Maxi Dress + a day Hot Springs, Arkansas

Blue + White Maxi Dress (on sale!) | Tory Burch Wedges (also) | Straw Clutch (similar) | Turquoise Bracelet via Rocksbox

Here’s a fun little fact that many of you may not know: my wonderful husband, Nick, and I grew up in the same hometown of Hot Springs, AR.  There are several reasons that it is wonderful being from the same town, the greatest of which is that most of our family is in one place.  While this is wonderful, it usually means that we have very little down time because our time is accounted for every moment that we are there.  This year though, Nick and I have pledged to see more of the places we call or have called home.  We recently had the opportunity to spend a day in our hometown so I wanted to share our brief one-day itinerary.  Whenever we visit home, it’s usually a very short trip.  We drive down Friday after work, spend Saturday there, then drive back Sunday.  It’s exhausting and the trip seems to get harder and harder, but thankfully this time we made time for some fun with our families.

8:00 am  – Explore downtown

We usually don’t get into town until very early in the morning (this time, we arrived at 4:00 am) but that doesn’t keep us from rising early to get the most out of our day.  One of my favorite parts of town is the downtown area.  There’s tons of history here with the historic bathhouses and the gangster museum (never been, but sounds cool).  I like to just walk around before it gets too hot.  There’s a free parking deck pretty centrally located.  Otherwise, there’s usually plenty of street parking.

Nick and I also really love the architecture.  There are some cool old buildings if you drive around.  Spot the Arlington and branch off of Central Avenue onto some of the side streets and you’ll likely see some cool old houses.  Bonus fact: when Nick and I started dating (nearly 10 years ago), we bonded over our love for the steam that rises from the streets in the winter due to the natural hot springs.

9:00 am – Breakfast

Downtown Hot Springs is home to an adorable little pancake shop, appropriately named The Pancake Shop.  It’s busy on the weekends, so expect to have to wait a little.  Stop in next door at The Savory Pantry for a cup of coffee and to shop some gourmet goodies while you wait.

10:00 am – Farmer’s Market

Our most recent trip to Hot Springs marked my first time at the Farmer’s Market.  How had I never been?  I’d been wanting to go, so when my mother-in-law asked if we’d be interested in going, I barely let her finish asking before I exclaimed “yes!”  It’s a sweet little spot next to the transportation depot and the veteran’s memorial.  There’s plenty of parking and lots of goodies.  We were in town for a party, so I picked up some flowers to take with me.  My in-laws got peppers and tomatoes for their homemade salsa. Yum!

11:30 am – Ice Cream

After a nice stroll at the farmer’s market and a quick break to snap some photos, we headed back downtown (not even a hop, skip, and a jump) for ice cream at Kilwin’s.  I love ice cream like every good human (I kid), but having had pancakes for breakfast, I couldn’t really handle much.  If I could switch things up, I’d move this to the afternoon.

12:00 noon – Coffee

At around noon, I took a break to do some shopping for my nephew’s birthday (the reason we were in town), but I’d recommend stopping for coffee (and maybe a panini) at Java Primo.  I’ve had breakfast at Java Primo as well but my favorite thing there is a blended chai.  I can’t even remember what it is on the menu but the last time I had it, I couldn’t shut up about it all day.  There’s a Starbucks like two seconds from Java Primo, which is nice if you’re in a hurry or don’t want to get out of your car.  But I think it’s worth it to head to Java Primo and enjoy a relaxing lunch and coffee on the patio.

Afternoon

Spend the afternoon at the pool or, even better, the lake.  One of the things I miss most about Hot Springs is spending the day on the boat.  There are places on Lake Hamilton to rent a boat if you don’t have other access to one.  A day on the boat is my favorite way to cool off on a hot day.  Lake Ouachita is a beautiful lake and one of the cleanest in the nation, but our boat is on Hamilton now (used to be on Ouachita) so I haven’t been out there in a while.  We were prepping for a party as I mentioned, so we didn’t take the boat out and just stayed around the pool.

Dinner

We grilled hot dogs (and veggie dogs – thanks, dad!) for the party, but there are lots of local places to grab a bite to eat.  In the future I’ll do a roundup of my favorite places that we didn’t get to this time around.

Where’s your hometown and what’s your favorite thing to do there?

If you’ve ever been to Hot Springs, what’s your must-see/do/eat?

Thanks for stopping by!!!

xo,