We kidnapped my parents for Thanksgiving. We packed ’em up in our car, took my youngest sister & her husband along with us, & headed up to Hot Springs Arkansas. We rented a house on the Ouachita River, brought food with us, & left all itineraries/plans at home. We were winging this one & adapting day-by-day.
Traveling with family is totally out of character for Eric & I. We’ve perfected how to travel with each other & have become a fine-tuned travel machine. When you throw someone else into the mix, we don’t know what to do with them: What do they like to eat? Do they like waking up early or sleeping in? Do they really want to hike all day or are they just saying that for our benefit? Will they think I’m anti-social if I read a book for a few hours?
But we also know that memories are made during family trips & so we forced ourselves out of our comfort zone for this holiday. I won’t lie, there were moments when I thought “why did we do this?” but they were quickly followed by sweet moments or laugh-so-hard-I-snorted moments. And like all good trips, I learned some new things. For example, I learned (or was reminded) that…
My father is a sugar addict…
And apparently so am I…
My sister & I equally enjoy being still in nature…
My mother will never lose her adventurous spirit, even if her body begins to slow her down…
My family can easily revert to childhood…
We might have to sacrifice our long hikes, but being on the trail with family has its perks…
We hiked at Hot Springs National Park, combining the Dead Chief, Gulpha Gorge, Upper & Lower Dogwood Trails. See trail map here. We also walked some of the paths at Garvan Woodland Gardens, all of which were beautiful.
There really ARE fairies & they live at Garvan Woodland Gardens…
Having my mom around is good for me — otherwise, I would have bypassed the really fascinating Hot Springs National Park Visitor’s Center which is in a restored bath house…
I might also have missed the once elegant Arlington Hotel, with its beautiful murals, haunted looking stairs & mobster past.
If you visit Hot Springs, eat at Rod’s Pizza Cellar. It’s a local hangout that’s been around since 1975 & their thick crust is FABULOUS! There was live music when we were there, and my parents were in heaven listening to tunes from their college days.
The service was wonderful — when they mistakenly gave my dad’s order to someone else, the owner came out to apologize very genuinely & they comped his meal. We didn’t even know they had messed up so I was impressed. I told Dad later that they probably thought he’d been smoking medical marijuana (he was really chill that night) & was dying of stage 4 cancer…and THAT’S why they gave him a free meal.
Garvan Woodland Gardens is beautiful in daylight but PURE MAGIC in the evening (especially during Christmas)!
Don’t go hiking in Arkansas during prime hunting season. Even if the trail brochures say nothing of hunting, assume that it’s allowed everywhere in “the Natural State.” And if you do, don’t be stupid [name will remain anonymous] & place a branch on your head so you look like a deer…
I had my heart set on hiking the Little Blakely trails, but I failed to check if hunting was allowed in that area. Boy was it! I’ve never seen so much orange & camo in my life! I managed one photo at the beginning of a trail before we had to skedaddle.
No matter how often I tell myself “I don’t travel well with others,” trips like these remind me that travel isn’t just about new places & new people, it’s also about new experiences with the people closest to me.
1 Comment
Oh Claire, we have got to hike that Park!!!