Hot Springs, Arkansas

So after a week of PJ and Emma being sick we took a roadtrip down to Hot Springs. It was just what we needed. We walked all over the place checking out the shops and the historical sites. It was a lot of fun.

The weather was absolutely perfect. It was in the 70's with a cool breeze.

The kids didn't once complain about all the walking.

A Little History on Hot Springs, Arkansas:

The city takes its name from the natural thermal water that flows from 47 springs on the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain. About a million gallons of 143-degree water flow from the springs each day.(super duper hot. Emma didn't even have to touch it to keep warning us how hot it was.) And get this: Scientists have determined through carbon dating that the water that reaches the surface in Hot Springs fell as rainfall in an as-yet undetermined watershed 4,000 years earlier.

One of the museums we toured was the Fordyce Bathhouse on Bathhouse Row. (Here are more amazing photos inside Fordyce which I didn't take.)

Fordyce Bathhouse

There were many famous visitors throughout the years that came to the Bathhouses for the "healing" water but my favorite was Al Capone. During the prohibition era, Capone came from Chicago to strike deals with bootleggers in Hot Springs to stock his clubs in Chicago with alcohol. Hilarious, huh? We even walked through the Arlington, the hotel he frequented. It was even more glamorous on the inside.

The Arlington

We did get a few more pictures before leaving and these 2 were my favorite.

All Daddy's Girl

From tallest to shortest: Emma, Paul, Paul Jr. & Elizabeth

So after many hours of walking, window shopping, playing in the park and eating we were ready to go home. It had truly been a perfect day in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The very next morning everyone except me woke up with a sore throat and/or a fever.

O.o