We left the Vicksburg Walmart Tuesday afternoon and drove a short distance down I-20 into the Rayville, LA Walmart for the evening. Got up the next morning and drove 200 miles to the Hot Springs National Park RV Park.
After a rainy evening at the RV site, we got up the next morning to bright, sunny but chilly morning. We drove up Hot Springs Mountain to the tower, but declined to pay the $14 to go up the tower. So we just walked around the grounds and view the souvenir shop.
We snapped a few pics of the downtown area, including the Bath Row. Below is the old Majestic Hotel that is in the process of demolition.
From the WEB: Constructed in 1902 and expanded in 1926, the Majestic was a favorite destination for several Major League teams including the renowned Boston Red Sox. The Sox trained at Majestic Field on the south end of town. As part of their training they hiked the four miles to and from the ball field, over West Mountain.
Who knew? I didn't we visited here, that Hot Springs was a spring training mecca for major league baseball! Above, the old Army-Navy General Hospital, now the Arkansas Rehabilitation Center. Below, The Austin Conference & Convention Center.
There were several of these historical plaques in town. I only happened upon a few, and I have included them here in this blog.
We walked down Bath House Row and even toured the NPS owned Fordyce Bath House, which we're told was the most extravagant in it's time.
It rained early in the day till about noon, then cleared off pretty nice.
Below are few pics from the Fordyce Bath House, which we toured with an NPS Ranger.
Above, Miss Nancy reading up on the history of the Row and this bath house.
Most of the folks were ladies on the tour and several had already been to an active bath house for the works.
All these pics are from the Fordyce Bath House. Some of these stations are self explanatory. Some, I couldn't figure what the purpose was, but, hey, I'm not really a bath person. :-)
Changing rooms and lockers. Pretty nice for the times. Below, a little trickery into the mirror.
Pretty nice accoutrements for the high society of the times...
We are still in the Fordyce Bath House. From Wiki: The Fordyce bathhouse, built in 1914–15, and designed by George Mann and Eugene John Stern of Little Rock, Arkansas was the most elaborate and and the most expensive of the bathhouses, the cost including fixtures and furniture being $212,749.55. It was closed on June 29, 1962, the first of the Row establishments to fall victim to the decline in popularity of therapeutic bathing. Fordyce Bathhouse has served as the park visitor center since 1989.
So, we walked around a little while in the Row area of town, and saw these open springs.
Walking down the steps from our walk across the Grand Promenade above Bath House Row.
What a fitting end to a nice visit to Hot Springs, AR. Two buckets of balls on the range and went through every club. Whew! Must have hit 200 balls. I'll be sore in the morning. Thanks for the action pic Honey. Looks like I could use a little more hip rotation. :-)
That's a wrap. RVing Beach Bums signing off, from Coburg, OR Our coach has finished up three days of maintenance and a an unwelcome bill. Oh well! Off to Newport, OR in the morning for a couple days on the rugged coast. Then on to Fort Astoria where Lewis & Clark wintered over in 1805-06 with their Corps of Discovery for a couple of days.
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