Hot Springs Day Two – 5/3/21

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Unlike the first day, where we just got settled in and ordered pizza and beer from SQZBX, we did a TON of stuff on day two in Hot Springs, and I’m far too lazy to make an individual post for everything, so I’m doing one post with all the things.

We woke up early and had coffee and muffins at the hotel, then got dressed and went to Hot Springs National Park. There are miles of trails to walk, with natural hot springs flowing all through the park, and it’s right downtown.

We didn’t walk all that terribly far since Ava is 4 with tiny little legs, but we did spend about an hour walking and looking at the scenery.

Next we decided to do some walking around downtown, so we parked at the free parking garage on Exchange St.

As soon as you walk out of the garage there’s a water feature, and when you get out to the street, you’re right beside Fat Bottomed Girl’s Cupcakes.

11am cupcakes seemed like exactly the kind of thing you should do on vacation, so we popped in and each got a cupcake.

I’m not gonna lie, the food elitist in me thought this place was gonna be a mediocre tourist trap. It’s right on the strip and has food network signs all over it. Usually that means a place USED TO BE amazing, but now they’re just milking a TV spot to separate tourists from their money.

I’m very happy to report I was dead wrong. This place has some of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. They have a ton of different kinds, and every variety we tried was awesome. The cupcake to frosting ratio is much better than a lot of the places I’ve been to that have a sad little dry cake with a pound of frosting on it, and the cake itself is super moist and flavorful.

Ava got chocolate snickerdoodle, Daisy got creme brûlée, and I got lemon vanilla.

Oh, and they’re also connected to a super cute little gift shop. Ava very badly needed a plush possum. She named it Alicia.

Full of cupcakes, we decided to wander around Central Ave for a bit and do some window shopping. Ava got her fortune from a vending machine, which only terrified her a little.

At this point it was getting close to time for some actual food, so we started looking for a place we could grab some lunch to bring back to the hotel. On the way, we got distracted by a fudge shop and walked out of there with some peanut butter fudge and Pecan Divinity and some gummy bears. I swear to god I’m going to gain 10 pounds this weekend.

We did eventually find a place to eat. Bubbalu’s Bodacious Burgers and Classy Dogs.

Based on the name, I had basically no idea what to expect, other than burgers and hot dogs. I figured it could go either way. As luck would have it, the food was actually very good. Cool little place that also serves beer if you’re dining in. I got a burger and fries, Daisy got a classy dog, Ava got a kid’s meal with a hot dog and fries. They give you literally pounds of fries BTW. Literally one order would have been fine for the three of us.

The food was really good. The hot dogs are from Nathan’s and the burgers and hand-pressed angus beef. Also, while I was waiting for our food, Ava found a dog to pet. I think Alicia is a little jealous.

We took our food back to the hotel room to eat because we had been doing things since like 8am. After a short break, Ava decided she NEEDED to go to the pool, so that’s what we did for a bit. The Embassy Suites has a nice indoor pool, and since we tend to travel on odd days because of my day job work schedule, we had the whole pool to ourselves.

After all of this, we didn’t feel like actually going to a restaurant for dinner, so I hit up google maps to find something that looked awesome for takeout.

I found tacos xilitla on Grand, right down the street from the hotel, and placed a pickup order. Daisy got some carne asada tacos, Ava got a cheese quesadilla, and I got a quesadilla al pastor. Alicia wasn’t hungry I guess.

The green sauce that comes with the quesadilla is amazing. Ask for that no matter what you get. It’s just the right level of spicy, at least for me, and has amazing flavor. It kinda reminds me of a take on southern style pepper sauce in it’s balance of pepper flavor and heat.

That was about it for day two. We were all pretty beat so we stayed in the hotel room and turned in early after finishing off the beer from SQZBX that we had ordered the night before.

We’re having a great time in Hot Springs, and we’re gonna find some fun stuff tomorrow. Stay tuned.