How it started: A Fall Getaway to Hot Springs, Arkansas (October 2020)
October of 2020 was a strange moment to travel—equal parts caution, craving for fresh air, and a deep need to feel somewhere else for a little while. I had just met my ,now, husband. His birthday was coming up and he suggested a road trip to celebrate. Hot Springs, Arkansas turned out to be exactly the kind of escape that made sense: outdoorsy, slow-paced, and wrapped in the kind of natural beauty that doesn’t ask anything of you except to breathe.
Arriving in a Town Built on Steam and Stories
Hot Springs has this charming dual personality. On one side, it’s a national park with trails, forests, and mountain views. On the other, it’s a historic spa town with old bathhouses that look like they were plucked straight from a sepia‑toned postcard. Pulling into town in late October, the first thing I noticed was the color—trees just starting to blush with fall, the soft gold light that only shows up this time of year, and the steam drifting lazily from the thermal fountains along Bathhouse Row.
Even with the world feeling upside down, the town had a calm, steady heartbeat.
Bathhouse Row: History You Can Feel
Walking Bathhouse Row in 2020 felt like stepping into a quieter version of the past. Fewer people, more space to take in the details: the ornate tilework, the grand facades, the sense that generations before had come here seeking the same thing—relief, rest, renewal.
We booked a traditional bathhouse experience at one of the historic Buckstaff bathhouse. It included a mineral bath( they provided a new loofa to exfoliate with, which, i got to keep.), a hot towel wrap, a 20 minute massage, a needle shower, a sits bath, and a steam cabinet experience. The mineral water was piping hot, almost startling at first, but then it settled into that perfect, heavy warmth that makes your muscles unclench in surrender. For a moment, the noise of the world just… evaporated.
Hiking Through the National Park
Hot Springs National Park is woven right into the town, which makes it incredibly easy to slip from sidewalks into forest trails. The air was crisp, the kind that wakes you up without biting. We hiked the Hot Springs Mountain Trail, winding upward through tall trees and crunchy leaves. At the top, the view stretched out in layers of blue-green hills—Arkansas showing off a little.
There’s something grounding about standing on a mountain in the middle of a year that felt like quicksand.
Small-Town Comforts and Pandemic-Era Quiet
Restaurants were open with precautions, and we especially enjoyed The craft brewery ,Superior Bathhouse Brewery, in one of the retired bathhouses, the Pancake Shop on Bathhouse Row and the Mexican restaurant, Diablos Tacos & Mezcal. There was also a great little pizza place further out with old school 70’s pizza place vibes, cold beer and video games.
Traveling in 2020 meant being mindful, but it also meant appreciating the simple things more deeply.
A Trip That Felt Like a Deep Breath
Hot Springs in October 2020 wasn’t a flashy trip. It wasn’t about big itineraries or packed schedules. It was about stepping into warm water, walking under changing leaves, and letting a quiet town remind me that the world still had pockets of peace.
Sometimes, that’s all a getaway needs to be.
Dia De Muerta statue
Duck Boat Tour
