Hot Springs, Arkansas Day 2

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I made a Breakfast Casserole for breakfast which we consumed after a devotion on the balcony. It's a beautiful day but a bit muggy. Georganne and I went to the Garvan Woodland Botanical Gardens in the morning before it got too hot (at least that was the plan). The entry fee is $11 for seniors. The gardens are on 210 acres on the shores of Lake Hamilton. It's mostly wooded but has nice lakes, ponds, bridges, waterfalls, etc. While we were there they were hosting a glass display by James Hayes called Splash of Glass. It featured glass creations depicting flowers, mushrooms, onions, vines, bowls and balls. Our favorite was a koi pond with beautiful large glass balls floating on it. The sun was reflecting off of them beautifully and there was a waterfall in the background. There is a restaurant on the grounds but we had hungry men at the villa and were getting hot so got back in time to fix BLTs for lunch.

In the afternoon Georganne and I went to old town Hot Springs which is Hot Springs National Park. There are actually geothermal hot springs around which a town developed. People came from near and far to bathe in the mineral waters and bath houses sprang up. To protect the springs the area was designated a Reserve and later a National Park. The old Fordyce Bath house is the park headquarters. It houses a fascinating museum that shows the variety of baths that people took, everywhere from the traditional bath in a tub of hot mineral water to vapor baths, needle showers, and even mercury baths that where supposed to heal syphillis. (The museum was closed until the fall for renovations but we saw it when we were here last year. I highly recommend it if you are visiting the area.) The temporary welcome center had a film that told about the area so we watched that.

There are several bathhouses still operating on 'bath house row'. Several years ago we stayed at the Majestic Hotel and had a traditional massage but it has since closed and they even plan to tear it down. We were here last year and bought a massage package at the Quapaw Bathhouse. It is an old bathhouse but the massage was very modern. We were disappointed as we were looking for something different. (We found it - don't miss tomorrow's blog!)

We shopped downtown and checked out the prices in the bathhouse for tomorrow. The guys wanted to see the Oaklawn race track so they went there while we shopped. We returned to the villa at the same time and we cooked Avocado Chicken Enchiladas for supper followed by two games of 65 (I won both!), and then two games of 'Sticks' (Ken and Wayne each won a game). Ken and Georganne love games as much as we do and we are glad they came.

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Photos

Garvan Woodland Gardens
The koi pond with colorful floating glass balls.

Garvan Woodland Gardens
Glass mushrooms

Garvan Woodland Gardens
Another 'splash of glass'.