Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hello,

I thought I'd take this time during this uneventful week to tell you about our trip through Hot Springs, Arkansas.  You may know Hot Springs as the "boyhood home of Bill Clinton" but it's also known as "The American Spa" and that's certainly a better reason to visit.    I know about Hot Springs because my fathers family is from Texarkana, a mere 2 hours south, and we used to stop there on the way back up to North.  My mother loves a good spa and she would bring us to take a "tub", this was my first introduction to, and perhaps the dawn of my love for,  the spa.

Hot Springs is one of the few National Parks that IS the town. The visitor center is right on Main Street on Bathhouse row in one of the former bathhouses, The Forsyth.   The walk along bathhouse row is quite charming with all these big old buildings that still have the grandeur of their turn-of-the-(20th)century style.   There are only two bathhouses still working.  The Quapaw spa has been redone in a modern way.  Large hot tubs that you can sit in to chat and relax.  Bathing suits required but if you pay for entrance you can come and go throughout the day.   While that sounded lovely, we wanted the traditional bath experience so we went over to the Buckstaff Bathhouse with it's blue and white awnings shading the rocking chairs on the porch.

Buckstaff Bathhouse 

We walked into the Buckstaff, paid our $35 and were herded off into our separate bathing areas.   I took the elevator up to the 2nd floor ladies area and was escorted into a changing room and told to call the attendant after I had taken off all my clothes.  She then came and wrapped me up in a towel and I went to sit in the "lounge" to wait my turn.

The changing area

Me in my little wrap-up. 

After about 30 minutes I was called in for my bath.  You get brought into a big room with little cubbies all along the side, cushioned lounge tables in the middle, steam boxes and sitz baths off to the left and a huge shower room at the end.    My attendant, Sara, brought me into my private tub room and settled me into the MASSIVE tub.

She turned the jets on for me gave me 2 little cups of hot mineral water and left me to soak  for 20 minutes.   When she came back she gave me a superficial rub down with a loofah and then helped me out, wrapped me up in my sheet and walked me over to the steam box.  The steam box is exactly that. A metal box with a towel on the bench.  My head sticks out of the top and then she closed it all up and I sat in it for 3 minutes.

This is both the sitz bath and the steam box. 

Next she herded me over to the lounge tables where she wrapped me up in HOT towels and left me to lounge for I'm-not-sure how long because I fell asleep.  Next she woke me up, gave me some mineral water and then brought me to the sitz bath. Which is a funny little tub that just your but and lower back fit into.  I hung out there for another 10 minutes and then it was time for my cool down shower.    She brought me back to the shower room that had a gargantuan shower in it.   It had pipes surrounding you that spray cool water at you and I was given cold mineral water to drink.

Creepy looking shower.

And thus concluded our experience in the Buckstaff Hot Springs Mineral Water Bathhouse.