Excuse me, you'll need to see security. What has Mickeystoontown done? Update 3/25x2

[mickeystoontown]

Road Trippin’ Anniversary to Arkansas!

Our 28th wedding anniversary was August 10th so we decided to load up the car and take a road trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas and we were bringing Hunter along with us! What can I say? We are so romantic!

I get off work at Noon on Fridays so I was in charge of packing everything up and loading it into the SCAR. John would get off work at 2:30 and would need to come home, rest for a little bit and then take a shower before we could hit the road. When I got home around 12:30 or so, Hunter was still lazing around in bed. I had him get up and take a shower so that he could go with me to pick up something for us to eat before John got home. Our early dinner ended up being Subway sandwiches for John and I and a Subway cheese pizza for Hunter.

John made it home, ate his sandwich and sat down to rest for a few minutes before hopping in the shower. In the meantime, I made sure we had all the chargers packed, grabbed a few canned Cokes and bottled water and then put it all in the car. Even for just a weekend trip, we had two suitcases. Yes, I am an overpacker! But, in my defense, the forecast called for the high nineties to lower 100s and I can’t stand sweaty clothes so I packed an extra suit of clothes for each of us. We were also going to Magic Springs which is a water park and theme park combined. That meant I had to pack water park gear. Anyway, we ended up with two suitcases for a two night trip.

Mama walked over to give us goodbye hugs and assure us that she’d make sure Oddball (our dog) was fed and had plenty of water.

I’m not good at remembering what time we leave so I took a picture of the clock on the dash just as John was resetting the trip calculator/counter/thingie. Good gosh, I need to wipe off the dash of the SCAR:

The drive to Hot Springs is about 4 hours and we were itching to get there. I failed to take pictures of the scenery...wait a minute...there wasn’t much scenery. Just lots of woods and a two lane highway all the way to Gurdon, Arkansas which is where the first picture appears. For many many years, we passed through the little town of Gurdon and, every time, we wondered what in the world was the International Concatenated Order of the Hoo Hoo. Nestled in a little spot beside a Sonic Drive In is a dark brown/black log building which has a sign on it and a black cat with an arched back.

I took this one as we were approaching the Hoo Hoo. It’s just on the other side of the Sonic sign:

And I tried to get one of the building as we were driving past:

As I said, for years and years, we drove past the Hoo Hoo and wondered what went on there. Was it a place for witches and warlocks to meet? Was black magic being practiced behind the log walls? Ooh, the possibilities!

For some reason, up until about three, maybe four years ago, it didn’t occur to me to look it up on the internet. What did I find? Well, the International Concatenated Order of the Hoo Hoo is a fraternal organization of lumbermen and those in trades related to the lumber industry. Hoo Hoo is the oldest industrial fraternal organization in the United States. At the height of the organization’s popularity, membership totaled more than 13,000. The leaders certainly had a sense of humor because they named themselves Snark, Bo-Jum, Sr. High Hoo Hoo and Jabberwock and other whimsical names. Sounds like some fun guys to hang out with.

If you want to read more about the Hoo Hoos, here are a couple of interesting links:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/7541

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concatenated_Order_of_Hoo-Hoo

We gave a salute to the Hoo Hoos and continued on towards Hot Springs. The next place that we passed that was of any interest was DeGray State Park. As you approach the park, the highway goes through a rocky area and then you drive across a long dam. This is where you get your first glimpse of the Ouachita Mountains (which you can’t see in the next set of pictures). I asked Hunter to snap some pictures:

On the left:

On the right:

Not so great pictures but pictures nevertheless. I had to take a tinkle break in Arkadelphia so we stopped at Wendy’s. We decided that ice cream was in order so John and I both got Frosties and Hunter got a vanilla shake. Ice cream in hand, we got back on the road. The frosties were good but Hunter said his shake tasted like carrots! Carrots? How the heck does a vanilla shake taste like carrots? He handed it to us to taste and it tasted bad...not like carrots...but bad. Apparently, the girl who made the shake put too much malt in the shake and it tasted nasty. Of course, we had a lot of laughs about the carrot shake and continued laughing all the way to Hot Springs.

We weren’t really sure where our hotel was but we had an idea. Still, we looked closely as we were getting into town.

We crossed the bridge over Lake Hamilton and Hunter snapped a picture of the sun setting over the lake:

The Comfort Inn was right where we thought it would be and I remembered to check the time. It took us just a little under 4 hours to get there.

*Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

Check in was a breeze and we were soon checking out our room. The bathroom was immediately to the left:

The room:

Chair and ottoman in one corner:

Desk and chair in the other:

The indoor pool building and sitting area just below our window:

I’m not one for just sitting around in a hotel room when on vacation, especially on a short vacation. So, once we had our things in the room, potty breaks were made, we headed back down to the SCAR. Our plan was to drive into Downtown Hot Springs, walk the promenade and, if they hadn’t closed yet, tour one of the bathhouses.

If you don’t live in one of the States surrounding Arkansas, you may have never heard of Hot Springs National Park. Here’s a tidbit of info:

Established from Hot Springs Reservation, Hot Springs National Park is a 1. United States National Park in central Arkansas adjacent to the city of Hot Springs. Hot Springs Reservation was initially created by an act of the United States Congress on April 20, 1832, and the area was made a national park on March 4, 1921.[3] It is the smallest national park by area in the United States. Since Hot Springs National Park is the oldest federal reserve, it was the first to receive its own US quarter in April 2010 as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters series.

The hot springs flow from the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain, part of the Ouachita Mountain range. In the park, the hot springs have not been preserved in their unaltered state as natural surface phenomena. They have instead been managed to conserve the production of uncontaminated hot water for public use. The mountains within the park are also managed within this conservation philosophy in order to preserve the hydrological system that feeds the springs.

People have used the hot spring water in therapeutic baths for more than two hundred years to treat rheumatism and other ailments. While it was a reservation, the area developed into a well-known resort nicknamed The American Spa that attracted not only the wealthy but indigent health seekers from around the world as well.

The park includes portions of downtown Hot Springs, making it one of the most easily visited national parks. There are numerous hiking trails and camping areas. Bathing in spring water is available in approved facilities at extra cost. The entire Bathhouse Row area is a National Historic Landmark District that contains the grandest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America, including many outstanding examples of Gilded Age architecture. The row's Fordyce Bathhouse serves as the park's visitor center; the Buckstaff and Quapaw are currently the only facilities still operating as bathhouses. Other buildings of the row are currently in various states of interior restoration or are used in other capacities.

The park has become increasingly popular in recent years, and recorded over 1.5 million visitors in 2003, as well as nearly 2.5 million non-recreational visitors.

If you are interested in reading more about the Park, here’s a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Springs_National_Park

In 1990, flash flooding in Hot Springs sent two separate walls of water, four to six feet high, coursing down Central Avenue. Carpenter Dam Bridge over Lake Catherine was washed away. More than 300 homes outside the Hot Springs area had to be evacuated. Central Avenue is the main street that goes through the center of town. Nearly all of the buildings, bathhouses and business in downtown Hot Springs were destroyed and it took years and years and year (they are still rebuilding some) to rebuild the downtown area.

As I mentioned in the Disney portion of the trip report, John is still very protective of the SCAR so we knew that we needed to find a parking spot on the end of Central Avenue because parking along the street is bumper to bumper and very hard to get into since the street is so very busy. We parked on this hill near Old Navy Hospital, now the State of Arkansas Department of Rehabilitation:

One of the settings on the waterproof camera that I bought before the cruise is the “drawing” setting which we thought was pretty neat:

There are many fountains along Central Avenue where people can get a feel for just how hot the water is that’s coming from the springs. By the way, the water is 147 degrees F.

Several of the fountains have a tap on them so that the public can come and fill up containers with what is believed to healing spring water. The shops dotted along the left (as you go North into town) sell empty gallon jugs for the tourist who come empty handed.

The light was waning and we wanted to walk along the mountain promenade which we thought closed at dark (but found out later that it stayed open until 10 p.m.) so we decided to walk towards the promenade first, them come back and see the rest of town.

Another fountain:

Look at the green stuff growing despite the fact that the water is so hot:

We turned the corner and were officially on “bathhouse row”. The entire right hand side of the street is made up of bathhouses.

We noticed that the Visitor’s Center was still open and that they had made a small shop in the lobby so we popped in to have a quick look around:

Hunter doing his best Park Ranger imitation:

**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

We continued on and looked at the beautiful bathhouses and the details on the buildings:

I walked up to one of the bathhouses to see their hours and they had just 20 minutes before they closed. We figured we better do the self guided tour now or we might not make it back before we left for home. The lady at the desk told us to start on the third floor and make our way down since they closed the third floor first, then the second and the first last. The elevator was one of the old time elevators with the metal doors:

I meant to bring the flyer with me so that I could give more details on each of the rooms but I forgot so I’m going to post the pictures and try to remember best I can. I did take pictures of some of the signs so that’ll help.

