Hot Springs, AR
What a fabulous trip it was!!! Road trips are quite underrated. With the right person, the right playlist, munchies, and conversations... a person could ride around for hours. And this road trip has become one of my favorite road trips of all time.
This is my dear, darling, wonderful friend, Rick. We left Wednesday for Hot Springs for a long, luxurious spa weekend. We hopped in the car late afternoon Wednesday, armed with snacks and a killer playlist! We sang our way into Hot Springs by evening with a few random side roads for scenic pleasure. We saw wide open spaces with tons of trees, cows, corn, a diner with chocolate turtles (whatever that may be), 2 colleges, a KFC, and then historic downtown Hot Springs. We checked into our hotel, The Arlington. This was the same hotel that Al Capone stayed at with all his gangsters back in the 30's. It was like another world. We quickly unpacked and dressed for whatever the first evening held. We strolled down Central Avenue and found the first bar, The Ohio Club. 
(It was well past cocktail time) We entered and immediately, both, fell in love with the bar. It was old, rustic hand carved bar with tile floors. 
The walls were covered in pictures of those that were in attendance. Al Capone, Mae West, Bill Clinton. We sat and drank where some pretty big names had sat.
We had a few cocktails and some bar snacks there while listening to a fantastic live Blues band. And I thought I wouldn't find Blues in Arkansas. I was thrilled and Rick loved the music. After a couple hours there, we ventured further down the strip to a little place called Maxine's. They were having some bad karaoke, but drinks were pretty cheap. We sat and talked to the bartender, Shane, and asked about other places we should check out while we were in town. He talked about the lake and Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. Later on, we ventured further. Now, it was nighttime and all, but it was still incredibly hot and we couldn't seem to find another bar that believed in A/C except for The Ohio Club. Then, we saw an Irish Pub! Glory. And then we didn't see it. Sad. We did see a little place called Spencer's on the 3rd floor of the building. So we climbed 3 flights of stairs all the while praying for A/C. It was so cute. Exposed brick, open space, pool table, and fans. Not quite A/C, but the cute bartender made up for the lack of cool. His name was Christian. He told us about karaoke the following evening and that he would be working. We knew we'd be back. Teeheehee! We met 2 girls at that bar that were road tripping from Boston to LA. They were on a 3 week adventure. Jealous! How amazing would that be? Minus the credit card bills at the end. Eek! We left and headed back to the hotel, but The Ohio Club was still open. What's a night cap after a night of drinking?! Our bartender from earlier, Jessica, was still there. We liked her. She gave us koozies for our beers.
What a great way to end the night! We stumbled our way back to the hotel and called it a night.
The next afternoon we woke up and decided it was a shopping day. We had taken some melatonin the night before and I still felt as though I was in a haze. By 1pm, I was still in a funk, so we stopped for a beer. I was awake after that! We headed back to the hotel so we could get ready for karaoke that evening. We decided that it would be best to stop for a cocktail at the bar first. I mean, naturally, right?
So margaritas it is. We met Ben, the bartender and he told us about this mural that seems oh so out of place at this hotel. Apparently, in the mid 70's, a French painter came in to paint this mural. He fell in love with one of the cocktail waitresses and they had quite the hot affair the week he was there. Well, like most steamy affairs that begin abruptly, they ended abruptly and the Frenchman's heart was broken. He then painted a message on this bird that says something to the affect of "I can't believe I must leave my masterpiece behind in a place where I was treated so poorly and my heart was left in shambles."
