A mixed bag (Arkansas)

Member Name: jodenton

Product:	Arkansas
Date:	02/04/07 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: some really nice people.

Disadvantages: not much to do or see

I visited Arkansas a couple of years ago and left with a mixed view of the place. We spent a few days in total in the state, most of which was spent in the town and national park of Hot Springs. A strange place as the national park effectively was a town. The architecture of the place was very 'Victorian' and reminded me of British seaside resorts. Inside the houses were hot baths which were believed to improve your health...at a cost. I can't remember the exact cost but I didn't frequent any partly due to the cost.

Cold 'mineral' water was also available on request from taps in the street which was nice and I did see locals I think with great big buckets filling up at the taps so there must be something to the water!!!

Apart from the hot baths I didn't think that there was an awful lot else to the national park. I'd seen better scenery and there was nothing else to do in the town. There seemed to be a lot of poverty with the largest selection of pawn shops I've seen and many places outside the central part of the town (which presumably received national park funds) looked pretty rundown. The nicest buildings were the churches! There was plenty of places to stay though so that would not be a problem. I did taste my best united states sandwich in a little cafe on the main street....perfect!

The only other place that really sticks in my mind about Arkansas is the lunch stop we made by a meander of the River Mississippi. there were loads of jetties there so we decided to do a little fishing but since we didn't really have any proper equipment we just thought we'd try with string and bread (we did have hooks in our camping bags). Lo and behold within about 5 minutes we'd caught a catfish! It was amazing!! Felt like real hunter gatherers. We baked it up on a fire that night and it tasted so so good!!!!

I have mixed memories of Arkansas really. It was a reasonable state with some interesting parts but definitely not one of the stunning states.

Summary: Not a place to avoid but a place that I wouldn't linger in at the expense of the rest of the states