Continuing our road trip! Two National Parks today!
Day 3
Our hotel was only about 10 minutes down the road into Mammoth Cave National Park in Cave City, Kentucky, last night. We wanted to stay close by because we had scheduled an early morning cave tour, so we get up bright ‘n early, pack up, and headed out.
We got to the Visitor’s Center about half an hour before our tour time as they suggested. While we wait for the tour, we check out the exhibit to learn more about the cave system.
Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system that has been explored at over 400 miles, but who knows how much more is yet to be discovered. In addition, there is a huge 52,000+ acre area of mountains and rivers on the surface above the caves that are perfect for hiking and other outdoor activities. There is such a diverse plant and animal ecosystem that the park is designated as a UNESCO Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. It was established as a National Park in 1941 but it was believed to be discovered by natives over 4000 years ago.
There are several different tours of varying lengths and difficulties to explore different areas of the cave system. You can’t go down there on your own, so make sure to go to their site and reserve one in advance if you want to see the caves. Some popular ones will sell out. We did the main Mammoth Passage tour, which was about an hour visit to the main rooms of the system. It gave us a neat view of the core area and our guide gave us good information about the caves as we walked along.
That was cool! After the tour, we finished going through the exhibits and gift shop in the Visitor’s Center before heading out.
We still have several hours of driving for today to make it to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the night.
But, before we went farther west, we had to stop at the last Culver’s on our route for one last lunch there. Yum! Their restaurants seem to be primarily located in the northern mid-Weet states.
Don’t forget to sign up for some gas station loyalty programs to get some savings on gas and road snacks. We did the Love’s one, which gave us 10 cents off per gallon. There are tons of them along our route and their stations have good food/drinks and clean bathrooms too.
Fueled up, let’s continue to Arkansas. We cross the Mississippi River too!
We finally get to Hot Springs, Arkansas and check into the Arlington Hotel, a historic hotel that pipes water from the nearby mineral springs into the hotel! There is even a fountain in the lobby where you can drink the mineral water. There’s also an exhibit that shows the history of the hotel and all the famous people who have stayed there, including several U.S. Presidents. It’s a beautiful hotel!
Look at the view of Hot Springs National Park and the downtown area from our hotel room! We got there in time for a gorgeous sunset.
On the way to dinner, we explored the downtown area a little bit and peaked at a little part of Hot Springs National Park. There was a cute little pool of water from a hot spring waterfall pretty much right across from our hotel!
We went to dinner down the street at the Superior Bathhouse Brewery. This used to be a Hot Springs bathhouse back in the day, but converted now into a restaurant and brewery. They are the only restaurant left to use the real mineral spring water in their food. We got the iconic root beer made with spring water. It definitely tastes better than the store-bought stuff! The other foods were good too.
This is definitely a splurge hotel for us but it was a key part of visiting Hot Springs National Park. If you can’t get in a visit at one of the two remaining bathhouses to experience the hot springs water, then you can at least try it by reserving one of the hotel rooms at the Arlington Hotel that pipe the mineral water into the room bathtub.
That’s it for tonight. We’ll explore the park more tomorrow.
Day 4
We got up bright n early to explore Hot Springs. But first, there is a little family owned restaurant down the street from our hotel that claimed to have the World’s Best Chocolate Milk, so you know we had to go there for breakfast!
It definitely was the best! The Pancake Shop also had HUGE pancakes too! Everything was huge and house-made, in fact. Soooo good! Everyone there was so friendly and welcoming. Definitely felt that Southern hospitality charm. The walls of the restaurant were filled with pictures showing the history of the place and many notable folks who have been there. Definitely check them out when you’re in town.
Now that we are stuffed from breakfast, let’s walk some of it off by walking around the downtown Hot Springs area. Such a cute town!
We made our way to Bath House Row, one of the key spots within Hot Springs National Park where a string of bath houses from back in the day still stand. Only two are still functioning as bathhouses though. The rest have been converted into restaurants and other buildings, including the Visitors Center. They’re all still beautiful buildings.
Behind them is The Grand Promenade, a nice paved path where you can see a bit of the mineral springs flowing out or steam from their vent holes in a few spots. We took a walk there too.
As with all national parks that we go to, we like to go to the Visitors Center to learn more about the park. Since this one is in a former bath house, we could see the old bath house rooms and equipment still preserved there. Some interesting yet crazy stuff! I don’t think spas nowadays use some of those “features” anymore. LoL
Inside, there is also an exhibit talking about the hot springs and the history of the area.
It was a cool visit to Hot Springs National Park, but now, we have to hit the road again. We are heading to Texas for tonight!
Finally, we crossed into Texas and passed by our first Buc-ees of this trip, so of course we had to stop and get some brisket sandwiches! Yummm!
We continue driving towards our hotel in Dallas…
By the time we got there, we pretty much just grabbed a quick dinner nearby and called it a night.
It’s been a jammed packed two days visiting two vastly different National Parks – Mammoth Cave and Hot Springs. I hope you liked them as much as we did.
We have a long day of driving to the aliens tomorrow, so good night! Stay tuned…
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Adventures By Anne 