Can you spell "humid?"

We spent our last day in Eureka Springs listening to music in the center of town and browsing through the shops chatting with all sorts of people from all over the place.

This is the Thorncrown Chapel. It's a lovely and calm little place where we were invited to "come in and sit for awhile." The setting among the trees is beautiful. We peeked behind some of the bushes and found a huge building where the prayer services are held.


The locals kept telling us to be sure and visit the Christ of the Ozarks and be sure to stay for the Passion play. We drove up to the immense complex and found the entrance to the amphitheater to be a replication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Next door was the Dome of the Rock which houses a dinosaur museum. There were folks all around us getting very emotional about seeing "Jerusalem." Since all the biggest, newest, over the top buildings are churches or ministeries...maybe some people should do less giving...and more traveling.

We were just beginning to get an idea of the importance of religion in these parts...

Ed had a truly tacky moment when he dubbed himself the Mini Me of the Ozarks. I couldn't resist taking the picture. Just to put this place in perspective: A Greyhound bus would fit on the hand of Christ.

Tuesday morning, our first day in Hot Springs, AR, we took Finnegan to camp - Camp Wag-A-Tail just down the road. He had an entire day of playing with other dogs - no cages here - and was so exhausted when he returned that he crawled into his crate at 6:30 p.m. and didn't some out until the next morning. This is Ed dropping him off.

We took off to spend the day in Little Rock. It's just 50 miles away. We began the day with a stop at the local farmers market on the river walk. Then we were off to the Clinton Presidential Library. (We plan to see all the presidential libraries we can on this tour.) It's beautifully done and puts so much of the history of those times in perfect perspective. You don't have to be a Clinton fan to appreciate the library.
This is the cabinet room. I think it suits me...

And here's the Oval Office. Monica wasn't there on Tuesday....sorry, I couldn't resist.

This old railroad bridge is just outside the Clinton Library. It's not being used, but there are plans to make it a walking bridge. Good...they don't build them like this anymore.We had two more stops before heading back to Hot Springs - Historical Arkansas, the state history museum. A very impressive building with a yard full of homes original to the site. Ed enjoyed the firearms collection and did you know the Bowie knife was named in Arkansas?!


The last stop of the day - Little Rock Central High School. I really wanted to see it. I was a freshman in high school when the events that ended school segregation took place right here. I remember it so well. The National Park Service has put a visitor's center across the street from the school and do a wonderful job of presenting the story. It's a functioning school with a 50 year old Mobil station on the corner. It has been preserved too.

Today we "took the waters" at the Quapaw Baths in Hot Springs. This building used to be the Fordyce Baths. The National Park Service has restored it under the culture program and we were able to walk through and see what it was like to be there. Bathing was very important to cure disease and pain and to maintain health 75 + years ago. Remember, this was before antibiotics. These places catered to the upper classes and were elegant and refined. Doctors prescribed the treatments which usually began with 7 baths a day.

We went through 3 floors and the basement. This is the 3rd floor lounge. Elegance was the note of the day.

We've decided to spend one more day in Hot Springs to give us a chance to see some of the surrounding lakes. The weather has held and the predicted rain did not show up. The humidity, however, made a BIG showing...

More later...