Onward to Hot Springs, Arkansas

Tuesday, we left Viney Creek towards Bentonville, Ar. Then South to Ft. Smith, Ar. From there we took back roads to Crystal Springs, Ar. Crystal Springs is just a small dot on the map, so small our GPS didn't recognize it. Wow, talk about back woods! We found the road to take us back to Crystal Springs COE campground. Yup, we had Jo-D and C.J. following us.

 Our sites were stunning, right on Lake Ouachita (WASH-e-taw), a lake formed by a hydro-electric dam. You might wonder why we wanted to go here.... Al Capone, Machinegun Kelly, Bugsy Seagal and others frequented Hot Springs, from time to time. Major League baseball players, Babe Ruth and his buddys liked it there. FDR came to Hot Springs sometimes, too. We were just 17 miles from Hot Springs and Nancy really wanted to visit also.

Hot Box Al Capone "cooked" in.
  

Wednesday we headed into town. The main street is where there are still all the old luxurious bathhouses. I'm not sure how many, but each one tried to outdo the other. The Fordyce bathhouse, has become the Hot Springs National Visitors Center. This bathhouse still has all the tubs, steam boxes and all, which you can tour for free.

From there we went up Lookout Mountain. The national park service was repaving the road so we had to wait for a pilot car to take us to the top of the mountain. At the top there is a tower reaching up another 260 feet. The views from the top are fantastic. 

View from the top is GREAT!

We had taken the dogs, Rosie and Charley, with us this day so we packed a lunch and picniced at the top of the mountain. We took turns going up in the elevator to the top because of the dogs. Then we drove back down into Hot Springs and up West Mountain, which you can also see out over the town. 

Arlington Hotel Entrance

Ten of these are in the lobby

 Everyone we talked to told us we needed to go to the old Arlington Hotel. The Arlington has been refurbished and all the old splendor of days gone by are still intact. It was really neat.  

Thursday was another full day for us. We weren't too far from the state capital, Little Rock...so off we went, no dogs today. We arrived at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. The tour was great …... no cigar or blue dress though, but plenty of other interesting stuff. In most of the Presidential Libraries, we have visited, they have exact replicas of the oval office. This one also had a replica of Clinton's Cabinet Room. Nancy sat in the Presidents seat in the cabinet room. Clinton's library had a fantastic cafe so that is where we ate lunch. 

President Nancy????

Her future Office??

Next, it was off to the state Capitol Building. We opted for a self guided tour. When we got to the Senate chambers, a nice State Senator took us into the Chamber and told us a lot about the history of the building and how the Senators are nicer than the Representatives. We laughed but there was nary a Representative to be found. The building is unique, but is similar to others we have toured.

Arkansas "Speaker Nancy" (NOT Pelosi)

Ornate Inside Stairway