Apparently Al Capone used Hot Springs as a hideaway when he was on the lam from the man (his words not mine). Rumor has it he used a series of hidden tunnels to travel in and out of the city as he pleased. And you can see his influence to this day in the architecture. Especially in the Arlington Hotel, where he had a room above the front entrance to get a good view of Johnny Law when the man decided to stop by.I think this was his car. Katie better get off before she gets whacked.
The observation tower atop the Ozarks was the high point of Hot Springs. I'm no expert, but I could see a good 88 miles from the observation deck, including President Clinton's boyhood home.We had to travel up a long, narrow, steep road to get to the tower. Winding and weaving up the hill, riding road lips at every U-shaped turn, in Jim's (Katie's cousin) 5-speed Ford Escort, I felt like the Mini Cooper wielding Mark Wahlberg in the Italian Job absconding away Ed Norton's gold. And I don't recommend taking the stairs to the top, unless you want to feel a deep burn in your quads. But the view was worth it. I've uploaded the 360-degree shots to facebook.
One day didn't do Hot Springs justice, but we did it right with the time we had. Other attractions of note:
1. The Wax Museum
2. Duck Tour
3. Amazing Italian place with live piano, Belle Arti
4. The Gangster Museum
5. Mexican place with a sweet patio out back (Happy hour 4 - 7 p.m.)
6. A half-dozen other things I don't even know about
We're shoving off to Austin, Texas this morning. We had to cut New Orleans, La., out of the trip due to time constraints. I've heard 6th Street is where it's at in the great City of Austin. We'll just have to see.
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