This was one of the tubs where you sat on a board and they submerged you up to your neck. It was a really really deep tub:

We then moved on to the massage and lounging rooms:

The next room we visited was the gymnasium:

Several of the rooms had no furnishings or fixtures because they were getting ready to refurb the rooms and had removed the items from the rooms so I didn’t take pictures. We moved on to the room which had the glass display cases:

Back in it’s heyday, famous people from all across the country flocked to Hot Springs and it’s healing waters:

Amongst those who frequented Hot Springs was Al Capone who stayed at The Arlington Hotel and Spa. For quite some time, his car was on display in the lobby of The Arlington. I do have to forewarn any of you who are even thinking about going to Hot Springs....do NOT stay at The Arlington! I don’t care that it’s a historical landmark. I don’t care that it’s touted to be one of the best places to stay in Hot Springs! I have picture proof that you do NOT want to stay there. The wallpaper is coming off the wall, the furniture is scuffed, the electrical outlets were hanging from the walls, the walls are paper thin. I took pictures of our room, burned them to a C.D., sent a certified letter and the C.D. to the Manager and was refunded every time of my money without even asking for it. ‘Nuff said.

Back to the bathhouse tour. This was the men’s locker/shower area:

The podiatry room:

This was another area just for the men. Look at the beautiful sculpture in the middle of the room and the gorgeous stained glass ceiling. Some of the following pictures were taken by me and some were taken by Hunter with the waterproof camera using different settings.

**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

The showers and tubs in the huge men’s room:

From there, we continued on to the room where they housed these contraptions:

You know you want to see what they looked like inside! We did too so I held my camera in the opening and took a couple of pictures:

Another set:

After reading this sign about the “contraption” I can’t believe nobody died in those things!

The next set of pictures were taken in the ladies’ pack room:

The men had bronze sculptures and stained glass ceilings. The women had little bitty stained glass windows:

An announcement was made that the bathhouse would be closing in just a few minutes and that guests should finish up their tours and make their way to the lobby. I had Hunter take a picture of the anniversary couple:

On the way out, we saw the neat fans on the wall and I took a picture:

**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

We thanked the lady at the desk and walked back out onto the sidewalk pausing long enough for me to take a few more pictures of the building’s details:

It was getting darker so we figured we better pick up the pace if we wanted to see while walking along the promenade. Another one of the hot springs that come out from the side of the mountain:

Pictures taken from the promenade with some looking down on the city. Again, some were taken by me and some were taken by Hunter:

I sat the camera on one of the little ledges and took a family picture which didn’t turn out too bad considering there wasn’t much sunlight:

Hunter and John on the promenade:

We walked all the way to where we parked and walked back down the street where we came across yet another hot spring:

Because it was getting pretty late, many of the shops had closed or were about to start closing up but we were able to duck into a few. Most of them were typical tourist shops...3 t-shirts for $10.00 and were stocked with plenty of gaudy items. We did find one really cute beaver made of logs:

By the time we were done, only the small eateries and bars were open and most of the folks out and about were motorcyclist or car/truck enthusiast. We were ready for something to eat so we headed back to the car and went in search of food. We didn’t really know what we wanted but we knew that we were very limited because of the late hour. It was a little after 10:00 p.m. I spied a Pizza Hut and pulled in. One of the delivery drivers pulled in at the same time and we asked him what time they closed. We were in luck, they didn’t close until 11:00 p.m. Two pizzas and a few Mountain Dews later, we were ready to hit the sheets. Tomorrow, we were headed for Hot Springs!

**Up next: Roller coasters and lazy rivers!

 

[rndmr2]

Glad Hunter has some friends in his new classes. I know how it is to go from a small school to a big one, it can be pretty scary.

Hope you get answers about John's meds.

Hope your Mom's surgery is soon and goes well. My friend's mother needs to have both eyes done as well and had all her pre-op things done the other day.

I can't believe it's been a year already for Lacey and Jessie! Sounds like they had a nice Anniversary.

Going back to read the mini update!

