Oaklawn Racing - Gaming

Table games, electronic games, poker, instant racing-Expanded gaming coming May 2009! They also have simulcast racing and fantasy racing. Ohh have I fogotten to mention the live horse racing.

One thing you should not miss are the corned beed sandwiches...oh my they are SOOO good! But share it with someone because they are big.

If you don't go crazy with your betting or gambling you can have a pretty good time on the cheap here. We met my aunt, uncle, parents and some friends here. The admission was $2.00. We didn't do anything but bet on the horse races and eat. We chatted, ate and looked at the horses between races. We stuck to $2.00 bets. Parking cost us about $5.00. I even won several times. (YEA, for me...lol). All in all we had a good time visiting, eating and betting. No one went crazy or spent tons of money. But it was lots of fun.

Here is some interesting history about Oaklawn.

OAKLAWN
2705 Central Av
Hot Springs, Ar. 71901
501-623-4411

Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf

Pirate's Cove mini golf is great fun! We have such a good time when we come here. Everyone in the family from the youngest kids, grandparents, auntes, uncles and cousins have a total blast here. It's right on Central Av and easy to find. How can you miss it. It's the thing with a pirate ship mini-golf theme on Central.

They have two 18-hole course. There is a pirate ship and lots of water. On one course you go under one of the falls. Also on one of them you hit the ball so it goes in the water but shoots out of the water, under this rock back onto the green. They have lots of fun and creative holes!

Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf

4612 Central Ave
Hot Springs, AR. 71913
501-525-9311

Tiny Town

Tiny Town is a town that is over 50 years old and is still growing. Tiny Town was begun by the current owners grandfather, it kept growing under the care of his father and the tradition continues under the current owners loving care. As you may have guessed Tiny Town is not a real town but a tiny one.

This town is crafted from every day objects, the most expensive building in town only costing around $4.00. Items like sawdust, tin can lids, bottle caps, etc. are used to craft all of the items.

There is running water, moving people, moving cars, lights and an airplane flying in the sky. Where else will you find St. Jude hospital, Mr. T, Mt. Rushmore, and Donny and Marie all in one place?

The craftsmanship is remarkable if you think how all of this was, and continues to be made. How long ago this project was started, how many generations this has now touched. What a rarely seen, genuine labor of love.

Tiny Town
374 Whittington Ave

Hot Springs, AR. 71901
501-624-4742

The Winery of Hot Springs

The Winery of Hot Springs has some GREAT wines! And I am really not a big wine lover but I have found a number of wines that I really like here. It's so much fun to go to the winery and do a wine tasting. It's really inexpensive too. You can find a coupon in some of the tourist magazines that make it even less expensive. It's great fun to taste the wines and see what you do like.

It seems like every time someone comes to visit they want to go to the Winery. Every time I have gone the tasting is different. And one time my visits were only about a week apart! I have come to learn I like sweet dessert wines and the Hot Springs Rose'. YUM!

They know all about the wines they are serving and are very helpful and knowledgeable in answering questions. Everyone laughs and just has a really good time.

You are able to buy the wines you taste plus others by the bottle or case. Plus they have all kinds of wine accessories. There is also a small tour you can take.

The Winery of Hot Springs
1503 Central Ave.
Hot Springs, AR 71901
501-623-WINE (9463)

The First Ever Sixth Annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade

You can plan on floats, green fireworks, Irish belly dancers. Last year there was Paris Hilton, KISS and Elivs look- alikes, beads and candy were thrown. There was Miss Arkansas, men in Kilts, people with green hair and dogs with clothes on. There were women with red hats, men with green hats and a man in a thong! I saw the Dolce Geltao truck, a guy in a skelton outfit, a group riding motorcycles. A big rainbow made from ballons came by while the women danced an irish jig. And wait, is that a man riding on a toliet wearing a pink feather boa? Yes it is! Who else can it be but Mike Rowe from Dirtiest Jobs!

This parade is alway's held on historic Bridge street on March 17th. In the 1940's Ripley's Believe It or Not declared Bridge Street "The Shortest Street in the World." Last year was our first year at this parade and WOW did we have fun. Mike Rowe of TV's Dirtiest Jobs was the Grand Marshall. There has been some other notable Grand Marshalls over the years I understand. George Wendt, who played Norm Peterson on Cheers, and actors Pauly Shore and Mario Lopez. This year the Grand Marshall will be John Ratzenberger, Cliff from Cheers.

