The road trip and Hot Springs NP

We left Harvey in Oklahoma City for a few weeks and took our car on a road trip.  The primary purpose of the road trip was to get to our nephew's wedding in Greenville, South Carolina.  Along the way we made stops in Hot Springs NP, Birmingham, AL, Atlanta, GA, Midlothian, VA, Greenville, SC and Memphis, TN.  Then finally back to OKC.  This was not an efficient travel plan but it was driven by the wedding date, the Atlanta Braves' home schedule and wanting to see Bob's brother and his family in Midlothian.

Hot Spring NP is located in Hot Springs Arkansas.

Yep, this is hot water coming up out of the ground

The water is about 140 degrees

Long before this became a National Park folks came in and build bath houses.  Rustic at first but then very luxurious.  The main street of Hot Springs is lined with former bath houses that are now information centers or store fronts.  Most National Parks have very clear boundaries, no so here.  The park and the town are so intertwined it is hard to tell what is park and what is town.  It is beautiful either way.

The bath house were very segregated.  Black's worked in the nice bath houses but were not permitted to use them.  They had separate but not as nice bath houses.  Rich and famous came for the medicinal benefits of the warm mineral rich water.

We took a drive and a few short walks to see the surrounding area.