ETA: Enjoying reading about your Hot Springs trip. The hotel room is nice at least. I remember your stay at The Arlington and the pics of that awful room, That's good they gave you a refund. The bath house self tour was interesting, some strange contraptions in there!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Glad Hunter has some friends in his new classes. I know how it is to go from a small school to a big one, it can be pretty scary.

Hope you get answers about John's meds.

Hope your Mom's surgery is soon and goes well. My friend's mother needs to have both eyes done as well and had all her pre-op things done the other day.

I can't believe it's been a year already for Lacey and Jessie! Sounds like they had a nice Anniversary.

Going back to read the mini update!

He was relieved to see some familiar faces, that's for sure. The high school he is attending is the same one that my family and I attended and it's grown so much over the years.

Thanks for the thoughts for John and Mama. Hopefully, we'll get some answers soon.

I can't believe that a year has gone by so quickly either!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Quick update on Mama. She went to the surgeon today and he said that she does not need cataract surgery. The surgeon said that the drooping eyelids are impairing her vision and they will schedule the surgery for sometime in October. Recovery time is expected to be just a few weeks!

 

[natebenma]

Wow! A year already for Lacey and Jesse. Time flies.

Glad the start of school has been good for Hunter so far. My boys have two more weeks before they go back. First year in HS for Nate, too.

That's great news about Mama's eye surgery!!! Hope you get positive news from John's doctors.

Just saw that you posted an update from your anniversary trip. Going back now to check that out!

 

[natebenma]

Cool tour of Hot Springs! I appreciated all of the info because I didn't know any of that.

And THANK YOU for posting those pictures in Drawing Mode! I totally did not know about that in the camera! I use the Panoramic Setting, and I know there is a 3D, but I haven't figured that out yet.

I'm gonna have to pull out the owners manual before my next trip. How cool would the Tower of Terror look in the Drawing mode??? Or Cinderella's Castle!

I just looked at the various Magic settings, like Water Color and Punk. So Cool.

THANKS AGAIN!!!

 

[bouncycat]

Love the Hot springs update!! You and John look so cute together!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Cool tour of Hot Springs! I appreciated all of the info because I didn't know any of that.

And THANK YOU for posting those pictures in Drawing Mode! I totally did not know about that in the camera! I use the Panoramic Setting, and I know there is a 3D, but I haven't figured that out yet.

I'm gonna have to pull out the owners manual before my next trip. How cool would the Tower of Terror look in the Drawing mode??? Or Cinderella's Castle!

I just looked at the various Magic settings, like Water Color and Punk. So Cool.

THANKS AGAIN!!!

Hot Springs is a really neat town to spend the weekend in. I wouldn't necessarily want to make it my vacation destination but it's good for a long weekend.

Aren't the drawing mode pictures cool!?! I loved them and didn't post all of the ones that Hunter took. I agree that the Disney park icons would look neat in the drawing setting.

There was one other that I believe he took in watercolor mode but I could be wrong (I don't have the camera with me.)

 

[megan511]

I had never heard of Hot Springs in Arkansas. Thanks for posting all the pics. Sounds like you all had a good time.

That's great news about your mom!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Glad Hunter has some friends in his new classes. I know how it is to go from a small school to a big one, it can be pretty scary.

Hope you get answers about John's meds.

Hope your Mom's surgery is soon and goes well. My friend's mother needs to have both eyes done as well and had all her pre-op things done the other day.

I can't believe it's been a year already for Lacey and Jessie! Sounds like they had a nice Anniversary.

Going back to read the mini update!

ETA: Enjoying reading about your Hot Springs trip. The hotel room is nice at least. I remember your stay at The Arlington and the pics of that awful room, That's good they gave you a refund. The bath house self tour was interesting, some strange contraptions in there!

Replying to your edit: The hotel we stayed in was very nice this trip. Because Hot Springs is an old town, there are lots of older hotels/motels in the area that we know to stay away from. Lucky for us, the Comfort Inn had rooms available and I was able to book for just $102.00 a room before we left home.

The bath houses do have some strange contraptions! I know that I certainly wouldn't climb into a box wet with all those light bulb and electricity surrounding me!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I had never heard of Hot Springs in Arkansas. Thanks for posting all the pics. Sounds like you all had a good time.

That's great news about your mom!

Hot Springs is a neat historical town to visit. We try to go there at least once a year if not two.

I was so happy to hear what the doctor told Mama. Now I just gotta talk her into going back to Disney with us next year.

