Torture Bath

Hot Springs, Arkansas
Lake Catherine State Park

Bill and I rode into town to visit the Hot Springs Tower and the National Hot Springs Park Visitor Center.  Needless to say, traffic was terrible.  There is a Corvette show in town which added to the traffic.

Bill drove the loop road up to the tower.  The last time we were here, the park ranger showed us a path up to it.  The views of the town were great.  We could even see Lake Catherine, which is a river, at the top.

I know lot's of former Marines and can't believe anyone like John Kohl, Dennis Hill, George Morey, or Josh Mamula would deface a National Park.

We climbed up the road to the tower and were happy to find out they have an elevator.  

The observation floor was so windy that Bill had to hold onto his hat. Here he is advertising Mor/ryd again.

There were some interesting signs around the lower floor of the tower museum.  I believe this was a rip roaring town in it's hey-day.

There was a very small display about Bill Clinton graduating from high school in Hot Springs.




The free parking garage was packed but we were able to find a space.  The visitor center was across the street and when we talked with the park ranger we found out if we waited an hour we could have a guided tour.  No problem for us to wait as there were some interesting shops to occupy our time.

Bill and I stopped in Kilwin's ice cream shop.  It was a difficult decision to pick out the flavor of ice cream I wanted but after one taste, I was happy with my choice.

Bill enjoys chatting with the gangsters on the street.

We were so lucky to have a very knowledgeable guide for the bath tour.

The tour started in the women's baths.  You would have had to be very rich to use these facilities.

The water could be as hot as 145 degrees.  

After soaking in the baths you would come into this room to start your cool down and get a massage.

This next room had a bath that they electrified, a sitz bath that they used mercury to "cure" syphilis and a hose that they used the mineral water to clean out your insides (if you know what I'm talking about.)

This was the men's bath room.  Notice how much more elaborate it is than the women's.

We were told that this stained glass skylight had over 8,000 pieces.  The park ranger said there were two frogs in it, but I couldn't find them.  Yes, men were definitely treated more favorably than the women as evidenced by the bath rooms.

I failed to take any photos yesterday but I really needed one of George because he installed the back up camera for Bill.  Thanks again, George.  

While he was doing that Cindy Walker came over and asked me for help with her blog.  Can you believe someone asked me for help?  I'm probably the worst person about blogger.  I still can't figure out why when I view the blog, it looks different when published.  I also can't seem to download photos off of picasso anymore.  I did feel good though that I could give her a few pointers.  

We also talked about Winter Blast.  They have signed up for next February's event.  There are 10 signed up so far.

Turtle Safely......