My wife and I recently took a pleasant trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. The town was quite the trip and a fun enjoyable place to visit full of history and walkable streets.
However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was walking around in the world of Fallout. The town had this feel of something far past it’s prime the was once extraordinary… I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it though.
But of particular note are some of the liminal and creepy places to be found here.
This is probably the jewel of liminal photos I snapped in Hot Springs. This was in a service elevator at The Arlington Hotel & Spa. I don’t recall what floor it was on but I believe this was called a “break room” and had service elevators for staff.
This underground mini-mall photo was also taken at the Arlington Hotel. I believe this photo was taken around 9PM well past the time these stores closed. You could her music playing upstairs in the lobby of the hotel faintly in the background adding to the creep factor. We later returned to this location on a Monday at 11AM and the space wasn’t any more occupied.
Sadly we noticed that most stores sit empty during the day, especially on weekdays with shopkeepers standing alone all day. We found the people very friendly but it’s a bit melancholy imagining how boring and lonely it would be.
The Arlington offers even more treasures of creepy and liminal spaces. This example of a hallway is typical of any floor you visit.
This was the lonely entrance to the Crystal Ballroom on a Sunday night at the Arlington again. The door was locked but the cabinet on the left had a note left on it.
The note is encouraging to anyone that finds it, but the choice to leave it in this location was a bit odd. Please do not give in to your demons!
This little tourist attraction is an artificial hot spring reservoir that was full of tourists taking photos during the day but felt foreboding at night.
The Grand Promade trail allows you to bypass the busy streets during the day and provides a peaceful shortcut to other areas of the city and national park.
At night around 9:30pm it’s both surreal and relaxing but somehow distant and alien. I snapped a photo of a beautiful woman walking home in a white dress. The silence of the surrounding and ghostly figure in the distance provide a feeling of calm.
Hot Springs wasn’t all this way though. In fact most of it was full of warm people and lively atmospheres. The streets were clean and full of music as well with lots of history, great food, and relaxing bath houses.
If you find yourself in the area I’d recommend doing some exploring. Especially just after dark.