We packed up and left Mississippi Saturday morning. After all the rain on Friday, everything was caked in mud by Saturday morning. Yuck! Is that where Mississippi Mud Pie comes from?

Shortly after we left the campground, I remembered that I had forgotten to latch the refrigerator…this is a really important step to ensure that the door doesn’t open during transit. Mark found a safe place to pull over and I righted my mistake. Disaster averted….phew! So glad I remembered and didn’t have to deal with warm food scattered all over the floor.

It took about six hours to traverse Mississippi and Arkansas to arrive at our next destination, Hot Springs AR. The route was on state highways through really rural areas…no Interstates until the final hour or so. We were surrounded by what looked like cotton fields for much of the drive. I did enjoy seeing lots of Bald Cypress trees in various rivers and lakes along the route.

We spent Sunday at Hot Springs National Park. Interestingly, it’s technically the first National Park – the land was set aside as a Federal Reservation in 1832, 40 years before Yellowstone. It’s also unique in that it surrounds the town of Hot Springs, because the town was built to support tourism to the hot springs, which brought thousands of people here in the 1800s seeking the supposed healing properties of the water. The thermal waters come from rain and snow that fell over 4,000 years ago.

Bathhouse row is beautiful, containing the original, ornate buildings that were built to attract people from all over the country. They are used for everything from spas to hotels to breweries today!

Fordyce Bathhouse now serves as the park’s visitor center, housing exhibits and a film about the park. Plus, you can walk through the preserved original bathhouse, including changing rooms, baths, massage rooms, hydrotherapy rooms, and more. It was absolutely fascinating to see the original 1915 grandeur, as this particular bathhouse was targeted towards the very wealthy. We took a ranger tour of the building to learn a bit more about the history, as well.

After lunch, we drove the park road up to Hot Springs Mountain, and then hiked out to Goat Rock. The views of the Ouachita Mountains were amazing, and the trail itself was beautiful. Fortunately, the heavy clouds broke up and we actually had some blue skies and sunshine by mid-afternoon! When you’re on the trails, you’d never know you’re just a short distance from a bustling downtown area.

Two of the original bathhouses are still operating as spas, and Monday morning, we had a 10:30am appointment at Quapaw Bathhouse for a “couples aromatherapy bath”. The warm mineral water was so relaxing! In fact, we were so relaxed that we didn’t do much for the rest of the day (although I did make it to the gym!)

We traveled into the state capital, Little Rock, on Tuesday with three destinations on our list. First stop was Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. It honors the struggle and sacrifice of “The Little Rock Nine”, nine African-American high school students who were the catalysts for desegregation of schools. This quote from one of the young women says it all…”I got up every morning, polished my saddle shoes, and went off to war.” Just horrible that any child had to feel that way about going to school. The visitor center provided a wonderful overview of the years-long effort, and the school itself is an incredible building – a mix of art deco and gothic revival – and the American Institute of Architects named it “America’s most beautiful high school”.

Our second stop was the ESSE Purse Museum…one of those unusual places that I love to find during our travels. Mark wasn’t particularly interested, so he sat outside while I perused the exhibits. There are only two purse museums in the world, the other being in South Korea…so I’m pretty confident this will be my one and only visit to a purse museum. The displays were so interesting and beautifully done – arranged by decade and filled with all sorts of unique purses, as well as items women would have carried in a purse during that decade. I had a wonderful time!

Our third and final stop in Little Rock was the Clinton Presidential Library & Museum. The building does a great job highlighting his eight years in office through photos, text, and artifacts. One of the highlights is a full-size replica of the oval office as it appeared during his administration – the only full-size replica of the oval office that exists. We always enjoy Presidential Libraries and this one didn’t disappoint!

Wednesday was our final day in Hot Springs, and I spent the morning at Garvan Woodland Gardens, the botanical garden of the University of Arkansas. While it’s winter and many items weren’t in bloom and the trees were mostly bare, it was still a beautiful, natural paradise set on Lake Hamilton. The spring flowers were in full bloom, and the setting was just breathtaking – water features, bridges, unique fences, a treehouse, and an architecturally stunning chapel in the woods. I walked about 2.5 miles enjoying all the various gardens and trails. Wow…a real gem!

The afternoon brought bright sunshine and blue skies and we headed back to the National Park. We saw more of the town, the rest of Bathhouse Row, and walked the Grand Promenade that runs behind the bathhouses. We also went up to the top of the Mountain Tower since the weather was cooperating, and had an incredible 360-degree view of the entire region. There was an impressive historical display there, too, with more details about the town and the park, plus some cool artifacts from the heyday of the baths.

Our final stop in Hot Springs was a manual car wash so Mark could get some of that Mississippi mud off the truck! The town of Hot Springs is interesting. As you drive around, you can imagine what it must have been like back in the 1920s & 30s…so many small motels, beautiful architecture…unfortunately, the town doesn’t have enough tourism anymore to support all that, so many are rundown or abandoned. The ranger we talked with at Fordyce said that Hot Springs had so many hotels/motels back in the day that it was second only to New York City! It’s a really unique National Park, unlike any others that we’ve visited, but for someone like me who loves architecture and nature, it’s a wonderful place!

And that brings us to another travel day. We spent today (Thursday) traveling northeast through Arkansas to our campground in Marion, Arkansas, which is basically a suburb of Memphis, TN. Time for some music and some BBQ!