Hot Springs, AR

We left Memphis and thought it would be a good idea to take a day trip to Hot Springs, AR. It ended up being a very good idea, though we were certainly in unfamiliar territory and got caught up in a massive thunderstorm on the way out.

Hot Springs has been a tourist attraction since the 1800s. Rainwater is filtered through Tuff, a type of porous rock, and is heated deep in the earth. The hot water is then forced out through springs, which are tapped by bathhouses and the municipal water supply. You can go and fill up a bottle with some of the finest spring water in America for free all over the city. But in the 1800s and early 1900s the water was thought to have healing properties, and people flocked here to take a "medical vacation". The proprietors of these bathhouses came up with every possible way of attacking the body using water: immersion, steam immersion, running electricity through a bathtub, concentrated jets of water, drinking water. In addition, there were beauty parlors and social forums in these bathhouses where those fortunate enough to afford the services could hobnob with each other (though the baths were most certainly segregated). I was most impressed with the craft and attention put into the details of the building: the tile floors, stain glass, and ironwork were all impressive. The old hydrotherapy stuff is surreal: it looks like something between an instrument of torture and something out of a steam-punk movie.

So it was a short stop with lots of pictures, but the best times lay ahead. We drove to Oklahoma and took off from there the next day. Our goal: Santa Fe, New Mexico.