HOT SPRINGS -- While betting on the thoroughbreds is a prime winter allure here, starting Friday with Oaklawn track's annual opening, plenty of other attractions can help fill a Spa City visitor's day with fun.
Most Januaries, one worthwhile stop -- especially for first-timers here -- would be Fordyce Bathhouse, now Hot Springs National Park's visitor center. The ornate structure's exhibits evoke the halcyon days when soothing thermal waters along Bathhouse Row attracted well-heeled travelers from far and wide. But the federal government's partial shutdown, in force at press time, has closed it and some other park facilities.
Among the city's open attractions, some could fairly be labeled as quirky or old-fashioned. They still provide pleasure, however, if approached with a proper spirit of jollity.
The oldest, Arkansas Alligator Farm & Petting Zoo, opened in 1902 -- three years before Oaklawn's first racing meet. "In all probability, your great-grandparents were here," asserts the gator brochure. The facility houses adult and baby alligators, offering visitors the chance to hold one of the young reptiles for a surefire selfie. The petting zoo features sheep and pygmy goats.
Long before digital technology could create virtual copies of celebrities, wax museums sculpted famous figures. Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum, along Central Avenue, displays somewhat recognizable facsimiles of notables ranging from Jimmy Carter and Mae West to Pope John Paul II. Elvis Presley's effigy is enhanced by the repeated playing of "Love Me Tender."
On a clement winter day, 70-minute land and water tours including scenic Lake Hamilton can be enjoyable. Operated by Hot Springs National Park Duck Tours, the amphibious excursions are buoyed by the pilot's humorous commentary (most of it broader than the lake itself).
Arrayed along Central Avenue is a potpourri of other stops, some free and others charging admission. They include Mountain Valley Spring Visitor Center, awash in mineral water; National Park Aquarium, harboring a mix of aquatic creatures; Maxwell Blade Museum of Oddities and Curiosities, housing some truly odd and curious stuff; the Gangster Museum of America, saluting Al Capone's days here; and Galaxy Connection, displaying Star Wars memorabilia.
Two major attractions can be found on the outskirts of Hot Springs. Mid-America Science Museum is packed with hands-on experiments and other activities to involve youngsters as well as adults. Garvan Woodland Gardens showcases 210 acres of trees and flowers, not as glorious in winter as in other seasons, but still an impressive exposition of nature.
Along Central Avenue's Bathhouse Row on a recent afternoon, a lone tourist lolled in one of the capacious white chairs on the porch of Fordyce Bathhouse, where a sign noted the closing of the visitor center. Also shut was the park's gift shop in Lamar Bathhouse, one of Bathhouse Row's eight historic properties. Likewise closed was the cultural center in Ozark Bathhouse.
Open for business was the brewpub in Superior Bathhouse, along with the thermal spas in the Buckstaff and Quapaw buildings. The Maurice Bathhouse remains vacant. The Hale Bathhouse hopes to reopen in late February or early March as a nine-room boutique hotel operated by Hot Springs Mayor Pat McCabe and his wife, Ellen, under lease from the National Park Service.
For information on Spa City attractions, stop by Hot Spring Visitors Center, 629 Central Ave.; visit hotsprings.org; or call (501) 321-2277.
Weekend on 01/24/2019