Weekend in Hot Springs, AR

Oaklawn's great and easy to get to. Old school track, although they do have slots, IIRC.

Gangster museum is pretty cheesy.

They're trying to develop a funky/artsy Asheville-type scene, but they have a ways to go.

This time of year, weather is a crapshoot. It can be springlike, or in the grips of a winter storm, or anything in between.

I'm from Arkansas & my grandparents have a lake house on Hamilton off Airport Rd so I basically live there in the summers.

Oaklawn is real nice, they recently added on & did a great job - nice track. Haven't been to Fairgrounds so I can't compare the two.

Arlington is well known and most of the Spa Houses are located downtown on/around Central Ave. I don't do the touristy stuff but will text my mom and try to get the spa names she goes to tomorrow

We usually cook out but you can check out Jason's, Mcclards, Hawgs, Sam's Pizza, or Roland's. None of those are fine dining but a good time. Go down Central Ave and that's where mostly everything is located. There's bars off Central on the lake (Symly's and a few more). My friends back home and I prefer to get fricked up at Hawgs tbh

There's a duck tour that offers tours of the lake/town too. Not sure if they run in the winter though. There's also the Belle of Hot Springs which is a boat that sails through Lake Hamilton that also offers dinner. However, the food is nothing to write home about. I went on a tour with the fam 3-4 years ago at the Arkansas Farm Bureau Convention and the family night consisted of their sick arse food..the only good part were the views from atop of the boat

Check out the Mountain Tower too. Good views of the surrounding area

Hiking
I've hiked Pinnacle Mountain 10-15 times, it's a good time (WLR)

Clinton Library is cool, very modern. Heifer International is located behind the library which is also cool. The River Market has also improved in downtown LR. Cheers, Cajuns, Trios, Sushi Cafe, Brownings, Brave New Restaurant are some of my favs in LR

ETA: Garvan Gardens is a cool place to take a look at too in Hot Springs. Check out their wedding chapel. It's awesome

Winnamocka & Camp Ozark are my old stomping grounds. Miss it

I gotta lake house there and spent a lot of time there over my life. Please bump tomorrow when I'm sober. Please list interest and likes, food preferences. Track better than fairgrounds. You have to eat the corned beef. May be the best in the world.

Everyone tells me Hot Springs sucks so I've never been there. When I visit Arkansas I go to Eureka Springs, but the people there are kind of shitty.

Hot springs is a nice place for a long weekend.. Id definitely check it out if you are not sure.

Hot Springs is one of my favorite places.

It's perfect for a weekend getaway.

Hang out at the Arlington on a Saturday night. It's a 20's era hotel that has a great atmosphere. The entrance is kind of a ballroom and they have jazz bands on weekends. The wrap around porch area of the Arlington overlooks all of the historic district and is an amazing place to just relax and hang out with a drink.

There are a couple of semi-famous breakfast joints that are great. Good dinner meal places are a little more hard to come by because they come and go. We'll find a place we love in the historic district and when we go back it will be closed. Has happened a couple of times.

There are a couple of decent bars but they are not really packed, club sorts of places.

Hot Springs is one of the best places to go just sit around, walk around and relax. The less we try to do when we go, the more fun we usually have.

Eat lunch or dinner at mcClard's barbecue. I would try a bath house too, the one I went to wasn't very nice and it was pretty old, but it was cheap and a neat experience. Go on top of the tower.

It's a national park so there is other stuff to do, but it's not a big or prominent national park.