Love the Hot springs update!! You and John look so cute together!!!

Aww thanks!

Wow! A year already for Lacey and Jesse. Time flies.

Glad the start of school has been good for Hunter so far. My boys have two more weeks before they go back. First year in HS for Nate, too.

That's great news about Mama's eye surgery!!! Hope you get positive news from John's doctors.

Just saw that you posted an update from your anniversary trip. Going back now to check that out!

The year has flown by hasn't it. I am sure that Nate will be just like Hunter...a little nervous but will fit in very quickly.

I was very excited to hear Mama's news. The recovery time from the eye lifts is shorter than the cataract surgery. She told the doctor that she doesn't want to look all crazy eyed or like Joan Rivers when he's done with her!

 

[eandesmom]

Wonderful news about mama's eyes!

630 in his class? WOW! That is amazing he knew someone in every class. Evan's class is half the size (in MS but it all feeds into HS with no other MS feeding in) and he had several in 7th where he didn't know a soul.

Congrats to Lacey and Jesse! I hope John's meds can get figured out, that has to be very hard on all of you at times.

Love the mini TR so far, fascinating. I am also amazed no one died in some of those things.

Or maybe they did????

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'm glad to hear that Hunter has friends in his classes! I'm sure he's happy about that with starting the new larger school!

Am sending lots of well-wishes your mom's way with her eye surgery!!

Happy anniversaries to Lacey and Jesse and you and John!!! Your anniversary trip looks like it was really interesting!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Wonderful news about mama's eyes!

630 in his class? WOW! That is amazing he knew someone in every class. Evan's class is half the size (in MS but it all feeds into HS with no other MS feeding in) and he had several in 7th where he didn't know a soul.

Congrats to Lacey and Jesse! I hope John's meds can get figured out, that has to be very hard on all of you at times.

Love the mini TR so far, fascinating. I am also amazed no one died in some of those things.

Or maybe they did????

There are at least three middle school that feed into the high school Hunter is going to. I was surprised that he knew anybody in his classes since there were so many students. I knew that he'd have some that he knew in Strings/Orchestra but the other classes, I wasn't sure he would.

I hope that they get John's meds worked out soon. They are always fiddling around with the dosage so it's an ongoing/neverending process.

I wondered if there were any unreported deaths in those "contraptions". With so many gangsters hanging out in Hot Springs who would know if they paid a worker to take somebody out via electrical shock? Just sayin'.

I'm glad to hear that Hunter has friends in his classes! I'm sure he's happy about that with starting the new larger school!

Am sending lots of well-wishes your mom's way with her eye surgery!!

Happy anniversaries to Lacey and Jesse and you and John!!! Your anniversary trip looks like it was really interesting!

He was very happy to see some of his middle school and church friends in his classes. I'm sure it was quite a relief.

Thanks for the well wishes for Mama and the anniversary wishes too! I hope that the surgery goes well and that she heals quickly. She won't commit to going to Disney with us until she gets the surgery done. It sure doesn't seem like Lacey & Jesse have been married a year nor does it seem as if John and I have been married so long. We were just babes when we married.

We always enjoy going to Hot Springs and try to go at least once a year. Some of the trips don't include going into town, just camping out at the State Park.

 

[ronnmel]

Wow, those Drawing and Watercolor modes are way cool!

Glad Mama will only have a minor surgery for her eyes.

Sucks about the smell in the bathroom on the cruise, but I guess they can't have as good a disposal system as on land.

Also sucks about the rain in Nassau, but that under the sea boat looked cool.

 

[thornton0511]

Hey Lisa!
I didn't realize that you and Lacey had your anniversaries so close together...that is too cool!

We are keeping your family in our prayers and hope everything goes well with everyone's health.

I cannot imagine having that many people in a school! My kids go to the same school I did and I believe we had like 75 people in my senior class...that is just crazy! My oldest is starting 5th grade next week and then its off to middle school . Not ready to think about that yet...I want to keep him little as long as possible!

Also I am enjoying your side trip report about Hot Springs. Hoo Hoo...lol
I remember my husband and I joining my parents one summer to go there, around eight years ago, and we knew little about Hot Springs at the time but we stayed at the Arlington and I remember after getting over the shock of how much we had to pay to stay at this rotten but historical hotel , I spent the entire trip feeling like I was on one of those ghost hunting shows...it was soooo creepy! Anyways can't wait to hear more

-Jenn