Arkansas 2019 Part 5

[Roanoker]

There is a stream behind the Clinton Library.


We begin our walk on the bridge.


Flower boxes were a nice touch.


Not a bad view from the bridge.


Another view from the bridge. This is a really big river.


Close-up of a flower in a bridge box.


The library as viewed from the bridge.


One of the exhibit creations graces the still fountain water in front of the building.


There is more than one path to the bridge.


There were five helicopters in the sky. Only two show up here.


I guess we’re done with the library. Onto something else.


Our first stop is at a very tall tower. The original image was portrait-oriented. I pasted an enlarged portion on the left and blurred the edge.

[Roanoker]

We have arrived in Hot Springs, Arkansas!


Looks like an important building.


Too bad we weren’t there at night.


Flower baskets adorned the old-time street lights.


Love this sign.


Almost a scary wall.


If you want a snazzy outfit…


I should have read the sign.


Impressive building.


I wonder if Arkansas Ducks are safer than the ones in Missouri.


Now this is a place we could get into.


A kind of walk in the park.

[Roanoker]

Street shot of Hot Springs, Arkansas.


I was amazed at the number of bathhouses in this town. They were originally built in the late 1890s.


Each bathhouse had its own distinctive appearance.


If you can’t sit at home and just watch TV…


You almost expect to see horse-drawn carriages on the streets.


Even the area behind the bathhouses was interesting.


We went inside one of them.


This is a closeup of the wall fountain seen above with everything around it cut away and placed on a marble background with an added shadow. I have no shame.


I could show you the boring room where these gorgeous windows were placed, but it was more of a distraction.


I had to twist each window with Photoshop’s Transform/Skew tool to coax it into more of a rectangle.


The artistry of these windows was quite impressive.


Here is one of the many rooms we visited.

[missingkc]

Very interesting place. Would like to go one of these days. Are the bath houses still used as such?

[Roanoker]

The one bathhouse we visited indoors was more like a museum, where you could see how it existed years ago. I didn't know if any were actually used now, so I did a quick check on the Internet and found a good site. Apparently, there are several that are still used as true bathhouses. One bathhouse has been renovated into a hotel with a restaurant on the first floor. I wish I had seen this site prior to our visit. Hot Springs is indeed a very interesting place. Here is the site: https://unearththevoyage.com/hot-spring ... -Explained.

[Roanoker]

The original image was very dark. I lightened it and applied levels to the pretty ladies to see them better.


I spent a lot of time trying to twist the ceiling glass into a more realistic shape, but the original looks much better. I gave up.


This is the room just below the stained-glass skylight shown above. The room was for men only.


Somebody made a model of all the bathhouses along one street.


The original background did not please me, so I grabbed a small, reasonably decent portion of the wall, put it behind the arch and cut away everything but the arch. And added a shadow.


I gotta stop taking pictures of items that require cutting away.


I did clone out a dead bug and other debris from this rather nice floor.


This dressing area looks rather modern. Nice perspective, though.


Another floor, another reason to do a bit of clean-up.


Folks could sit and chat, maybe play board games.


I’d hate to have my valuables on the top row.


The sign says this is a visitor center, but I bet it started out as a bathhouse.

[Roanoker]

We continued to stroll by beautiful bathhouses.


And so on.


And on.


There were many.


Back on the streets. Somebody called it an Historic District.


Even the sides of buildings were charming.


Street, walkway, bathhouses…all in a row.


Don’t you love great wall art when you find it unexpectedly?


It was tempting, but I didn’t bite.


Pleasant scenes abound.


You have to look up to see the pretty architecture every once in a while.


I do wish I had sat down next to the gentleman and let him hold my hand while someone else took the picture.

[Highlander]

Nice pictures of Hot Springs!

Is it me or does every city with a river front do a better job at making it viable than KC? In this case Little Rock.

[Roanoker]

Thank you, Highlander.

Mmm. A massage sounds good. I’ve never had one.


More wall art. I appreciate artists who take on such large projects.


I had to cut around the light pole and flowers, and impose a less busy background. Not really worth the effort.


I found the multiple layers of advertisements on this wall quite interesting.


I had to lighten the horse, the front part of the carriage and the driver to little avail.


It is now Saturday, 8/3/19 and we are visiting Magazine Mountain, unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on perspective at any given time—in a cloud. What can these people possibly see at this overlook?


The fog does add interest to the road.


I managed to spot a few flowers.


I wouldn’t call these things “flowers,” but they were the only reasonably colorful things sprouting out of a leafy environment.


The sign says we are at Mt. Magazine State Park. That’s my son approaching from the left.


Close-up of aforementioned non-flower.


More nondescript blossoms. If you relax your eyes, look through the flowers and move your head slowly, they will be in 3D.

[Roanoker]

This is a tiny flower, which makes the even tinier yellow flower-like doodads in the middle remarkable.


Interesting sign on a rock, warning you of a high cliff. In these foggy conditions, you wouldn’t know.


Here is another clue that the cliff is high.


These yellow flowers don’t seem to mind the fog.


Grand steps apparently to nothing.


I like the wheat-like stalks. The yellow flowers are always welcome.


The original image was portrait-oriented. The focus was on the top of a super-skinny grassy thing, but when I saw the water droplets at the bottom, the composition changed dramatically.


The wheat-like thing is special.


This must be a visitor center. Don’t remember.


A little on the ragtag side, but still flowers.


Everybody likes cone flowers.


As I looked over these black-eyed Susans, I just now noticed the butterfly upper right! What a joy!

[Highlander]

To answer your earlier question. Are Hot Springs Duck Boats safer than Missouri Duck boats? Nope, they are not.

Not sure why anyone would ever want to ride one of these. Doesn't look fun and inherently dangerous.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/13-dead-in-boat-accident/

[Roanoker]

Years ago, I was joined by my husband and grown son on a duck boat ride, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We first rode around on land, in a partly wooded area, where we saw a number of WWII artifacts. Plowing into the water at a good clip was exhilarating. I'm terribly sorry for the misfortune of others. Perhaps riders should be required to wear life jackets. Or maybe the ducks should be prohibited altogether. Are other boats that much safer? Dunno. I'm old now and cannot even leave my house because of the stupid pandemic. Thank you for commenting, Highlander.

[Roanoker]

This is actually one image copied and flipped horizontally. I did mess a bit with the center for a forced fit.


I think this is a visitor center.


Here is the other side.


The water droplets add a nice touch.


It was a pain to lighten the mountain lion and darken the ceiling.


The bear was even more difficult, and the result is poor.


More my speed. Just gaze at the trees through beautiful, paned windows.


Classes must go on here. For fun, I grabbed a picture on the wall, twisted it in place, and used it for the background.


These bears were adorable. I should have bought one.


Toasted marshmallows, anyone?


This is just one of the ridiculous number of pictures I took of the deer.


Well, it seemed like a nice-enough subject for a picture.

[Roanoker]

We stopped at a gorgeous lodge for lunch. I took a few pictures as we walked around the place. Here, a beautiful bouquet.


Even the hallways were attractive.


I suppose the outside view would have been excellent, were it not for the heavy fog that day.


n case you need a warm-up.


You can always sit and watch the flowers commune.


My husband checks out a mid-floor lobby.


This is a picture of a picture on a wall, after a little squishing and yanking.


Another picture on the wall, with even more fuss-work. I added the bronze frame.


It is time to find a good table for lunch. My husband and son found one.


Now, what shall we eat?


The giant windows amazed me.


Biscuits were included.