Hot Springs, Arkansas

---

We checked out of our Hamilton Lake cabin at noon yesterday and said goodbye to the ducks. We thought we couldn't check into Hotel Hale until 4pm, but we learned later that they actually have a 3pm check-in time. We decided to go exploring for four hours.

First, we took the drive up West Mountain Drive on the west side of the bath houses. Two locals recommended this drive to us, so we decided to give it a shot. It was short but beautiful with dense forest. We stopped at the roundabout, where there were parking spots, and took a look at the trail map. The trail was 10 miles long! We weren't dressed for a hike anyway, so we decided to take a stroll on the trail for about ten minutes and double back. It was quiet and pretty. We didn't see any critters but saw lots of lichen-covered trees.

After our short hike, we drove back down and then took North Mountain Drive on the east side of the bath houses up to the tower. This drive was longer, steeper, and had a number of switch backs. We took it slow and enjoyed the scenery. After the last switch back, there was a nice bathroom and picnic area. After that, we came to the tower. You can pay to climb up the tower. Skip gave us a coupon for one free entry, which I had in my pocket. As it turns out, none of us were interested in climbing the tower. So, we continued the drive.

When we were done, we decided to drive across town to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch. It's in a beautiful location. We ate outside and could see lots of turtles, geese, and ducks. There was a little vending machine filled with goose food, so Andrew went back to the car and grabbed a cup and a few quarters so the kids could feed the geese. As it turns out, the turtles really like the goose food, too! We humans enjoyed our people food. While Andrew, Joanna, and I each had a veggie burger, Oliver opted to try something called trigger fish and declared it was the best fish he ever had.

We'd passed by a mini golf course on our way to Fisherman's Wharf, so after we were done eating, we played a round of mini golf at Pirate's Cove. We did the Blackbeard course, and each hole had signs all about Blackbeard's life. I told Oliver that back when he was a baby, we went and visited Blackbeard's Castle in Saint Thomas. The course was a lot of fun, and Andrew finally beat me at mini golf (by 3 strokes!).

We drove back to Bathhouse Row and to Hotel Hale. Hotel Hale is the oldest bathhouse at the national park and was built in 1892. Today, you can book a room and enjoy the soaker tubs in the bathroom that have water pumped in from the hot springs. I booked it for this purpose because the kids aren't old enough for us to soak at one of the public bathhouses.

We paid for valet parking because parking near Boathouse Row can get ridiculous. When we arrived, the manager came out with a luggage rack. He was nice but seemed a bit overwhelmed and stressed. When he found someone to watch the front desk, he took us to our room. He had a lot to tell us about what not to do. It kind of rubbed me the wrong way and felt unwelcoming, but I think it came from a place of stress. I don't think he realized how he came across. Rather than welcome us to our room, he told us in a very belittling manner how to unlock our room. You turn the key, not the handle. He demonstrated a couple times for us. He told us about all these people who kept trying to make the handle turn when it wouldn't turn and broke the nob. He led us into the room and talked about the television for awhile. He made sure all of us understood that we don't hit the "power" button on the remote because it will power down the whole box, and then he'll have to come up there and reset everything. He talked a lot about how we all needed to make sure our tub didn't overflow. He demonstrated how to use the bath drain and plug. He told a few stories about that and how we should only push down on it gently and never turn it. He talked about how if we mess that up, it might not plug right, and then he'd have to come up there and fix it. He also talked about the robes and how they're $90 each so we shouldn't take those unless we want to be charged $90. I don't think he meant to come across so unwelcoming. We saw him a few times during our stay and he ended up being quite nice. But as we got that tour of our room, I couldn't help but feel that we made a mistake staying there, and I felt belittled. Once he left, we enjoyed our room. It felt extra luxurious after staying in cabins for a week. We each enjoyed a soak and felt very relaxed afterwards. They had a coffee service where they brought me coffee in the morning, and they had a complimentary breakfast in the morning, too, that was quite nice (except for the part where a housekeeper yelled at us about stepping on her clean floors she just mopped when we came down from the stairs instead of the elevator).

In all, we really enjoyed the hotel, the hot springs tub, and the amenities. It just seemed unwelcoming in general. Maybe they get a lot of guests who are rough on the rooms and such, and so maybe they're weary of guests. Or, perhaps, maybe we're just better suited for staying at rustic cabins!

---

Photos

West Mountain Drive
Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

Sunset Trail
Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

Fisherman's Wharf, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Andrew and me

Turtles at Fisherman's Wharf
They enjoyed the goose food.

Pirate's Cove Mini Golf
We did the Blackbeard's course. The funny thing is, we have a similar touristy photo from when we toured Blackbeard's castle in Saint Thomas.