Feeling Fancy in the Hot Springs

According to their brochures and historical information, Hot Springs is our nation's oldest resort town. People discovered the "healing powers" of the springs back in the 1800s. They started staking their claims and charging fees to dangle one's toes into the bubbling brew. The government wasn't fond of this, so set aside the land as a national park open to everyone, but also allowed private businesses to build on the land. Some very luxurious spas were the result, and after those burned down (wood structures) they rebuilt with more sustainable materials. Gangsters, pro baseballers, and the rich and famous frequented Hot Springs. They still have jug filling stations where locals fill up gallons and tanks full of the water for . . . drinking, I assume. Apparently, there is a special double-whammy pair of bacteria found nowhere else on the planet brewing in the fountains. But don't worry, it's harmless to humans! Brennen was the only one brave enough to try the fountain water, he said it tasted "like hot chocolate, without the hot chocolate powder." Hmmm.

One of the original spas, now a NPS museum, is the Fordyce. Perhaps the best part of our visit to the Fordyce Building (which the kids found incredibly creepy in general) was that, when asked about the Junior Ranger program, the on-duty ranger handed over the booklet AND the badge, which meant Graysen lost all motivation for filling out the booklet, ha! He already had the prize :)

So, granted, some of the "health" treatments seemed more like "hazardous to your health" treatments, such as the "electric water therapy" (where, yes, they put electrical current into the water while you sat enclosed in a metal box with your head sticking out the top), and the "needle shower" which I'm assuming shot painful amounts of hot water at your body from all directions. So relaxing, ha!

Also, the people 100 years ago were much smaller. This was the women's locker room, but the men's was not much bigger. Our guys could barely get their shoulders through the door, and Graysen was sure to keep up the creepy vibe of the place whenever possible, lol :) Also, you may notice there are zero pictures of my kids in the antique hot tub bathtubs scattered around town for touristy photo taking. "That's weird. Like really weird," was their excuse. I mean, yes. Valid. Ha! There are still some modernized hot spring spas you can book treatments at along the row, but I wasn't sure about the people scrubbing us down etc., so chose to not pursue that "healthy" option. Maybe on the next trip.

Once you move past the lower floors and sunning decks where it seems nakedness was highly encouraged, you find the ornate resting parlor, where men and women would reunite after their relaxing day at the spa, for beverages and snacks. It was ornate and beautiful! Here's where the glamour really kicked it up a notch!

Above is your hidden picture challenge . . . can you spot Buck in the photo?? Your clue is in the next photo down ;)

Gabby's time was often spent taking cute pictures of Caelan with all the glamorous backdrops. Eventually Graysen started expecting the same, lol!

Back at the house it was evening of puzzles and an Escape Room in a Box--this one was super easy, we finished it in 37 minutes, which has to be a record!

The Shakespeare puzzle I got for Christmas was quite puzzling. Brennen would put something together and go, "What is happening? What is this story even about? Shakespeare is weird." And he was correct, ha! Still, this probably counts toward their literature grade, don't you think? ;)