Hot Springs!

I know it's been a while since I got back from Hot Springs on Sunday, but I'm finally blogging about it! It was an extremely good trip!! Jason picked me up Friday afternoon around 2:30pm and we headed out. His girlfriend had to go out of town that weekend, so it was just the two of us (we missed you Cari!!). It wasn't a bad drive at all, we took a scenic route for the last part and ended up in Hot Springs about 7:45pm. It was great to drive up with Jason and catch up. We haven't sat down and talked in many months! So, we got there, checked in and headed down the road for some dinner. We stayed downtown amongst all the shopping and Bath Houses because we thought that would be mucho fun, and it was!


We wondered down to a little Italian place that had great Spinach dip and excellent Chicken Alfredo, so that was very nice after a long drive! Saturday morning, Jason wanted to go hiking, so he left the hotel around 630am and went for a hike...I let him borrow my camera so that I wouldn't have to get up that early! So, below are pics from his hike. He said it looked like a scene from a horror movie with all the fog and foresty type things...I'm glad I stayed in bed!!

It was beautiful there, but the heat/humidity was HORRIBLE! I grew up in the Panhandle, where there is NO humidity, so it was rough on me....
This is the balcony from my hotel room
The hotel looked like it was cool in the 50's or so, but had not been updated since! It was clean and nice, just very outdated. This view of the 3rd floor pool area makes it look very nice, though! It's amazing what you can make something out to be with your camera :)
So, this is me before I left to pick up Jason for the BBQ Saturday morning/afternoon. My hair is normally stick straight, but in Arkansas, I decided not to fight with it anymore!

This above is the Arlington hotel. It's in the middle of downtown and appears to be the "nice" hotel in Hot Springs (not including all the chain hotels).

Above is downtown Hot Springs from the porch of the Arlington Hotel
This is an authentic Hot Spring! All over downtown water bubbled out, and usually had a fountain built around it. But the water was truely HOT! I could barely touch it. Jason and I filled up gallon water jugs with the Hot Spring water and brought it home as souveniers...tee hee hee!

This is Amy and Jason walking in the Bath House row (there are about 7 in a row, but only one is still operating)

All the pics above are of an old bath house that was converted into a museum, and therefore kept in it's original 1920's condition. It reminded me more of an old horror movie insane asylum and was a bit creepy. I can't actually imagine going to a place like this for relaxation! There was one room for foot problems. You went it and sat in a chair, and the guy there fixed people's foot cysts by beating them with his knuckles until there were crushed and moved them away from the foot. Now, that does not sound like a good time to me! They also had a mercury bath to treat people with syphilis...just didn't sound like such a good idea to me!

Anyway, we went to a wedding BBQ on Saturday afternoon and had a great time there. After that Amy and Dan, and Amy's parents (Amy was my best friend in High School, Dan's her husband) came into town and we spent all afternoon/evening with them shopping and eating. It was AWESOME to see them and catch up. Sunday morning was the wedding, so we headed to the Botanical Gardens where it was at. It was in this huge chapel that was all wood and glass and we were in the middle of the forrest, so it was AH-MAZING!! The wedding was beautiful and so was the reception. Jason and I drove home and got back around 7 or 8 I think.

Funny story, Jason and I apparently acted like and old married couple all weekend (or at least that's how it looked). Since we drove together, stayed at the same hotel, ate together, sat together, etc. it looked very odd, I'm sure. He would even hold doors open, get me something to drink, and stick stuff in my purse! It was too funny... it was all due to the fact that we've known each other for 12-13 years and he's like a part of my family...I was asked by several people of we were dating, and I just told them no, I was just his stand-in date since his girlfriend wasn't there. But, it was very nice to be around people that I've known for the better part of my life and be able to be completely comfortable with them! Since I've been in Dallas, I've made lots of great friends, but nothing can quite compare to relationships since 7th grade!!

Anyway, we'll all be back together again for my friend Rachel's wedding in June, so I can't wait for that! Seems like the only time we