April 19-22 Hot Springs, AR

“Without new experience, something in us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” –Anonymous 

Spring has arrived in south Texas and summer is quickly moving in, so it's time for us to begin our migration north. This spring we are taking a little detour through Arkansas and Kentucky. Exploring a few new places on our way first to Pennsylvania and then up to the lake to get The Pearl ready for another season.

Our first stop on our way north was Hot Springs, Arkansas. Hot Springs is a resort city known for naturally heated springs. It's home to Hot Springs National Park. This park is different from any other national park, because most of it is within the city of Hot Springs. 

Many people recognize Yellowstone to be the first national park in our country, but Hot Springs National Park was actually the first land set aside for recreational purposes by the United States Government for its natural beauty and cultural significance. Congress established the Hot Springs Reservation on April 20, 1832. Eighty four years before the National Park Service was created. It became a national park in 1921.

Bathhouse Row consists of eight bathhouses that were originally built between 1892 and 1923. Today, two of the bathhouses are still in use while the other buildings have been converted into museums and other businesses.

The Fordyce Bathhouse was once the largest bathhouse on Bathhouse Row, and is now home to the National Park’s visitors center and museum.

Inside the Fordyce Bathhouse

Superior Bathhouse Brewery is located on bathhouse row. The original bathhouse was built in February 1916. It's the first brewery located inside a U.S. National Park. They're also the first brewery to use thermal spring water as the main ingredient in brewing.

The original Arlington Hotel was opened in 1875. This building is the third and was opened on New Year's Eve in 1924.

The Grand Promenade is a half-mile walk on a brick pathway that takes visitors through some of the prettiest parts of the National Park. You can see the caps that cover the springs and walk next to a hot springs cascade. 

The cascade, which flows into Arlington Lawn, is left untouched and gives visitors a glimpse of what the springs looked like before the bathhouses were built.

Our second day in Hot Springs was a little wet and cold. The hot springs throughout town were putting off steam. It was very interesting.

We stayed at the Happy Hollow Inn. It's a 1950's motor inn just steps from Hot Springs National Park and shares its name with the historic Happy Hollow Spring, a cold-water spring.  We were just steps from hiking trails, Bathhouse Row and downtown Hot Springs.

Views from Hot Springs Mountain

One afternoon we hiked the Goat Rock Trail. It gave us wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and the city of Hot Springs.

Our first day we had lunch at the Grateful Head. It was a beautiful spring day and we enjoyed sitting outside while we shared a great pizza and sampled some local beer.

Rolando's served Central and South American cuisine in an 1800 building that seemed to be coming right out of the mountain.

Diablos Tacos & Mezcal

April 8 - Hiking at Enchanted Rock

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." ― Arthur C. Clarke

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area offers visitors a chance to get out and explore. You can hike, camp, backpack, rock climb or just enjoy a picnic and take in the amazing views of Enchanted Rock, Little Rock and Turkey Peak. Enchanted Rock is a pink granite mountain located north of Fredericksburg, Texas. It's the largest pink granite monadnock in the United States. The granite dome rises 425 feet above the surrounding terrain to an elevation of 1,825 feet and offers amazing views of the Texas Hill Country as far as the eyes can see.

The Summit Trail is a 0.8 mile (one way) hike that leads to the top of the park's namesake. The trail is short but steep, equivalent to climbing the stairs of a 35 story building. While the hike is very steep at times, it's not technical and does not involve scrambling over rocks. The views get better and better as you ascend. 

 

Enchanted Rock has fascinated humans for thousands of years. As a result, it has inspired many stories that still endure today. Most of these are rooted in fancy rather than fact. One story tells that Tonkawa Indians thought that ghost fires flickered on top of the dome and the creaking and groaning noises they heard were made by ancient spirits. But geologists say that the dome creaks and groans as rock cools at night and ghost fires can be seen on clear nights after a rain as the sun reflects off the water and wet feldspar. 

On our way up...

