Sometimes, the best thing that we can do for ourselves is to take a ‘time out’….do something totally frivolous just for the fun of it. We did that yesterday.

The price of gas is so unstable these days that we decided to make it a short trip, but even short trips have their own special pleasures.

About an hour from here is a ‘little’ town called Hot Springs . The town is built inside of a National Park and sits atop 47 natural hot springs. According to history, the native americans knew about it long before it’s ‘discovery’ by Hernando DeSoto in the 1500’s. Since that time, a multitude of bath houses have been erected with some of the most amazing and beautiful architecture to be found.

Since the town sits within the confines of a National Park, there are ample walking trails that will allow a person to amble along at their own pace and take in all the sights. Because it’s a tourist town, there are also multitudes of shops, a wax museum, aquarium, and restraunts. Should you find yourself in the mood, there is also a racetrack that offers the only allowable form of gambling in this state (don’t get me started on this one…religion and politics…nuff said).

It was going to be a short trip for us, but our short trip turned into an entire day. No complaints. If I’m going to spend a day touring the town, I couldn’t ask for better company than these three teens with their boundless energy and ever-ready cameras.

We plugged the meter with the maximum 4 hours worth of quarters and set off walking. Somewhere between touring the bath houses and stopping to play in the many fountains that run straight off of the hot springs (yes, that water is hot), we took a moment to flip a coin to decide who would go back and plug the meter while the rest of us relaxed under a tree. It’s amazing how quickly time passes when you’re just out roaming and enjoying yourself.

We stopped for supper at Granny’s Kitchen (one of my favorite places) and I talked our exchange student into trying some fried okra. In spite of how it sounds, it’s wonderful stuff. A little secret about southern folk…if it doesn’t move fast enough, we will batter it, fry it, and eat it.

I let the kids talk me into visiting nearly every shop. After all, they are teens and shopping ranks second only to cell phones. Besides, who are we kidding? My kids know me well…we weren’t about to leave town without some of the locally-made saltwater taffy.

Eight hours later, we were exhausted and decided to take our full bellies and tired bodies home. As with most trips, the drive home passed much more quickly than the drive out.

Somewhere along the road….listening to the quiet snores resounding from the back seat…I began to think…

We really should do this more often.

arkmomy