J and I have been out of town a few times recently.

My Mother has had two operations in 6 weeks. She is doing well now. I believe she is healed of her back problems. We were in Hot Springs.

Let me tell you about our hometown, Hot Springs, Arkansas.

It’s a great spot for a long weekend.

As you take Highway 70 off of the 30 into town it is not very impressive at first glance…but wait a second! Look to your left…it’s the Frost-T-Treat. This place is straight out of the 50’s. It’s a small circular building that’s all chrome and glass. You have to walk up to the window to order and they have picnic tables set up amid cement statues of ice cream cones for seating. They serve one of the best cheeseburgers in town. Add to that the peach or strawberry shakes (real strawberries and peaches) for around $4.00 and you can’t go wrong. This ice cream haven has been family owned for 30 years.

Back on the road…continue on Grand Avenue …take a right on Central and you will be in downtown HS. Unlike many small towns this community still has a downtown area in full swing. There’s Landmark Bank on the left. It’s not really a bank anymore, it’s something else now. Years ago it was the Como Hotel before they tore it down. Regions is on the right. I started my banking career there years ago when it was called Arkansas Bank & Trust. I began in Proof and worked my way up through Teller, to New Accounts.

Oh look…Maxwell Blade’s magic show. Max is going strong after ten years. Max is headquartered in what used to be the Malco, one of two movie theatres in town. The Paramount was just down the street.

A block down… Lockwood’s Apparel is on the left with a few really cool restaurants on the right. Very International feel.

You are now on Historic Central Avenue…beautiful architecture all around. You can tour one of the bath houses (natural hot water springs…hence the name and the slogan, “Hot Springs, where the world bathes!). They have five bath houses, but only one is operating now. My cousin, Ann, runs the elevator.

Walk across the street and you have another of my former employers…Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum. I was a tour guide. We were so cool back then. We wore white hot pants and knee high white go-go boots. I put a lot of information into my tour...in other words I made a lot of things up just to keep it exciting…you can only say so much about Carrie Nation. I met Mrs. Louis Armstrong one day. There to take hot baths, she heard we had a likeness of Louis on the stairway of stars. I let her stand by Louis and took her picture…got in a little trouble on that one…she tumbled Louis.

We had an ice cream shop in the museum. I loved working there. I would combine all sorts of ingredients and make really good original drinks (non-alcoholic). The bellboys at the Aristocrat were my guinea pigs. They would drink anything. I actually invented the Orange Julius in 1974….but never received credit…better move on as I apparently haven’t gotten over it.

Across the street is the magnificent Arlington Hotel. You can shop, take a hot mineral bath, and be surrounded by beautiful rooms. The front porch atmosphere is spacious and gives you a view of all of downtown.

Keep going up the street and you run smack dab into Mountain Valley Water Company Headquarters. Yes…it comes from HS…check your bottle out. 

Keep going up the street and take a left around the fountain that sits in front of the Majestic Hotel where J played many a luau by the pool, and you will find my favorite eatery…Café Santa Clara…open on Friday and Saturday if they feel like it (Margaret…this is even better than La-Ha. HS has one of those too). Café Santa Clara is  right across the street from what is known now as Tiny Town.

Tiny Town is located in the same buildings that used to house the legendary IQ Zoo. One of the featured performers was the piano playing chicken. The guy who trained the animals lived next door to J’s Mom and Dad. They often tell stories about those really smart raccoons he had. The IQ Zoo is just down the street from the Alligator Farm.

Now…turn around …go the opposite direction…all the way out Central past what used to be Burger Chef and you have a plethora of new restaurants, hotels, Oaklawn (horse racing) park, and of course the Mall. The Mall is rather small but Dillards and El Chico rule.

The Mall is just down the street from the Elks Club. J and his Dad often played there on Saturday nights…Now the lakes are very close. Go in any direction and if you are lucky you’ll run into J’s Dad playing somewhere!

Oh yeah…did I mention McClards Bar-B-Q. Best you’ll ever taste! It’s on Albert Pike in the same building it’s been in since 1927. The only thing that’s changed are the prices and the fact that they no longer offer curb service. They’ve never expanded and never will. When you get a table at McClards the people waiting stand around watching you eat till a spot opens up. They don’t accept checks or credit cards so bring money.

There it is…J’s and my hometown (also Bill Clinton’s boyhood hometown)

Did I tell you about my sister’s 1967 GTO…it would go like lightning and she drove it that way!

Sandy

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