How dramatic the French are! So up to the room we go and ready for the night we became. It's karaoke night! So off to The Ohio Club first. This is now our regular bar. They know us by name at this point. Love it! We order some delicious fries and while enjoying some live music, in stumbles Christian, the hot bartender from last night... drunk. He greets us and says that it's good to see us again. Awesome. So much for flirting with him. After some cocktails, we were off to Maxine's for a few shots. Well, tonight Shane was acting like a douche, so we didn't stay too long there. Karaoke started at 8 and it was rolling up on 930. Karaoke should be popping at that point. We stroll on down to Spencer's and tread the 3 flights to the front door. Again, no A/C, but the karaoke was going strong. Now when I say strong, I mean there was a guy singing "My Heart Will Go On"... yeah, strong as in need a strong drink. Upside: very few people and HOT karaoke DJ. WIN WIN for me! So, I grab a beer and walk my happy little ass over and sit next to him. His name is John and he has the prettiest blue eyes. I pull out my go to karaoke list and my killer knockout beginner song he doesn't have. Crap. Regroup... Aretha Franklin. I kinda rocked it. My inner black woman was ready to get her flirt on. So I sang a couple of songs, flirted with hot John, drank some beer, flirted some more, and took a picture with him. 
Sigh. Needless to say, karaoke was awesome. I was drunk when I left. And hot John got my number. Once back at the hotel, it was decided that Rick and I were not tired. So, we grabbed a night cap and moved our way to the 7th floor where the pool was and proceeded to stay up even later and sit out and giggle and talk and laugh and drink. We had the most fun time ever. Friday rolled up and due to previous reservations, Rick and I had to move rooms. They moved us from the 9th floor to the 4th floor. This was the floor that Al Capone stayed on and booked out for his "friends" when he would come into town. All the history books say that Hot Springs, Arkansas was a hopping and happening place back in the 20's and 30's. We stayed just down the hall from where Capone stayed. 
I have to admit the fact that I stayed at a hotel where a famous gangster stayed and I was just down the hall from where he slept was incredibly exciting. After all the fun that was had the previous night, we decided to have lunch with John on Friday. We ate a this little Mexican restaurant called "Picante's". Now, being from Texas, we are pretty accustomed to incredible Mexican or Tex-Mex cuisine. Picante's was truly disappointing. Even their margarita's were a disappointment. While waiting for our food, JD (one of the bartenders from Spencer's the previous night) walked in for some take-out before work. He recognized us and came over to say hi. He informed us that after we had left karaoke some DRAMA occurred. Apparently, the owner fired 2 employees. One of them being Christian, the hot bartender from the first night. Wow. Glad we left before all that went down. After lunch, Rick decided that he wanted to check out the duck tour and do some touristy things. I was not in the mood for a lot of people. John suggested German beers at the Brau Haus just downstairs. Done and done. However, the restaurant was not open until 3 and it was only 230. So, as we're waiting for the doors to open, we see Christian walking by as if he were going to work. He stopped and said to me, "I see you everywhere. It's like you're a local now." I'm thinking to myself that I must be a local now since I'm privy to the drama occurring at the local bars. John asks him what he's doing. He says that he's going to work. We told him we heard he got fired. He was unaware. Oh geez. How did this happen? He joked it off and said if he was fired then he would come down and join us for beers. At this point, the doors had opened and into Brau Haus we went. 10 minutes later, Christian walked through the doors to join us. He got fired. I was a tourist and now involved in local drama. It was time to go. After 2 German beers had pushed me into tipsy land, I was off to take a nap. It was a delicious nap. Rick returned as I was waking up. He told me about his duck tour and his bathhouse experience. I should have gone with him and dealt with people. Oh well. Hunger kicked in and dinner it was. We went to dinner at Fisherman's Wharf that evening and had the most delicious seafood ever. Our view was to die for.
After dinner, we decided to go out for a night cap at, of course, The Ohio Club. After about 15 minutes, we decided we were not into being out and about. So, back to the hotel we went for a night cap in our quiet air conditioned room while we packed our bags so we could sleep in just a little bit later the next morning. We had decided to leave on Saturday instead of Sunday because we were both ready to come home. The next morning, we checked out and headed out of town. The ride home was long. Going home always takes longer than the getting somewhere. Why is that? Nonetheless, after finally arriving home and lugging all my bags upstairs, I crashed! It was lovely. Rick, truly, is a FANTASTIC travel buddy! I can't wait until our next trip.
