirement Odyssey
We set out in the morning to explore Hot Springs National Park. When I hear "National Park", I'm thinking of a large park, where you pay your fee to enter this wonderful forested area with a lodge and hot pools...or something like that. Well, we were surprised to see that the downtown area of Hot Springs IS the national park (or at least the major portion of the park). In downtown Hot Springs there is a row of 8 bathhouses. When we say "bathhouse" today, there can be a bad connotation to that word. However, back in 1917 or so, hot springs bathhouse was associated with medical treatments. Each bathhouse was required to have a physician who was responsible for treatment of their clients. However, they are more like the hot mineral water "spas" that you might find out at Desert Hot Springs in Southern California.
Here is a model of the eight bathhouses, plus the park headquarters. Of the eight bathhouses, only two are presently being used as spas for people to come for spa treatments and massages. One is now a restaurant/brewery, one is the park's visitors center, and the fifth one is a "cultural center". The other three are presently sitting empty. The parking building where we parked the truck is across from the Ozark Bathhouse, which is now a cultural center. Outside of each bathhouse was a plaque that gave interesting facts of each bath. Several of the most interesting pieces of art were a motorcycle made of wood, a child's rocking motorcycle and a painting of the Ozark Bathhouse in the fall.
We were working our way towards the last (or the first?) bathhouse that was now a restaurant/ brewery. So, the next bathhouse was the Quapaw Bathhouse. This bathhouse has a large co-ed pool of hot mineral water that you can pay to spend the day. They also offer spa treatments and massages.
Sorry Guys, I got hungry so we skipped three bathhouses and went directly to the Superior Bathhouse, which is the restaurant/brewery. Sharon had a Reuben sandwich and I had a Greek salad topped with gyro meat, topping it off with homemade root beer.
So now, we are working at the top of the street with the bathhouses lined up and working back towards the national park administration offices. The next two bathhouses, Hale and Maurice, are presently not being used. However, it was interesting to read the plaques out front about these bathhouses to find out interesting facts about each.
Next comes the Fordyce Bathhouse, which is also the Visitors Center. This bathhouse has been set up as a museum of how a bathhouse operates ~ and a major part of our time is spent looking at all the exhibits.
We were met in the lobby of the bathhouse by a park ranger who explained to us the layout of the bathhouse (for a better self-guided tour). He also showed us how guests were checked in by the front desk.
After checking, there are (of course) men and women's changing rooms. In fact, most of the three floors of the bathhouse had separate services for men and women. The only co-ed area was a lounge on the third floor. For those who have come to bathe in the mineral water, there are separate tubs in private rooms for bathing. By the way, this mineral water does NOT have the sulfur smell that is found in a lot of natural hot springs (like Yellowstone).
After soaking in the mineral water, there were multi-head showers for a refreshing shower. A physician may recommend either a massage, hydrotherapy by use of nozzles controls and gauges, steam cabinet or chiropody (we call it podiatry today).
Other amenities of this bathhouse, there is a bath hall for the men. There were marble benches to sit. There was fountain in the middle where they could reach out with a glass and drink the mineral-rich water, while awaiting their turn for treatments. Right above the fountain is a leaded stained glass window that containes almost 8,000 pieces of glass beautifully showing "Neptune's daughter, mermaids, dolphins in swirling water". The women also had separate amenities, like this beauty parlor they could get fixed up after a day at the spa.
All guests were encouraged to get exercise, so on the top floor, there is a fully outfitted gymnasium. To me looks more like the training room for gymnastics! But all the "ancient" equipment seen has a modern day counterpart today in our "modern" gyms.
One of the few common area besides the gym was the guest hall where clients could mingle and relax after treatments, bathed and dressed. Marble floors, glass doors, Grand piano, it was quite the place to relax and mingle at the spa.
Lastly, in the lobby is a display of the use of the ornamental head of Neptune and a further explanation of the Fordyce Bathhouse.
Back outside and moving down the street, there was an open plaza with 2 pillars, each one had the name of the Secretary of the Interior that was serving during the establishment of the Hot Springs National Park. In front of each pillars was a fountain. I reached over and touched the water and it was hot! As I walked to the back of the plaza, there was a little inset basin where mineral water was flowing, allowing us to touch the water to feel the temperature. While the water was not scalding, it was uncomfortably hot, so obviously in the pools and tubs, they were adding cold water. Then off to the side, we walked where there was a natural occurring hot spring coming out of the side of the bank. Sharon took a little video of the area. One of the interesting facts is how the rainwater filters down through the earth until it reaches the crust above the magma, heats and is percolated up through special fractured rock, called Novaculite. It is a very interesting story, which I have reproduced in a narration about one of the rock pictures attached.
Next moving down the sidewalk is the Buckstaff Bathhouse, which is still in use today. This bathhouse only offers spa, beauty and massage treatments. There is no large pool in which you can just relax to enjoy the warm mineral water.
It was getting late in the afternoon and I was tired of walking, so we headed back to the car. Some of the architecture of the downtown buildings was unusual. Sharon took a picture of an office building called "Waters". The columns remind us of Greek architecture. We drove up past the town to reach the other part of Hot Springs National Park, which is a drive up West Mountain to overlooks of the city and there are a lot of hiking trails in the area also.
The next day, we took care of chores in the morning, then went for a drive to see the Garvan Woodland Gardens just south of Hot Springs. It was a nice sunny day ~ not too hot, but a nice day for a walk in the gardens. One of the things that Sharon had read about the Gardens is that there is a building called the Anthony Chapel, which is a glass and wood structure in the middle of the forest. We took Roxie with us. There is a charge to tour the Gardens, but you could also take a walk outside of the gardens to the Anthony Chapel and some beautiful landscaping. It was fabulous!
We spent quite a bit of time there and on the way back, we saw a dam off to the left. Above the dam, the county or state had built a fantastic park. There was a lookout over Lake Catherine so I was able to get a panoramic picture of the lake. The park included paved trails for bikes, strollers, skates, trikes, almost anything on wheels that people use to get exercise. As we drove back to the campground, we came to a huge American flag flying by the side of the highway. What a nice reminder of the great country we live in!
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