2009 Memphis Football Media Guide

Open publication - Free publishing - More university

Vacation at Hot Springs, Arkansas

For the Fourth of July weekend, we took a mini vacation to Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is about a 3 and a half hour drive from our home. We left on Friday morning and went straight to Magic Springs/Crystal Falls, where we would spend the majority of our time. We weren't expecting much since we had read the reviews and all of them were bad. A lot of the big thrill rides were closed. But at the affordable season pass price, and since our kids wouldn't ride those type of rides anyways, we decided it would work out.

The kids had a lot of fun going on their rides,a nd there weren't big lines, so they were able to go right on most of them. Shelby is our daredevil and Noah is the scaredy cat, but he started to warm up at the end. We even talked him into going on the boat ride that went up and then crashed down a 50 foot slide, sending a huge wave of water to those on the bridge and those in the boat. He was nearly messing his pants, but he did it and had fun.

They had a kid rollercoaster that he liked to go on. He was scared at first, but by the third time on it, I got him to lift his hands in the air (although I was holding them up). He said he liked having his hands in the air, but he'd rather have them holding onto the bar.

Shelby wanted to go on everything, but still was a couple inches too short to go on the big rollercoasters. I took her on the Tidal Wave and we sat at one of the ends. She freaked out during it and I had to hold on to her while she was shaking and looking at the ground. But she later went on it again, this time we just sat in the middle.

Her big accomplishment was going on the Hammer, which I hate, but went on it with her. I can't believe she did it and loved it, especially since it has you starring straight down in limbo as it slowly works up enough speed to flip all the way around. I hate feeling all my weight and trusting a drop down bar. Next time her mom can go on it with her.

We camped two nights at a KOA less than a mile from the park. This was our first time camping since our bad experience on memorial day last year. It was really nice and we had a good experience this time. The first night went well and we were able to roast marshmallows on a camp fire. But the second night a huge thunderstorm passed through around 1 a.m. and let up the entire sky for about an hour with lightning and thunder. It poured pretty good and rained most of the night, but our tent held up and we were able to stay dry. The kids slept through it all, which was good.

Saturday morning we went to Hot Springs National Park, which is pretty much a small area in the center of town. There is a large hill with a natural thermal hot spring at the base of it. It was believed that the water could restore one's youth and several bath houses used to line the area allowing people to bath in the water. The water was really hot to the touch. We climbed the mountain and walked around for a while. The town is really old and was neat to drive through and look around.

On the Fourth of July, we went to a Craig David concert at Magic Springs. It was really good and Noah put on a show for everybody in the surrounding area. He was dancing for the first half before finally crashing.

With our season passes, we are looking to make a return trip once or twice before the summer is over and spend a Saturday there since it's not too far of a drive.