Hot Springs, Arkansas
I left Jacksonville, FL and headed north to pick up Travis Hardin, a skilled wire-wrap artist. I spent my first night sleeping on a picnic table in High Falls park outside of Macon, GA. I picked Travis up in N. Carolina the next morning and we headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas for our* first night on the road. We walked the Promenade and saw several of the cities Springs in various parks, but it was the spectacular Arlington Hotel and Spa that captivated us. I had been there once before and was able to get a room that had the hot spring water piped right into your own cast iron tub! It was a late arrival, and was only $75 for the night. My intention was to show him the incredible details of this vintage hotel, which included an outdoor swimming pool… on the sixth floor. The hotel backs up to a very steep slope. From our vantage point, you can look out across the city, or straight down to our car below. It was pretty hot that day, and we ended up going back to that pool a couple of times. By evening we’d met a few guests and were having a pretty good time hopping in and out of the hot tub. There were showers and bathrooms, so after all the guests left, we moved some lounge chairs out of sight of the security cameras and got a rather comfortable rest under the stars. We were woken just a couple hours before dawn and made an early start on day two.