Here are some pictures from the 2008 parade:

The Fordyce Bathhouse Museum & Nat'l Park Visitors Center

The Fordyce Bathhouse is a bathhouse the operated from 1915 to 1962. Now you can walk through and tour the bathhouse and see what they were like. The tour is free and self guided. There is an orientation movie and things along the way that explain the what the various rooms were used for. It is really interesting to see the sorts of things they did, the equipment they used and some of the ailments they thought they could cure.

It's very nice. A stained glass ceiling in the men's bath hall, marble in the lobby. You can actually see the underground hot spring down stairs. Walking into the gym just took my breath away. Upstairs in one room, one side is for men and one for women. No inner mingling.

This is certainly a MUST for anyone visiting Hot Springs. Hot Springs is all about the bath houses and this lets you see the past, be in the past. It's not a movie or a picture - your actually standing there in it. And it's free - what more could you want?

Here are just a few pictures:

The Fordyce Bathhouse Museum & National Park Visitors Center
300 Block of Central Ave.
Hot Springs, Ar. 71901
501-624-2308 or 501-624-2701

The Gangster Museum of America

The Gangster Museum of America was really fun and interesting. We took my in-laws and it was not what anyone expected. There was no walking yourself through and just looking mindlessly at memorabilia. Your taken through the museum and history is woven for you all along the way. It made the whole experience so much more encompassing and something we will remember.

Since I haven't lived here for a real long time I did not realize the extent of the gangster influence here. Not to mention the gambling, prostitution, corrupt law enforcement and politicians. Hot Springs certainly has a very colorful background and apparently has always been an exciting place! Hot Springs would have been Las Vegas if things had continued. Wow, that's hard to imagine isn't it?

You also get to see a few videos along the way that are just a couple of minutes long. Each one is very interesting and enlighting. They also have some old one armed bandits from one of the casinos, you can give it a try but they are hard, the arms are very heavy. Not like the ones today at all. They also have a roulette table from, I believe, The Southern Club, and a case with some smaller memorabilia. They have several weapons as well. My father-in-law, a retired police officer, particularly enjoyed the Tommy Gun. That's him in the picture below. There is one video of a famous Hot Springs madam and that woman tells it like it is! I bet no one messed with her. At the end you go into a theater and watch a little longer movie and it shows you a bowling alley under Central Ave!

I highly recommend this to anyone visiting Hot Springs. I have seen some dollar off coupns in some tourist books, that makes this an even better deal. The man who did our tour was so kind and took time to talk to us and answer questions from us and everyone. No one hurried us. It was a fun, relaxing good time.

The Gangster Museum of America
113 Central Ave
Hot Springs, Ar. 71901
501-318-1717

Garvan Woodland Gardens "Lights on the Landscape"

If you have never been to the Christmas lights at Garvan Gardens you should be it on your to do list for next year. It should become a tradition for every family! It really is like being in an enchnated forest. It was so lovely to walk through the beautiful lights. At one point you stop for hot apple cider, at another point you stop and roast marshmallows and then at another you can have hot chocolate with marshmallows if you would like. There even have the Christmas trains out at the end. If you would prefer not to walk they do have gold carts to drive people. We loved the stroll around and you can bring your dog.

There are several places along the way that are perfect for taking pictures. Beautiful cottages, stunning chandeliers, a candy cane lane, toy soilders, a big fish, butterflies and flowers and of course, lots and lots of trees. There really is to much to describe.

I saw someone from the gardens on the news and he said they had 1.7 million lights. Strung end to end they would reach between Hot Springs and Little Rock. Now that's ALOT of lights!


Here are a few pictures:

Garvan Woodland Gardens
550 Arkridge Road
Hot Springs, Ar. 71913
501-262-9300

Kathy from Hot Springs, AR

Hi everyone,

I'm Kathy and I live in Hot Springs, AR. with my wonderful family. I have a great husband and two great teenage boys.

We are your typical family staying pretty busy with everyday life.

We earn our living by flipping houses on Lake Hamilton and also by renting our vacation home and our parents vacation home out as vacation rentals. We really love doing both of these as they each have their own interesting challenges.

The vacation rental business sort of requires me to keep up with what's going on in Hot Springs but thats ok because I truly love this town. There really is something fun and interesting always going on. There is great food, entertainment and shopping. And certainly a kind word and a smile are things you will find in abundance here.

If you would like to contact me. Email me here