Arkansas Part 2

Little Rock had several fun things to see and do. Here's a few highlights from my brief visit:

The Peabody Hotel's famous marching ducks were a lot of fun to watch. They were very personable and obviously used to people. You could sit on the fountain ledge really close to the stairs and they would walk up the stairs and flirt with you. Though one time this duck [pictured below] filled up with water and I swear I think she briefly considered squirting me before swallowing!

The friendly Duck Master lines the male and 4 females up each day at 11 am and 5 pm.

 The Dr. Seuss banner on the Clinton Library was a surprise considering the location. Good for them having a fun family friendly exhibit.

We headed off to a short side trip to Hot Springs, despite the rain, thunder and lightening. It was a surprise to learn that Arkansas was famous for its hot springs, bath houses and that for years the rich and famous came here to relax and heal. 

Many of the historic, beautiful buildings have been restored.

This building served as a visitor's center and you could go through the various floors and see how men and women used the bath houses in the past. They had separate bathing, message and parlor rooms.

An amazing stained glass ceiling in the building above.

This stone overlook was terraced and gave visitors different views down onto Bath House Row.

Off to the side of the stone steps were some small grottos with steaming water from the hot springs. Apparently the waters used to flow around this area but were capped off at some point.

Okay, can't sightsee without looking out for plants. The magnolias along Bath House Row were beautiful. I miss them. They can grow in West Texas but don't really prosper so well. The Hot Springs ones were obviously very happy and were full of blossoms. Even in the rain their scents were noticeable as you got close to the trees.

On the level of the stone staircase were these wild roses blooming. I started to go over to see if they had a scent then reconsidered, just in case a snake was in the tall grasses.

Have no idea what this plant was but the airy stalks and white popped in the gloomy atmosphere. I thought it might be Queen Anne's Lace but the heads didn't seem wide enough.

It was gray and gloomy, with rain off and on. There was an incredible mist up on the mountains that I had never seen in person before. And then up on the hill was this tall imposing structure. My friend thought it was a rehabilitation hospital. All I saw was insane asylum with a mad doctor in the window crazily laughing. Totally a perfect movie location for a psycho film. [No offense to anyone working at this place or having healed there.]