Hot Springs, Arkansas

An hour from Little Rock lies a gem of a city, the Ouachita Valley land of peaceful waters, Hot Springs, Arkansas. Steeped in history and exuding an inviting southern charm, it’s home to horseracing, the baths, and the blues. Blushing when in festival mode, this small city shares the wealth of her natural resources with nature lovers, health seekers, racetrack fans, and lovers of the arts.

Once a destination dynamo, Hot Springs hosted gangsters, politicians, prohibition gin, and speakeasies. It was a shady little town where you could get clean or down and dirty depending on the decade or personal choice. Today, artists, healers, antique shop owners, and entrepreneurs roll out the red carpet from famed BathHouse Row past Oaklawn Racetrack to Lake Hamilton south, west to the crystal-basined Lake Ouachita and east to Lake Catherine.

Nestled in the central Ouachita Mountains, Hot Springs is one of the few national parks within an urban setting and is the smallest but most visited national park today, second to Yellowstone. The boyhood home of former president Bill Clinton, the city is the gateway to the park, a unique benefit. Fifty-five hundred acres of forested grounds backdrop the BathHouse Row Historic District, rich with some 21 hiking trails. Stellar views reveal verdant ridges along the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain where 47 springs carry about a million gallons of the famed thermal waters daily, flowing at 143 degrees.

As early as the 1800’s the towns’ reputation for healing was set with visitors filling the newly-constructed bathhouses along the east side of Central Avenue, still the city’s main drag. These faced the doctors’ offices on the west where above small back-room card games and gambling took place. Bordellos on the top floors provided services to the winners—and losers. Imagine Al Capone, Pretty Boy Floyd and Lucky Luciano enjoying veiled anonymity in these backrooms and bathtubs along the strip, a neutral zone far from the machine gun madness of Chicago and New York. Illegal gambling was halted in 1967 and this helped keep local madame Maxine Jones’ business booming, showcasing her latest talent in her famous Central Avenue Cadillac rides. The end of her reign was the end of an era but fortunately a slow, steady rebirth with a focus on the springs and the park itself ensued.

Today Central Avenue’s historic district is a great window into the town’s impressive sights. Should you decide to stop for a bite at Rolando’s, where owners Sherry and her Ecuadorian husband serve artfully-presented Nuevo Latino dishes, Sherry, a long-time local, will offer her take on what makes Hot Springs special …

“Hot Springs has a shady background, and is known for gangsters and promiscuity. People here love the horse races, love to gamble, and have fun. It’s a place to relax and let loose, no pretentiousness. People love to come here and have a good time.” Near the fountain which nearly splits the avenue down the middle, you’ll find that the Gangster Museum provides an insight into Hot Springs’ checkered past.

A leisurely stroll on the famous strip could start at the Arkansas Walk of Fame where the citizens of Arkansas have been lauded for their contributions to art, science, and commerce. A canopy of thick-leafed magnolias shades the path ahead to well known BathHouse Row, where the ornate Fordyce Bathhouse, ushers in the memories of a bygone era. Opened in 1915, its rooftop garden and hilltop gazebo were the pride of Colonel Samuel Fordyce, who began a bathing regimen after a near fatal Civil War stint and lived another 40 years. BathHouse Row enjoyed great popularity until the late 50’s when modern medicine gave us penicillin and antibiotics and the curative waters were overshadowed. The Fordyce is now enjoying a renaissance as a historically furnished museum and also functions as the park’s visitor center.

From the museum, a gentle path winds through the fragrant evergreens, junipers, and cedars to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower, the town’s most famous landmark. Boasting 360 degree views of a breathtaking panorama that encompasses both the mountains and the surrounding Diamond Lakes area, called the “Arkansas Ocean” by many natives, it is a great way to experience the awesome natural beauty here. In the distance you can’t help but notice the stately Arlington Hotel, its welcoming verandas beckoning. Rebuilt following a third fire, the hotel was completed in 1924 and remains the grande dame of Hot Springs. A life-size mural graces the main dining entrance celebrating the jockeys of the Oaklawn Racetrack which helped put Hot Springs on the map. The Stardust Orchestra featuring golden-voiced singer Shirley Chauvin swings on Sunday afternoons to the delight of the attending crowd of ballroom dancers.

As you continue down the avenue, past restaurants, galleries and the wax museum, you can see the infamous track further ahead. Hosting top thoroughbred racing January through April, the Oaklawn Racetrack has given Hot Springs continued fiscal success and just concluded its 106th season. This year, the Apple Blossom Invitational hosted undefeated filly Zenyatta the day before the Arkansas Derby, Oaklawn’s signature race for 3 year olds which closes the racing season. This city loves its horses, trainers, and jockeys, and 2010 marked the 37th Racing Festival of the South, a time-honored tradition, sending the town into major celebration mode amid blossoms and bugle horns blowing through the spring breeze.

Soaring past the racetrack, a visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens is a must especially in the spring, when the jonquils, daffodils, tulips and cherry blossoms blanket the stunning landscaped gardens with over four miles of coastline vistas. The Belle of Hot Springs, a resurrected antebellum riverboat offers sunset dinner rides, with a narrated tour of the history of the Lake Hamilton area.

Festivals are aplenty here, and many mark their calendars for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival held each October. Filmmakers and students of this genre gather from all over the world for the much-heralded event. Hot Springs celebrates the indie music scene in March, classical music with world-renowned players in early summer and jazz and blues both in September. These and other arts related events provide a window into this little metropolitan community.

A ride to Park Avenue will introduce you to the best dining in town, Chef Matt Fuller’s Central Park Fusion where in cool ambience the accomplished staff turns out epicurean delights that tantalize. Slow-duck with feta and blueberry compote is delectable and a monthly food and wine pairing is just a fraction of all that CPF has to offer. In close proximity is Bohemia where Chef Ferman Hernandez, whose international background spans the globe, treats swordfish Béarnaise with an Italian flair serving it on a bed of perfectly constructed polenta. The Oyster Bar on Central is a family affair and Kathy, Ross and their crew deliver fresh Alabama oysters and Cajun seafood specialties with a smile. And don’t forget to make the rounds to the areas favorite BBQ haunts.

No visitor to Hot Springs should depart without experiencing the Buckstaff Bathhouse, the only remaining operational bathhouse within the boundaries of the national park, dispensing the waters that “bathe the world” and a true blast from the past. In the span of two hours, you will be tubbed, scrubbed, sitz-bathed, steamed and massaged, all the while quaffing the pleasant tasting elixir for which Hot Springs is most noted, its curative water. Walking back down Central Avenue afterward, a glance into Tillman’s Antiques can capture a vivid memory of yesteryear. In this space and time and at one with Hot Springs, an immeasurable calm deepens with every fresh breath. Pampered, relaxed and renewed, undoubtedly you’ll agree this is a good place to be.