This is my dear, darling, wonderful friend, Rick. We left Wednesday for Hot Springs for a long, luxurious spa weekend. We hopped in the car late afternoon Wednesday, armed with snacks and a killer playlist! We sang our way into Hot Springs by evening with a few random side roads for scenic pleasure. We saw wide open spaces with tons of trees, cows, corn, a diner with chocolate turtles (whatever that may be), 2 colleges, a KFC, and then historic downtown Hot Springs. We checked into our hotel, The Arlington. This was the same hotel that Al Capone stayed at with all his gangsters back in the 30's. It was like another world. We quickly unpacked and dressed for whatever the first evening held. We strolled down Central Avenue and found the first bar, The Ohio Club. 
(It was well past cocktail time) We entered and immediately, both, fell in love with the bar. It was old, rustic hand carved bar with tile floors. 
The walls were covered in pictures of those that were in attendance. Al Capone, Mae West, Bill Clinton. We sat and drank where some pretty big names had sat.
We had a few cocktails and some bar snacks there while listening to a fantastic live Blues band. And I thought I wouldn't find Blues in Arkansas. I was thrilled and Rick loved the music. After a couple hours there, we ventured further down the strip to a little place called Maxine's. They were having some bad karaoke, but drinks were pretty cheap. We sat and talked to the bartender, Shane, and asked about other places we should check out while we were in town. He talked about the lake and Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. Later on, we ventured further. Now, it was nighttime and all, but it was still incredibly hot and we couldn't seem to find another bar that believed in A/C except for The Ohio Club. Then, we saw an Irish Pub! Glory. And then we didn't see it. Sad. We did see a little place called Spencer's on the 3rd floor of the building. So we climbed 3 flights of stairs all the while praying for A/C. It was so cute. Exposed brick, open space, pool table, and fans. Not quite A/C, but the cute bartender made up for the lack of cool. His name was Christian. He told us about karaoke the following evening and that he would be working. We knew we'd be back. Teeheehee! We met 2 girls at that bar that were road tripping from Boston to LA. They were on a 3 week adventure. Jealous! How amazing would that be? Minus the credit card bills at the end. Eek! We left and headed back to the hotel, but The Ohio Club was still open. What's a night cap after a night of drinking?! Our bartender from earlier, Jessica, was still there. We liked her. She gave us koozies for our beers.
What a great way to end the night! We stumbled our way back to the hotel and called it a night.The next afternoon we woke up and decided it was a shopping day. We had taken some melatonin the night before and I still felt as though I was in a haze. By 1pm, I was still in a funk, so we stopped for a beer. I was awake after that! We headed back to the hotel so we could get ready for karaoke that evening. We decided that it would be best to stop for a cocktail at the bar first. I mean, naturally, right?
So margaritas it is. We met Ben, the bartender and he told us about this mural that seems oh so out of place at this hotel. Apparently, in the mid 70's, a French painter came in to paint this mural. He fell in love with one of the cocktail waitresses and they had quite the hot affair the week he was there. Well, like most steamy affairs that begin abruptly, they ended abruptly and the Frenchman's heart was broken. He then painted a message on this bird that says something to the affect of "I can't believe I must leave my masterpiece behind in a place where I was treated so poorly and my heart was left in shambles."
