Here we are when we pulled into camp Thursday night:
Hot Springs is a community that was built on the supposed healing powers of its hot springs. The water coming out of the springs is 143 degrees Farenheit, and fell as rainfall 4,000 years previously. It takes that long for it to percolate down into the mountain, be superheated, and then be quickly forced to the surface springs. You can't see the springs anymore, because in the 1800s and early 1900s they were capped to avoid contamination--the hot water used to run right down the main street.
Bathhouses allowing people to "take the waters" (bathe, get massages, mercury treatments, things like that) sprang up all over town near the springs, and then a series of fires burned them down over and over, till they were built of more permanent materials in the early 20th century. Then, as people caught on that the waters were no miracle cure, the elaborate, somewhat beautiful buildings lost their popularity, and closed down, one-by-one. Only one remains open, Buckstaff Baths, but the others along "Bathhouse Row" (the main street downtown) are being renovated by the National Park system, and will be rented out for other uses when they are ready. The most opulent, Fordyce Bath House, was renovated to be the Visitor's Center and has tours and a video, so you can see what it was like to visit in the 1920s. Here are the pictures:
Here is the start of Bathhouse Row, eight surviving structures that are quite pretty, dating from about 1910 to 1930.
This is the one that is still a functioning bath house. I got to take a bath and massage there; more on that later.
This is Fordyce Bath House, the national park visitor's center, and the prettiest of the bathhouses, I think. Mark and Katie took a tour of it while I had my spa treatment. They were able to take pictures inside:
Here is one of the baths; I think this place was built in around 1914. The bath I had at the Buckstaff was in a bathtub circa 1912, and a freestanding one, but that same white porcelain, with crazing all over it, and the same industrial type fixtures. They put a motor in it to give you a whirlpool experience, and it looks and sounds like a boat's outboard motor.
Here's the room with all the baths in it for men at Forsyth. The women's area was sort of an afterthought, much smaller and plainer (no statues or marble benches). The Buckstaff was plainer still--no wooden doors, just marble walls and shower curtains separating the individual bathers. Also the Buckstaff (at least the women's area--I never got to go into the men's) was much smaller than this--there were only maybe 8 tubs, in a galley-shaped room. No frills, but it was only $42 for a 90-minute treatment of baths and massage. Here's the deal: you sit in the bathtub for 20 minutes with the whirlpool (naked), then they put you on a sitz bath for 10 minutes or so, then into an old fashioned steamer (the metal box where your head pokes out the top) for another 10 or 15 (I must have sweated a pound away, it was so hot), then they lay you on a table in a common room and apply boiling hot towels for another 10 or 15 (very uncomfortable), then you have a shower in an ancient shower like this one:
and then you lie and wait for the best part, a wonderful 20-minute massage. It was a very interesting experience, as everything there was so old and medical feeling, so I felt less like I was at a resort spa and more like I was a medical patient. The staff ushering me around was curt and not very gentle about helping me into and out of my sheet, which you wear the whole time like a Roman, but my masseuse was great, kind and gentle.
These days Hot Springs looks like a town that has seen better days. Many of the big old homes look like they are in disrepair, and I bet there are some good real estate deals here. But, despite meeting folks who say they'd love to move here, we didn't get that feeling ourselves. However, there is one perk to living here: free spring water. You bring your bottles downtown to one of the filling sites and fill up with warm, delicious water. I empitied a gallon of store-bought stuff we had, so I could fill up the container and try it myself, and it really is nice. No smell or taste, just great water. I've been drinking more than usual since then. Here is one of the filling sites, a particularly pretty one, at the entrance to the town's Promenade, a pretty walk up and behind Bathhouse Row.
A ways above Bathhouse Row, on the little mountain there, is an observation tower. We climbed it (Katie too, but especially notable was Mark, who still had his cold but insisted on climbing the 160+ feet to the top):
One day Mark felt lousy and stayed at home, so Katie and I drove south to the Diamond Crater State Park about 70 miles away. On the way we saw a couple old-timey cabins like this one:
The park used to be a private diamond mine, but I guess it petered out so they sold the land to the state. Now you can go and dig for diamonds yourself. Folks find an average of two a day out there. Katie was excited to go look, so we missed seeing the museum where they show you what to look for. Maybe that's why we only found quartz. But maybe it wouldn't have helped us anyway... it's a big big field (43 acres):
Here is the mud you have to sort through to find your diamonds...
This guy takes it seriously. His trench was up to his waist:
Our campsite is near three springs found close together. In the 1920s and 30s, cabins were built here to accommodate travellers who would come and stay here for weeks or months and "take the waters." A huckster had advertised that the waters cured all sorts of diseases. The springhouse and a few of the old cabins survive, and the land is now a very very pretty state park. Here are the signs at the old springs. Note that spring #2 "cures" a dozen diseases, but the FDA says it's not safe enough to even drink!
Another sign said that chemical analysis shows all three springs to have the same chemical makeup.Hot Springs is a pretty place, with great water that does cure thirst; but because people believed it could cure polio and other diseases, a few folks grew very wealthy, and this place had its heyday for awhile.
Here is Katie saying hello, wearing her first ever ponytail in her hair (she really wants it to grow long).
Also I couldn't resist taking a picture of Katie and Mark around the campfire on our last night at the lake. The light was much prettier than the camera could capture. Also, it can't show Katie's sticky fingers from eating about ten marshmallows. She's very patient with them and waits till they are perfectly melty.
