Hope everyone had a great Memorial weekend! The campground was crammed with visitors. We started touring with a trip to the Visitor's Center in Hot Springs and discovered a FREE shuttle to take us to some of the points of interest in town. Our next visit was to a bath house which had been converted into an art museum on Bathhouse Row. They had an exhibit of photography by Ansel Adams, and so we went in and really enjoyed it. All his photographs are in black and white, and the clarity and definition was awesome! I almost felt as though I was standing right beside him looking at the mountains.

Our next stop was the National Park Service Visitors Center which is located in the restored Fordyce Bathhouse. They provided a map so that we could tour the bathhouse. Very interesting! The men had separate (and MUCH nicer) facilities than the women's side. They had marble benches, several statues, and glorious skylights with figures, dolphins, and flowers. There was an area on the roof which allowed for nude sunbathing on the men's side; the women's was in the shade, as it was unfashionable to get tan! There was also a music room, a game room and a gymnasium. We walked to an open stream behind the bathhouse and I put my hand in the water. OUCH! That water is hot! They say that at that particular location it's "only" 134 degrees.

Sunday we took the free shuttle and rode to the top of both the east and west mountains, and enjoyed seeing the various sites that we could enjoy from the comfort of our bus and the AC! It was 94 degrees -- not exactly the weather I'd want to be in for long. That night we enjoyed BBQ pork sandwiches at the pool patio in camp and then at 8:30 I put on my pj's, grabbed my KOA card, and money and headed to the office where they had an "almost midnight" sale. For my efforts I got 25% off on my purchases.

Monday we went back downtown and visited the Gangster Museum. Seems Hot Springs was quite the mecca for crime's big bosses. The sheriff and the courts turned a blind eye to what was going on -- gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging. In the 40's when the soldiers came home they worked to clean up the city. Al Capone had a year-round hotel suite at one of the big hotels. There was an underground street with a bowling alley that the crime bosses used as well as their attendance at the various bathhouses on bathhouse row.