Travel Articles > Getting Into Hot Water

Getting Into Hot Water

by Dennis Goza

After a long day of performing and touring, there's nothing like a lengthy soak in a mineral spa to reinvigorate a person. Unfortunately, our opportunities for indulging in this luxury have been a bit rare-exactly 4 times in 14 years, to be exact.

The first was in April of 1993, at the conclusion of our first national tour, which had been booked for us by a couple of entertainment bureaus that believed in squeezing every last drop of energy out of their performers. It had been a brutal 9-month tour with 3 performances a day, drives of up to 200 miles a day, and plenty of problems with severe weather and a cantankerous vehicle. Our final appearance was in Pagosa Springs, Colorado-which we'd never even heard of at the time. We had to drive way way up over the mountains to get there, and before we started down the other side, we were in three feet of snow. After our final show, we discovered how the town got its name-there were outdoor hot pools with a strong odor of egg yolks, that were absolutely divine to bathe in. So we took the time to soak the residue of the past few months out of our systems.

The second time was in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico, which originally bore the more appropriate name of Hot Springs. The town was re-christened after the popular radio and TV game show, which it hosted a few times, offered a prize for any town making the name switch. We were driving through about sunset one summer day a couple of years ago, after performing at a number of New Mexico libraries. We were tired and hot (we've been cursed with faulty air conditioners on our vehicles) and when we stopped to stretch our legs in the middle of this picturesque little burg, we contemplated visiting a nearby bath house. But being limited by both schedule and budget, we opted instead to just climb fully clothed into a little spring right on the street-the size of a typical Jacuzzi, it was enclosed by a gazebo and accessible for public use at no cost . It's been recorded that a number of historical figures also had dipped in this tiny pool, including the legendary Apache chief Geronimo.

The third time was Glenwood Springs, Colorado, which I wrote about previously. While I'd always wanted to stop there in the middle of winter, we happened to pass through in the summer, and we happened to have time for R & R only because it was an unusually slow season. The facility at Glenwood Springs has a medium-size pool of hot water, and a very large pool of warm water. Even on a busy July day, there was plenty of room for everyone to thrash around. And there were also water slides, which Zephyr thoroughly enjoyed.

And then there was this June, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Actually, Kimberly was blessed by this experience on a previous occasion. In December of 1994, we wrapped up a 7-state tour of "A Christmas Carol", which with a company of eight, has been our only full-scale touring theatrical production. After the final performance, in Little Rock, we dropped the rest of the group at the airport to fly back to San Francisco, and then Kimberly, Zephyr and I drove to Hot Springs to spend the night before delivering the touring van and trailer back to their home in New Mexico. Kimberly, who had directed the production, was particularly burned out, so I insisted that she splurge on our hotel's bathing and massage benefits. When she came back to the room with her face glowing like a polished apple, I knew we had to come back to town some day.

Our chance finally came on June 20, when Hot Springs happened to lie on a straight line between engagements. Well okay, at least the line wasn't all THAT crooked.

A portion of Albert Pike Boulevard, which is the main street in Hot Springs, is designated Bath House Row because it's lined with a number of establishments offering health spas. But the best deal we found was a couple of blocks away, on Spring Street. Admission was only 13 dollars per adult, with children under 12 (which still includes Zephyr) half-price. Plus, we found a coupon for one dollar off per person at a local coffee house. So for the next 4 hours, we immersed ourselves in a variety of pools of varying temperatures, from very hot to slightly cool. Yes, I said FOUR HOURS. I'd never spent that much time bathing in anything-in fact, I'd never spent that much time in relaxation of any kind. We went from the warm pool to the very hot pool to the sauna to the steam room to another warm pool to a lukewarm pool to the tepid pool with a waterfall that provided a wonderful massage, and repeated this circuit a couple of times.

Since we were there in the middle of the day, we had little competition for space Most of the other patrons were elderly or infirm locals who appeared to be regular clients. In fact, one gentleman who befriended us and gave us his story noted that he came every day. He'd had a hip replaced three times, he said, because of an accident that occurred when he was 15. Riding his bicycle, he'd been struck by a car, and was left in a coma for 2 months -- -during which time the doctors had refused to operate, because they considered him a lost cause. But now, some 40 years later, he's as spry as he can be with his crutches and the diabetes that resulted from his catastrophe. And in response to my query, he said that yes, the water did him a world of good. We were in the right place.

This bath house, like many of the others, and indeed many of the other buildings in town, are preserved the way they appeared in the Thirties, when the town was frequented by, among others, Al Capone. Even the interior looks like a movie set, with its stucco, wood and stone walls, its wicker furniture, Casablanca fans and antique lighting fixtures.

After we'd spent as much time vegetating as our consciences would allow, we shuffled outside on our liquid legs and prepared to resume our business. But first we stopped to fill some plastic jugs from the pump (one of several at various locations in town) dispensing spring water that bubbles up out of the depths of the earth where it originated 4000 years ago. And since the water is indeed quite hot -- -143 degrees, to be exact -- -it occurred to me that it was hot enough to make tea. So I fetched my mug and a tea bag and did just that. Kimberly quickly followed suit, and we capped off an absolutely blissful day with a 4000-year-old cup of tea.

Here's to another hot spring layover real soon.