Kev n Jens Adventures: 2023-10-01

Monday September 25, 2023 - We drove 4 hours from the lake to Hot Springs Arkansas, where we had booked 2 nights in the NP campground. The Gulpha Gorge campground was only half open because they were asphalting some of the campsites so it was relatively quiet and only a 10 minute drive to downtown Hot Springs.

Dinner at our campsite next to Gulpha Creek

Tuesday September 26, 2023 - Today we're going to explore Hot Springs NP. This National Park is different from most that we've visited. It has 5500 acres with lots of hiking trails, but the unique part of the park is bathhouse row on Central Ave in downtown Hot Springs, AR. There are 8 historic bathhouses, 2 which are currently part of the park system. Ozark bathhouse is a cultural center for the NP and Fordyce is the visitor center and museum. Several of the other buildings are spas, one is a hotel and one is a brewery. We enjoyed exploring the museum which was historically renovated to its original appearance in 1989. The hot springs were used in the early 1800's to cure whatever ailed you (since medicine was pretty lacking at the time). In 1921 it was designated a NP so that everyone could benefit from the mineral springs. The current bathhouses were built between 1892-1923. Prior to that bathhouses were made of wood and were prone to burning down. After WWII the bathhouses went into decline with medical advancements.

a little time for the bookworm before we start the day

All over the town of Hot Springs there were fountains with the hot mineral spring water (147 degrees) for filling up personal containers. The water is supposed to be especially good because it doesn't have any taste. The water that comes out of the spring has been filtered through the ground for over 4000 years! These hot springs are not sulfuric hot springs like in a lot of famous springs, which are volcanic in origin.

We filled up a few bottles and decided it tastes like water

Bathhouse Row

Junior Ranger Jen

The Fordyce Bath House - current NP visitor center

There were lots of private baths

marble bench

not sure I'd want to be involved in this

Pretty stained glass in the men's locker room. The women's locker room wasn't nearly this nice.

The music room

The gym was used during the several week stay that most people had. Exercise was part of the bathhouse regimen

We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the front porch of Fordyce bathhouse

It was a beautiful day for a walk around Hot Springs

The Arlington Hotel, which is across from Bathhouse Row, is being renovated. We stopped in to take a look at the lobby and I found an interesting bench. The hotel was a favorite spot of Al Capone, who spent a lot of time in Hot Springs, along with a lot of gangsters, due to the lax policing of illegal gambling. The Gangster Museum is here in Hot Springs but we didn't have time to visit it.

Interesting bark on this southern magnolia tree

One of the few springs that are still visible. Most have been capped to keep people from getting scalded (the temperature of the water causes third degree burns)

the spring is surrounded by a fence

There is a one mile Promenade behind Bathhouse row, which was built and used during the bathhouse era.

The Arlington Hotel from the Promenade

Next we drove up the mountain above Hot Springs and took the elevator to the top of Mountain Lookout. Tiny looked pretty tiny from up there.

Nice 360 degree views of the Ouachita Mountains, which are part of the Ozarks

I always love cloud shadows

Nice spot by the stream for the evening

Wednesday September 27, 2023 - Today we're headed to Memphis. It seems like we drive by it often and never take the time to stop, so today we're going to check it out. We started at Sun Studio, which is famous for its role in Elvis Presley's career. The only way to visit Sun Studio is with a 1 hour tour. On the tour we learned how Sam Phillips started the studio in 1950. The "first" rock and roll single by Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats, "Rocket 88", was recorded there in 1951 with Ike Turner on the piano. Other notables that were recorded here were Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, U2, and Tom Petty. Sun Studio is still an active recording studio in the evenings. After the tour we drove downtown to Beale St to see if we could find some music. There were 2 bars with live music, but it looks like it doesn't get going until the evening. For dinner we decided to try out the Famous Memphis Barbeque ribs from Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous. We didn't have a campground for tonight, so we found a Cracker Barrel in Lakeland TN, outside of Memphis to stay for the night.

Picnic lunch outside of Sun Studio

This is the studio where Daddy O' Dewey Phillips played Elvis Presley's first record "That's Alright" which was an instant hit

The lathe recorder used for etching original records

Kevin singing just like Elvis in the spot where Elvis stood while recording.

The recording studio where it all happened

Beale St Memphis

Silky O'Sullivans where we sat in the garden for some live music. They also had diving goats, but the goats didn't seem interested in diving while we were there.

Rendezvous ribs!

We happened to walk into the Peabody lobby as the famous ducks were headed to the penthouse

More Beale St views

Thursday, September 28, 2023 - It's a 3 hour drive to Nashville, so we're going to use some Marriott points to stay at a Town Suites that's a little over a mile from downtown Nashville. We thought we would walk there and Uber home, but it was raining and the hotel gave us Lyft vouchers, so we headed to our favorite bar in Nashville, Robert's Western World. It was a fun afternoon of great music and cheap beers and then we waited in line for Hattie B's Nashville chicken before heading back to the hotel.

We always get the Robert's "Recession Special"

Yummy fried bologna sandwich with a bag of chips

Moon pie and a PBR. All for $6.00...can't beat it!

It was packed, but we eventually were able to get a good seat

Wendy Newcomer played first then Sarah Gayle Meech and the Meech Boys

Downtown Nashville has lots of construction going on. It's hard to see from this pic, but in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday, Broadway was hopping, with live music pouring out of every open bar window.

We waited in a 30 minute line to order at Hattie B's

Kev's Hot Chicken Sandwich.

View from our 10th floor hotel room

Friday September 29, 2023 - Today we're driving an hour and a half to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, which happens to be right on our way home. We lucked into a 10:15 Historic tour that had lots of availability. The tour was 2 hours and covered 2 miles. We spent the first half of the tour going deeper into the cave and at the deepest we were 300 feet below the surface. We learned a lot about the history of Mammoth, it was mined for saltpeter (used in explosives) during the War of 1812 and after the Civil War it became a place that people wanted to explore. The cave is still being explored and the number of miles that have been discovered continues to increase. There are currently 425 miles of known cave.