Full-time RVing: HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK

Thursday, February 2, 2017

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK & LITTLE ROCK, AR

27-29 Dec

Have you ever found a place that you loved so much, that every time you are close you can hear it calling your name and have to stop? Well, Hot Springs National Park is one of those places for us. Any time we are on I40 in Arkansas we take a few days to rest and relax in this location. This was our fourth time visiting this town and third time going to the bath house (first time closed). Even during the Holidays the Quapaw Bath House & Spa was open. Only an hour away we took a day trip to Little Rock to see some history.

We stayed at the Host Springs NP Campground just a few miles from bath house row. All sites are now full hook-up at $30 a nights. I asked the camp host if they had military discount, she told me to use the senior discount. It cost us only $15 a night.

First night I was going to cook steaks on the grill, but they were still frozen. We decided to walk around bath house row to see the Christmas lights and eat at The Ohio Club. We have eaten here before and this time we planned ahead. Ohio Club is a bar with live music with a very small kitchen. We ordered chips & dip as our entree knowing that it would take a while for our dinner to arrive. I even had a Lost Forty Forest Queen and listen to the live band before our Ohio burger arrived.

I just found an APP untappd. It allows you to log the places you visited and drinks you had. If you use this APP you can friend me (JapanX) and compare the places we have been. Being from Ohio and with The Ohio Club as my first visit it just sounds fitting.

Tourist trap alert: Don’t pay for parking, there is a three story free parking garage one block behind Central Ave.

LITTLE ROCK

Day two: Only an hour away is the Capitol of Arkansas, Little Rock. We have missed it the several times we were here before and had to take a look this time. First we stopped at Little Rock Central High School NHS. In September 1957 nine African-American teens held the line against an angry mob protesting integration in front of Little Rock Central High School. President Eisenhower ordered the US Army to escort the nine students into the school. The crisis forced the Nation to enforce civil rights in the face of massive Southern defiance. Eight of the nine students are still alive today.

Next we traveled a mile away to the other side of the highway and arrived at the State Capitol Building. There was free parking right in front. We passed security and completed our self-guided tour. We saw the House & Senate, Governor Office and took a picture with the Capitol Building in the foreground. Capitol Building number 20.

The steaks were no longer frozen and I cooked them on the grill for dinner.

HOT SPRINGS NP

Day three: We have been to Quapaw Bath & Spa in the past, but this time they had opening for massage. When making the reservations (the day before) I told the receptionist I never done this before and asked what I need to wear, she just smiled and said a smile. For 25 minutes we had a couple’s massage with Hiromi getting a Swish and I got a targeted (lower back). We then hit the bath spa (bathing suit required) for about an hour. Because I got a massage and that I’m retired military my bath was free. However, Hiromi’s was normal price of $20. We soaked in the four different spring water baths that had a rage of temperatures from 95F to 104F for a few hours.

Our neighbors at the National Park Campground are from Ohio, was born in Canton and studied at Kent State. What a small world! What are the chances of that ever happing again? We all went out to eat dinner at DeLuca’s Pizzeria for New York style pizza and share stories. Places they have been we want to go, and places we have been they want to go. This is one of the reason I love RVing. Some stranger you may never talk to in the “real world” and would never have known you two have so much in common would bond so quickly by only saying hello.