Hot Springs National Park

Hi all, Dianne here.  We spent four nights at Lake Catherine State Park.  In addition to hiking the rugged trails, we spent one afternoon in nearby Hot Springs and the next day at Diamond Crater State Park in Murfreesboro. 

 This third "catch-up" blog will detail our visit to Hot Springs:  

Hot Springs National Park is a unique historical park, showcasing the restored Fordyce Bathhouse and the lovely street known since the late 1800s as "Bathhouse Row." 
 
 There are 23 restored rooms in the bathhouse, where individual tubs in private cubicles once had natural hot spring water piped into them.  The rooms also include steam cabinets, Zander mechano-therapy equipment, massage tables, "cooling off" rooms for both men and women, and ornate dressing rooms.

I took a photo of the ornate stained glass ceiling in the men's central bath area.  There was no such stained glass ceiling in the women's side -- although, I don't think they would have appreciated the naked mermaids as much as the men probably did --

Two more outdoor shots:

Pretty much all Roger and I did was visit the National Park visitor's center and restored Fordyce bathhouse, and have a delicious lunch at a local cafe across from Bathhouse Row called "Granny's Kitchen" (grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches to die for, and wonderful homemade blackberry cobbler a la mode).

  Back in the day, Hot Springs was Al Capone's favorite getaway.  Other notables who came "in season" to take the waters include Lillian Russell, President Herbert Hoover, Bugsy Siegel, and Will Rogers.  Hot Springs is also where former president Bill Clinton spent his childhood and graduated from high school.  

The rest of Hot Springs didn't hold our interest, so we headed back to our shady glen to do a little lake watching under the trees, and enjoy our nightly glass of wine and campfire.

The pet photo of the day is a pretty portrait of Charlie the Cat that Roger took one evening as Charlie kept a watchful eye on the wildlife outside his big window.  (R:  Do you think he has green eyes?)