Neighborhood Elements

What's that I hear?

I promised, some weeks back, to make mention of The Valley of the Vapors music festival. Sorry for the delay, Bill! But, it does start today and runs through the week. Sounds fabulous & everyone can read more about it here!

That is one cool Capone alteration, I must say!

And.....They're Off

Our neighbor and friend Terry dropped by yesterday and left us two day passes for Oaklawn Park. Seems she has a co-worker that owns a horse that is racing today. I only work a half-day on Friday, so the 1:00 post time will not interfere. Last time we went, we took Joe's mother and a family friend of theirs. We all won 'something'... except for Joe. (Of course he was betting long shots all day). So, maybe today he will strike!

I'm already craving one of their reuben sandwiches and a beer.

Let the Madness Begin

Opening Day at Oaklawn_Jockey_Club. Oh, the fanfare! Or shall we call it OJC & Casino? Seems as if that's not too far off the mark. Legalized gambling of different sorts began months ago, but today will be the first day that it will coincide, on premisis, with live horse racing. Word is out that the Cella family, owners of the jockey club, have purchased several acres of mid-town property, with sights of expanding the enterprise. One piece of that property sits just across the street from my office. It's about 15 acres +/-, and even though the original 1960's era K-Mart that anchored the shopping center is long gone, it is still a thriving piece of real estate with amenities from a pharmacy and a 10 screen cinema, to a chinese restaurant and a huge antique mall. At the moment, it's difficult to envision a gambling multi-plex with a high rise hotel there, but I'm sure it's bound to happen. Eventually.

But for today, I DO envision a town of 60,000 bursting at it's seams and morphing back into the vacation capital of the state for the remainder of the year and for which it is so fondly attributed. Today marks the day in Hot Springs, that we call the 5th Season. Winter is officially over here. This is Racing Season! It is also when I find my 5th Season Alternate Routes Through

Town. Only an out-of-towner would be foolish enough to drive Central Avenue or anywhere around the track during these days.

Central Avenue 1907

My heart has always longed for the Dugan-Stewart Bldg to be converted into loft condominiums. Aside from the street-level retail shops, the remaining floors have been left empty and unused. It is second and what seems to be the third building from the right. Connected with a Ground Floor entry, the two 'towers' reach farther upward, with the top floor displaying brilliant sunburst windows.

Today, the Southern Club still stands. Long gone are the gaming tables and slot machines. They've been replaced with human-size wax replicas of several US Presidents, the twelve apostles, and several 'have-been' Hollywood type personas. Aside from the Arlington Hotel, perhaps Josephine Tussaud's Wax Museum is the longest-surviving business on Central Avenue? Perhaps.

The Arlington Hotel in the photo is actually Arlington #2. When Hot Springs later burned, so did this hotel. The current Arlington (#3), now sits at the feet of this photographer, and the old hotel site is a green space. Known by the locals as 'Arlington Park', this half-block was soon reclaimed by the National Park system.

I Never Knew....

Alan Ladd, star of a whole slew of b&w westerns is a native of my fair town, Hot Springs... that I knew. I also knew that Cheryl Ladd is his daughter-in-law.

What I did not know, is that he was only 5'6" tall!!

Madness in my little town

Those of you who are familiar already know that Hot Springs, Arkansas is a charming tourist town. People from all over come and enjoy the laid back atmosphere... the Victorian architecture... the new influx of artists and galleries... but one problem we often have to deal with here is the traffic problems all of these tourists create. In the old town center, only one narrow four-lane road (Scenic Arkansas Highway 7) carries ALL the traffic in a North-South direction. This is due to the terrain limitations that lie on either side of the road. Steep mountainsides begin their upward thrusts just behind the cute streetfront buildings on the west side-the same on the east just behind the old bathhouse row, and the National Park property surrounds all of it.

So you have basically what looks like two big butt cheeks (mountains), with a narrow strip of land within the valley that contains all of the hotels, bathhouses, restaurants and shops, and one four lane road. Add tourists into the mix, and you've got one tremendous headache for getting around town. Unless one chooses to 'hoof it', of course. But this weekend, matters are extreme...

This weekend, Hot Springs is playing host to several annual events, that typically play-out on separate weekends. We have an annual classical Music Festival, the world championship Retriever (dog) competition, the Arkansas Bar Association annual meeting, and the H.O.G. rally (stands for Harley Owners Group)...ALL OF THEM CONVERGING on this town at once.

At this very moment, I could walk out my door on Quapaw Avenue, and within five blocks of walking, I would be downtown amongst nearly every lawyer in Arkansas, 25,000 brutally loud Harley Davidson bikes (and the men - mainly - that ride them), and classical musicians from all over the country. For some reason, I don't think I would see that many Golden Retrievers...but perhaps their owners, yes.

Actually, I just got back from downtown. And it is pure madness, I'm telling ya! And just wait until tonight when all of the attorneys and bikers get drunk. That will be a definite sight to see. But I urge you...if you do not already live in Hot Springs, stay out of town this weekend.

It's pure madness!