On Wednesday, I enjoyed some pastries at a bakery on Belleville, IL’s main street, which was really cute. There was a movie theater across the street and even a cuckoo clock repair shop.

On the way to Hot Springs, I was running low on gas, and I was initially excited to see this cool old service station, but then I saw that it was closed.

So I looked at a famous school for a while:

Around 65 years ago, this was one of the premiere public high schools in the country. It’s hard to imagine needing the President to send in the 101st Airborne to help get some children into school safely, but those were different times. The National Park was super and informative, but I easily could have spent two hours with the history; I only had 40 minutes.

Also interesting how dynamics changed: it was Arkansas’s Democratic governor Faubus protecting the anti-integrationists with the Arkansas National Guard… then the news broke that Florida’s governor DeSantis (R) flew 50 Venezuelan undocumented immigrants to Martha's Vineyard. It would be impossible to reach a place where there is no room to do better, but actively choosing to do worse by using humans as political pawns isn’t moving in the right direction!

On to Hot Springs… I took some one-lane roads and was delighted by how well-maintained and fun they were to ride: curvy, lots of hills. Definitely the most fun and challenging riding part of the trip so far. Fun to visit, but after Uncle Skip’s warning about “snakes, chiggers, and ticks” puts me off!

My reward: barbecue!

The beef was a lean cut — I missed the name — but definitely not brisket. The staff enjoyed a story about a customer who they needed to let down gently after he declared it the best brisket he’d had.

I got into downtown Hot Springs as dusk approached. There was still some activity, but their peak season ended at Labor Day (and based on how few bathhouses are still in business, that was Labor Day 1975).

It was cool to see lots of historic landmarks that were linked to baseball: back in Babe Ruth’s era, it was a popular place for pre-season work, and there’s a historic baseball trail.

I did head back to my motel concerned about the bleak future for the town: it looks like they’re about to have a crystal meth problem.