Being the fool in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs, Arkansas was a wonderful discovery for us. An absolutely delightful place with a sense of history, character, hiking trails, amenities and enjoyment. What Tulsa wasn't, Hot Springs is.

We checked into the Hotel we had pre-registered in and didn't like it -- it was an ugly 50's renovation that stood at the end of the street like a periulus. So we moved to the Arlington Hotel, which was a old grand resort hotel that had been renovated the way it should be done.

Hot Springs' historical downtown is in the process of being renovated. There are dilapidated buildings with plywood for windows next to newly remodeled restaurants. A hobby of mine is checking real estate prices and they are amazingly low in Hot Springs.

The National Park Service is renovating seven of the classic old bath houses along the historical main street. "Taking the waters or baths" was the thing to do in the early 1900's. We sampled this luxury by taking the baths in our hotel. The hotel had the original tubs with a large motor that produced a plethora of bubbles. It looked like a blender for soaking.

This is where I was the fool.

I settled in the tub for a long soak. The attendant rubbed me down with a bath mitt and a special soap. It felt wonderful "I thought "this is going to be great", but I thought I should try a little more of the soap. After the attendant left I reached up to the dispenser and gave it a push and the whole container fell in the tub.

I wasn't too worried about this and laid back and closed my eyes as I settled in. A few minutes later, I noticed something tickleing my nose. I opened my eyes and I was surrounded by a frothy mountain of bubbles. My head was sticking out of the bubbles like a cherry on a frosted cake. The bubbles were overflowing the tub and spreading over the floor.

I tried to scoop them away from the side, but it was fruitless - but not bubble less. The attendant came back in -- saw the bubbles and sighed the sigh of "what has this stupid tourist done"? I lamely said "Did I do this?" as I looked like King James IV with a ruffled collar of bubbles surrounding my embarrassed face.

The attendant replied "You sure did, please get out of the tub." I hauled my red face and body out of the hot tub and followed the attendant to the next station which was a sauna. The rest of "taking the baths" was uneventful. I even found out some local gossip on Bill and Hillary Clinton and other celebrities my masseuse had seen.

If you are in Arkansas, I recommend going to Hot Springs and "Taking the baths". Just watch out for the soap next to the hot tub.

Thought for the day: "Sometimes you play the fool and sometimes you are the fool."

More notes from Hot Springs, Arkansas.

I think it is an excellent education to stay at world class hotels like the Arlington Hotel, the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC, and the Four Seasons Resorts wherever they are located (and others) to see what outstanding location, amenities and service is all about. The same is true of outstanding restaurants.

We had some of the best Bar BQ at nationally famous McClards in Hot Springs. It is not fancy, but people were lined up waiting for a chance to indulge in this rite. The same was true of the Pancake House across from the Arlington Hotel.

Take your team to the best restaurants and hotels in your area and when you take them to meetings. Ask them to pay attention to what makes these restaurants and hotels unique and deserving of its reputation. Then ask them and yourself, "What we can do in our practice to make it unique and deserving of a reputation for excellence?"

Remember, these hotels and restaurants don't have to be the most expensive, but they do need to excel at what they do. The Arlington was $130.00/ night and the two restaurants mentioned above cost $20.00 per meal for Kirsten and me. You can also bust the budget occasionally at very expensive places and ask the same questions mentioned above.

Speaking of restaurants; we saw a lot of fat people in Hot Springs. I felt like Slim Carlisle in Arkansas. The portions are huge and both the men and women pack it away. No wonder Clinton needed a triple by-pass. Must be a great place to be a cardiologist.

The masseuse countered this wisdom by saying his Grandmother "lived to be 102 and thought an oven was for warming the house and fried everything, even green peas." I think he is right; a local delicacy in nearby Vicksburg, Miss is fried pickles.

There are a lot of people with missing front teeth, so the dental IQ is not too high in Arkansas.