Looking down to the parking lot and park entry.

Views from part way up.

View from the top.

Looking towards Little Rock.

Looking out over Echo Canyon.

Looking past Echo Canyon to Moss Lake.

Coming down on the south side close to the Echo Canyon Trail.

Looking towards Turkey Peak.

Beautiful views on the way down.

April 5-9 Texas Hill Country Getaway

"Spring: a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be." -Tracy McMillan

We kept our Pennsylvania grands in October while Kyle and Brytanie took a much needed vacation. As a thank you for our nannie serves they gave us a gift card for the Sage Hill Inn & Spa near Kyle, Texas. We decided we'd save our getaway until spring, so we could enjoy the spring weather and the wonderful wildflowers Texas has to offer in April. The Inn sits atop a hill on 88 acres above Onion Creek, with sweeping views of the Hill Country to the West.

It's been years since we've spent time in the Texas Hill Country so this little get away was a lot of fun and the weather couldn't have been any better. It was truly a little piece of paradise.

The Texas Hill Country sits upon the Edwards Plateau and stretches from Austin to San Antonio on the east and Concan to Junction on the west. It covers over 10,000 square miles of beautiful rolling hills, grasslands bathed in bluebonnets, expansive lakes, quaint cities and small towns. For the last 20 years, the Texas Hill Country has been one of America's fastest-growing wine regions. It boasts over 100 wineries, vineyards, and tasting rooms...we drove by quite a few and walked by even more in Fredericksburg, but we didn't try any on this trip. 

The main house of the Sage Hill and Inn.

Dining room and library in the main building

The pool had a wonderful view.

Juniper Cottage was our home for two nights.

We had a gas fire pit that we enjoyed both evenings.

Since it was such a beautiful day we decided to spend it in Wimberley. We did a little shopping, a little hiking, had a great lunch, found Jacob's Well, walked along Cypress Creek and sat in a tree house and enjoyed a cocktail at Cypress Creek Reserve Rum Distillery.

Wimberley started a program in 2014 called Bootiful Wimberley as a way to highlight the arts in town. There are 32 boots scattered throughout town that were sponsored and painted by area artists.

We spent quite a few summer vacations in Wimberley when our boys were young...we loved playing in Cypress Creek and floating down the Blanco River.

Jacob's Well is one of the longest underwater caves in Texas and is the headwaters to Cypress Creek that flows through Wimberley into Blue hole and then to the Blanco River. The 12-foot opening of the spring depends vertically for about 23 feet, then continues at an angle until it reaches its maximum depth of 140 feet. From here a cave system starts that is approximately 4,500 feet long. The water temperature stays a constant 68°F.

Cypress Creek Reserve Rum is made totally on sight at a little property near Wimberley. Water from Cypress Creek is used to ferment and cut the rum. After a tasting of the three rums they make we sat in their tree and enjoyed the afternoon with one of their rum cocktails. 

After two days at the Inn, we moved to Fredericksburg. Neither of us could even remember the last time we had visited this cute little town. On our way to Fredericksburg we stopped in Luckenback. Not a lot to see there but we did take the obligatory picture in front of the post office/general store.

Our second stop on our way to Fredericksburg was the Wildseed Farms...their Bluebonnet field was spectacular.

The historic town of Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 by German immigrants. It's home to over 50 wineries, more than 150 shops and boutiques, antiques shops and art galleries. We spent our first day wandering through town, mostly doing a little window shopping, then relaxing by the pool and soaking in the beautiful warm sunshine. Our second day was spent hiking at Enchanted Rock. I'll do a second post on what we saw there.

Our best meal...by far on this trip was at Pasta Bella. Both our meals were delicious. If you go here...go early. They stay very busy.

The highlight of our little vacation was catching up with an old friend of mine. A friend I used to go to camp with in junior and senior high school. We haven't seen each other in over 40 years, although we have stayed in touch through letters and the internet. It was so much fun!

Stephen, Marilyn, Susie and Stan