May 20-28

Hot Springs, AR

During our second week in Hot Springs we relaxed, took walks and did a few activities including taking a ride up the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. 

 For the bargain price of $5 (with our National Parks Senior Pass) we took the elevator up 216 feet to the observation deck where we were treated to spectacular views of the Ouachita Mountains, Hot Springs Mountain and Diamond Lake. 

View of the parking lot 

One day we drove over to the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail to ride our bikes. 

 

The trail is made up of four linked asphalt trails. 

 

 

We made several trips into town to fill up water bottles at one of the water stations. 

Monte took a refreshing dip in the creek running alongside the campground.  

We shared a purple ice cream sundae at the Purple Cow. 

 

 

I thought sharing one sundae was enough for me but I don’t thing Monte shared that sentiment.

 

 

 

One night we spent a few hours at the Oaklawn Casino.  We each were given $10 in free play at the slots when we signed up for a player’s card.  Monte stopped when he was up $15 but I ended up losing $20. 

 

 I was up and down several times over the course of 4 hours so a loss of just $20 was acceptable.

Another night we attended a comedy/magician show starring Maxwell Blade at the Malco Theatre.

 

The theatre went through an extensive renovation beginning in 2016, restoring it to its former glory days. 

The seats were very comfortable with plenty of leg room. 

At one point, when a few young children were invited up to the stage, we were treated to a seriously funny routine.  While we enjoyed the show, it would have been a much better experience if the sound system worked better.  At times I couldn’t make out what Maxwell was saying.

Maxwell Blade and assistant

On our last day in Hot Springs we took a Duck Tour.  The DUKW is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the 2 ½ ton trucks used by the military during WWII and the Korean War.

The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) was used for the transportation of goods and troops over land and water.

Beginning in 1946, surplus Ducks were sold to companies to use for touring.

Our “Captain” was very amusing and appeared to really enjoy his job.

The total tour took approximately 1hour and 20 minutes beginning on Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs and continuing onto Lake Hamilton.

 

Just as we were approaching the launch to exit the lake we drifted too close to several boats in dry dock.  The Captain could not steer away fast enough so we clipped the casing on a motor of one of the boats.  Yikes.

Back on land, the Captain pulled into a parking lot to call his boss to report the accident.  Monte had placed his Yeti bottle on the empty seat across from us.  As we entered the parking lot, the bottle rolled over and out of the duck.  Luckily we were in a parking lot and not on the highway so the Captain was able to pull over and retrieve the bottle.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two week stay at Gulpha Gorge Campground in Hot Springs but are eager to move on and see where the road takes us.