Across Five Marches (SOLSC 16/31)

I wasn't sure what to write about, and for inspiration I went to my photos on my phone.  It turned into an exercise in scrolling to previous years, specifically March.  Here is a collection of observations from the past five years.

March 2018 

Here we have a trip to the zoo and a local garden.  More specifically, it was one of my first outings with my first niece.  Ivey was a few months old in the pictures.  I am smiling so broadly, happy to have a little partner in adventure. 

March 2019 

A long standing tradition for me in March is to travel and go out into nature.  And no location is more visited than Hot Springs.  I was drawn to the picture of me and my friends enjoying ice cream and also margaritas.  Good food is also a must this time of year!

March 2020

And then there was the year I couldn't go anywhere, but could still enjoy the simple things.  I baked bread and decorated my car for a teacher parade through our local neighborhoods.  

March 2021

While I wasn't quite ready to travel the following year, I did get out again.  This was a time to be outdoors and embracing the beautiful weather this time of year has to offer.  I even found the slice I wrote from the pictures I took.

March 2022

Last year I finally got to travel again.  Not only did I see Ivey and her family (now including a second niece for me to love and adventure with), but we went on a family cruise together! The pictures remind me of my love of travel and all the places I have been and and have yet to go.

I can't wait to share the rest of March 2023 with you all.

Haunted Springs

Despite having visited Hot Springs, Arkansas nearly once a year since I was a teenager, my visit this past weekend was the first time I ever actually went on the Haunted Tour of Hot Springs.  The white two-person shed was always empty when my friend group and I would make our semi-annual day trip to Hot Springs. I can't tell you how many times I have walked past the black sign advertising tours after dark, but we never stayed until then.  

That is, until, this past weekend when my best friend Katie and I decided to visit Hot Springs for her birthday and treat our selves to some spooky funtimes.  Not only did we decide we would finally partake of the "Haunted Tour," but we would also stay the night in The Arlington, a hotel known for its own history of hauntings.

There were five stops on this tour and some of the locations our tour guide, Terry, talked about were actually surprising.  For instance, apparently one of my favorite soap stores -- The Bathhouse -- was once a tea room and came with a particularly unnerving and grizzly murder straight out of a Criminal Minds episode (unsuspecting female victim and creepy stalker included).  

We also learned that Hot Springs was where the first refrigerated morgue in the United States was located, the 1940s small pox outbreak in the South started, and the first park ranger died in the line of duty.

Unfortunately, while we did not see any ghosts or spirits on the tour, we did enjoy a short walk along Central Avenue as we were told these stories and more.  Honestly, spookiness aside, that's what I truly love about ghost tours.  They are actually history lessons wrapped in cobwebs and a black bow.  

If you ever find yourself at a loss for something to do in a new place, might I recommend seeing if they have a ghost tour of some kind?  I've only been on two, but I have yet to be disappointed by the experience.