HOT SPRINGS IS SO COOL

Why, oh why, in the three years I’ve lived in Dallas has no one told me about Hot Springs, Ark.? Hot Springs is North Texas’ best kept secret! It’s only four and a half hours away and is packed with fun adventures. Roger, I have to say that I think I will convince you that I had the best weekend getaway. (Click on the red links to see photos.) Not just because of the amazing room and terrace at the Hamilton House, where Al Capone is rumored to have run moonshine through this tunnel. I spent part of my Saturday at Gallery Central with delightful gallery owner Bess Sanders admiring the art of Linda Palmer and Texas’ own Benini, another part trying on jewel-encrusted crowns designed by Joseph Holland at Tillman’s Antiques and shopping for gourmet delights at The Savory Pantry, where I found the most inspired selection of honey I’ve seen including wild blackberry, raspberry, rare Hawaiian, lavender, cinnamon, and sage. My friend Maureen Hollern and I were determined to have a fun-filled girls’ weekend away, and we certainly acheived our goal with the help of Rebecca McCormick, executive editor of Hot Springs Life & Home. Follow the jump to see a pic from the horse races at Oak Lawn and more.

Here are a few more highlights: Besides the suite overlooking Hamilton Lake, we strolled through the historic district and checked out the vintage bathhouses, spent a day at the races, which was a first for me (I won $10.80 on my first bet–Songdancer), and we even attended a fund-raiser where we heard a few numbers from Cole Porter’s last musical Aladdin, which would have been lost if it wasn’t for the obsessive diligence of Hot Springs Musical Festival Artistic Director and Conductor Richard Rosenberg. You, too, can be in the audience when this musical is performed from start to finish for the first time in history on June 10. Did I mention our second night spent in the presidential suite at the Embassy Suites? Now I’m just bragging.