8 Heaven in Hot Springs

Chapter 8 HEAVEN IN HOT SPRINGS Heading west out of Bauxite, Dr. McDonald eased the Ferrari onto Route 70. It's a quiet rural road, and the scenery didn't capture the kids' interest. Coke pulled out a copy of The New England Journal of Medicine he had found in the lobby of the Heartbreak Hotel. He started going through it like a scanner goes through pages of documents. There wasn't a whole lot of time to pass. Forty minutes from Bauxite, signs of civilization started to appear at the side of the road. Billboards, buildings, businesses. Soon they had reached the town limits of Hot Springs, Arkansas, nestled within the low-lying Ouachita Mountains. It was getting late, and Dr. McDonald had

driven almost two hundred miles since leaving Memphis that morning. He pulled into the first name-brand hotel he saw—a Best Western—and the family had a relaxing dinner at Outback Steakhouse. There was a rack of travel brochures near the cash register, and the twins grabbed some of them to look through while they waited for their food. Hot Springs, they were surprised to discover, had a wax museum, a go-kart track, mini golf, a water park, an alligator farm, and the world's only diamond-producing mine that is open to the public. "Hey, this place looks cool," Coke told the group. "Check it out, Mom," Pep said. "The Gangster Museum of America is right here. It's a museum all about mobsters and criminals. That would be great for Amazing but True." And it would be. But the McDonalds, for a change, hadn't come to Hot Springs to visit the usual tacky roadside attractions. They'd come

for the water. First thing in the morning, the family piled into the Ferrari and found their way to a small section of town called Bathhouse Row. "Do you kids know why this town is called Hot Springs?" Mrs. McDonald asked the kids. "Because spring is really hot here?" Pep quickly guessed, trying to beat her brother to the punch. "What a dope!" Coke said, shaking his head in amazement. "Don't call your sister a dope," scolded Dr. McDonald. "A million gallons of natural mineral water a day flows from forty-seven springs nearby," Coke said, recalling a library book he'd once glanced at in second grade. "The water bubbles down beneath the earth to superheated areas deep in the crust, and when it gets to the surface, it's 147 degrees Fahrenheit." "That's right!" Mrs. McDonald said. "In fact," Coke continued, "according to

scientists, the water that reaches the surface in Hot Springs today fell as rainfall four thousand years ago." "Just shut up already, okay?" "Don't tell your brother to shut up," warned Dr. McDonald. "Yeah," Coke said. "Don't tell me to shut up. It's not my fault that you don't know anything." "Shut up!" Dr. McDonald parked the car outside a Spanish Colonial Revival building with a large dome covered by tiles.

"We're going to take a bath?" Pep asked warily. In fact, taking a bath was exactly what they were going to do. Before they got out of the car, Mrs. McDonald read a section from her Arkansas guidebook: "Hot Springs is sometimes known as Spa City. According to legend, back in the 18th century the Quapaw Indians discovered the magical healing powers of the springs. Today, millions of people pay good money to sit naked—" "I'm not getting naked in front of a million strangers!" Pep yelled. "You don't have to get naked," assured her mother. "I brought our bathing suits." The guidebook went on to explain that, over the years, presidents, outlaws, movie stars, and athletes had flocked to Hot Springs to soak in the natural mineral pools. The Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox used

to hold their spring training camps there. Visitors would spot Babe Ruth walking down the street, sitting next to them in a tub, or gambling at the racetrack nearby. Nowadays, regular people come from all over the world to relax in the waters and ease the pain of arthritis, bursitis, rheumatic fever, and other ailments. "I don't have any of those diseases," Pep said. "Can I wait in the car?" "Don't be silly," Dr. McDonald said. "This is a family vacation. We're doing this as a family. You're going to love it." Bathhouse Row consists of eight historic buildings and is part of Hot Springs National Park. The McDonalds climbed the steps of the Quapaw, which was built in 1922. The twins examined the Native American artwork and artifacts that decorated the lobby. "Welcome to the Quapaw!" said the smiling lady behind the counter. Dr. and Mrs. McDonald looked over the menu of services, which included everything