Hot Springs is a small town of less than 40,000 in the Ouchita Mountains area of Arkansas. Although born in Hope, Arkansas, former President Bill Clinton was raised in Hot Springs. It’s other claim to fame is that it was big with the mafia in the past century, including legendary gangsters like Al Capone and Ben Siegelbaum (“Bugsy” Siegel).
Hot Springs has many bath houses with rejuvenating mineral baths, as well as a scenic park and nearby lakes like Lake Hamilton. It is in a beautiful place and was also an early site of Major League Baseball spring training and spring training for the Negro League. Babe Ruth also stayed in the Arlington and once rescued people from a large fire when the former structure lit on fire.
Below is me hanging out in one of their favorite haunts: the Arlington Hotel.
But before arriving to this mecca we have to rewind a bit…
To this: me alone at just past midnight at an abandoned train station in the worst part of the neighboring small town of Malvern, Arkansas.
My Amtrak from Austin didn’t arrive until very late and I was the only one who got off in Malvern. Attempts to call Uber or Lyft failed. Attempts to call a taxi failed until the very last number picked up. It would be 65$ for the 25 minute trip. The driver would be there “soon.”
So I waited…
The sound of cockroaches hitting the fluorescent lights around the station and occasional cars driving past was the only sound. My phone was down to 15%. I called back and the taxi company said the driver’s vehicle had broken down and he’d need a tow truck and then come back and get me.
By 1:37 a.m. he arrived. I hadn’t been assaulted or robbed yet by that time luckily, but the driver agreed that it wasn’t a great place to be standing at night.
Finally I arrived in Hot Springs at the Arlington…
I was in Hot Springs doing research for my upcoming book 17 Tales of Tragedy and Triumph, a collection of short fiction. The first story is entitled “Base Hit” and follows the situation of an up-and-coming baseball player in Hot Springs for spring training who ends up getting mixed up with the mob.
Al Capone (see below) looks friendly, but his crew could be rough, too.
While in Hot Springs I got to do a tour of the lake on the Duck amphibious vehicle as well, which was a lot of fun. I also found the people kind-hearted for the most part in Arkansas, but some were a little more on the negative side than Texas and definitely more on the lower-energy side of the spectrum! Very interesting how different a vibe between two very geographically close states.
I also stayed in another hotel for a few of the days where I worked on my book (see below). This one was on the lake and quite nice.
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