How dramatic the French are! So up to the room we go and ready for the night we became. It's karaoke night! So off to The Ohio Club first. This is now our regular bar. They know us by name at this point. Love it! We order some delicious fries and while enjoying some live music, in stumbles Christian, the hot bartender from last night... drunk. He greets us and says that it's good to see us again. Awesome. So much for flirting with him. After some cocktails, we were off to Maxine's for a few shots. Well, tonight Shane was acting like a douche, so we didn't stay too long there. Karaoke started at 8 and it was rolling up on 930. Karaoke should be popping at that point. We stroll on down to Spencer's and tread the 3 flights to the front door. Again, no A/C, but the karaoke was going strong. Now when I say strong, I mean there was a guy singing "My Heart Will Go On"... yeah, strong as in need a strong drink. Upside: very few people and HOT karaoke DJ. WIN WIN for me! So, I grab a beer and walk my happy little ass over and sit next to him. His name is John and he has the prettiest blue eyes. I pull out my go to karaoke list and my killer knockout beginner song he doesn't have. Crap. Regroup... Aretha Franklin. I kinda rocked it. My inner black woman was ready to get her flirt on. So I sang a couple of songs, flirted with hot John, drank some beer, flirted some more, and took a picture with him. 
Sigh. Needless to say, karaoke was awesome. I was drunk when I left. And hot John got my number. Once back at the hotel, it was decided that Rick and I were not tired. So, we grabbed a night cap and moved our way to the 7th floor where the pool was and proceeded to stay up even later and sit out and giggle and talk and laugh and drink. We had the most fun time ever. Friday rolled up and due to previous reservations, Rick and I had to move rooms. They moved us from the 9th floor to the 4th floor. This was the floor that Al Capone stayed on and booked out for his "friends" when he would come into town. All the history books say that Hot Springs, Arkansas was a hopping and happening place back in the 20's and 30's. We stayed just down the hall from where Capone stayed. 
I have to admit the fact that I stayed at a hotel where a famous gangster stayed and I was just down the hall from where he slept was incredibly exciting. After all the fun that was had the previous night, we decided to have lunch with John on Friday. We ate a this little Mexican restaurant called "Picante's". Now, being from Texas, we are pretty accustomed to incredible Mexican or Tex-Mex cuisine. Picante's was truly disappointing. Even their margarita's were a disappointment. While waiting for our food, JD (one of the bartenders from Spencer's the previous night) walked in for some take-out before work. He recognized us and came over to say hi. He informed us that after we had left karaoke some DRAMA occurred. Apparently, the owner fired 2 employees. One of them being Christian, the hot bartender from the first night. Wow. Glad we left before all that went down. After lunch, Rick decided that he wanted to check out the duck tour and do some touristy things. I was not in the mood for a lot of people. John suggested German beers at the Brau Haus just downstairs. Done and done. However, the restaurant was not open until 3 and it was only 230. So, as we're waiting for the doors to open, we see Christian walking by as if he were going to work. He stopped and said to me, "I see you everywhere. It's like you're a local now." I'm thinking to myself that I must be a local now since I'm privy to the drama occurring at the local bars. John asks him what he's doing. He says that he's going to work. We told him we heard he got fired. He was unaware. Oh geez. How did this happen? He joked it off and said if he was fired then he would come down and join us for beers. At this point, the doors had opened and into Brau Haus we went. 10 minutes later, Christian walked through the doors to join us. He got fired. I was a tourist and now involved in local drama. It was time to go. After 2 German beers had pushed me into tipsy land, I was off to take a nap. It was a delicious nap. Rick returned as I was waking up. He told me about his duck tour and his bathhouse experience. I should have gone with him and dealt with people. Oh well. Hunger kicked in and dinner it was. We went to dinner at Fisherman's Wharf that evening and had the most delicious seafood ever. Our view was to die for.
After dinner, we decided to go out for a night cap at, of course, The Ohio Club. After about 15 minutes, we decided we were not into being out and about. So, back to the hotel we went for a night cap in our quiet air conditioned room while we packed our bags so we could sleep in just a little bit later the next morning. We had decided to leave on Saturday instead of Sunday because we were both ready to come home. The next morning, we checked out and headed out of town. The ride home was long. Going home always takes longer than the getting somewhere. Why is that? Nonetheless, after finally arriving home and lugging all my bags upstairs, I crashed! It was lovely. Rick, truly, is a FANTASTIC travel buddy! I can't wait until our next trip.
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