Hot Springs National Park

A really relaxing vacation after a long time. No fights, no stress, no running, excellent food! I can go back just for the food. It is going to be really beautiful in fall. Got some excellent (and cheap) stuff from a produce market. Willing to make the 7 hour drive for that too. Did not get to do a lot of hiking but hoping to make up for it next time.

Hot Springs is known for the bathhouses in addition to the actual park. It was highly popular due the hot water in the springs, which were thought to have healing properties. A couple of bathhouses still function and we did the traditional bath which was interesting, filled with many rounds or soaking, steaming, hot pack, massage etc. The water is full of minerals and is free (you do have to pay for the container if you don't have one). Our bed and breakfast was a very cute victorian house and was very near the heart of things. The first day we walked through the downtown and were having dinner when it started raining torrents. We were happy that we were inside the restaurant and dallied until the rain stopped. We came across the duck tour and thought that it would be a good idea. They did tell us that the duck was open and we would get wet if it rained but we were not too concerned as it had just stopped raining. Well, turns out that another batch of torrential rains was just following the first one. Just like our previous vacations, we got really drenched. (In SFO, we walked all the way from the Navy Pier to our hotel in downtown because the cabs disappeared. In New York, riding through Central Park in the rain was fun though we were really soggy. And it rained the whole time we were sightseeing and driving through Atlanta, Charleston and Savannah).

The next day we did the traditional bath, walked through the grand promenade and browsed through shops. We found a park in the evening and just sat there listening to people trying drums etc and watching families play. We also caught a little bit of live music at an open air theatre. And shopped for souvenirs in interesting little shops. Very relaxing!

Monday, we drove through the two mountains flanking the valley in which Hot Springs lies. The drive was very soothing and beautiful and I cannot imaging how it is going to look in the fall. We drove back to Austin later in the day and stopped at a produce market just out of the town. In addition to being cheap, the stuff was so good. I made aloo tamatar with the tomatoes and did not have to add additional water, the tomatoes were so juicy (a real contrast considering the generally tomatoes here are very hard with no juice). The drive was fun because I got to speed - the traffic was not too much that it slowed down (a rare thing for I-35) and it was not so less that I would not be able to use the excuse of 'following the traffic' if caught for speeding.

A very rejuvenating and welcome vacation after the stress of my new job.