Day Five: Arkansas

Day Five: Arkansas

We left Branson early this morning to hazy blue skies and a chilly 70 degrees. Not that 70 is normally described as chilly, but considering it was 87 degrees when we started out on Monday…..

The Arkansas state border was less than 20 minutes away, and it seemed that as soon as we crossed, the haze evaporated and someone turned up the heat. Today was spent on Scenic Highway 7, which, for the most part, was great. But nothing has the capacity to mess up a perfect road than a road crew. June is not only the official first month of summer vacation season, but apparently, it’s also the official start of road construction, especially on two lane roads that wind wonderfully through national parks.

We pulled into Hot Springs near lunchtime, and spun the local fare wheel once again. Hot Springs was the boyhood home of former President Bill Clinton, and it’s posted proudly on a sign as you roll into town. The historic downtown area has wonderful stores and shops housed in restored landmark buildings. (http://www.hotsprings.org/things_to_do/historic_hotsprings/downtown.aspx) 

We spied a restaurant called The Ohio Club, and decided to try it. Little did we know we were walking into history.  It features tin ceiling tiles and a massive mahogany bar back. The piece was constructed in Kentucky and shipped to Hot Springs in 1917 by flat bed rail car. During Prohibition, Hot Springs was frequented by famous and infamous gangsters. The Ohio Club was a private gambling establishment patronized by Al Capone, Mae West and Al Jolson.

Bullet holes are still visible in the ceiling, and a complete wire service, which helped bookies get sporting results, was found behind a false wall.

The food was fabulous!  Jason had a hand-formed mushroom swiss burger served on a ciabatta roll. I had a to die for turkey and swiss melt on sour dough bread. Our waitress, Scarlett, was awesome. She gave us the history of the club and told us about the ghosts who frequent the building. Yes, ghosts. Plural.

Scarlett told us about the other things to do and see in Hot Springs, including the Fordyce Bathhouse, in an attempt to convince us to stay in the area.  As much as we would have liked to, we needed to move on, but had I known, I would have scheduled some more time there.

The ride continued down Route 7, and the mercury kept rising. The temperature reached 100 degrees and there was no escaping it. The radio kept reiterating that it was unusually hot for this time of year. No kidding.  At least it wasn’t raining.

Our day ended in Hope, Arkansas, the birthplace of former President Clinton. I swear, I didn’t plan it this way! 

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a “stay” day. Our ride is a whole 7 miles, all the way to Historic Washington State Park. Anyone who knows me knows my bar for historically preserved towns is set at Williamsburg, VA, so I’ll let you know tomorrow how Washington measures up!