Hot Springs AR & Canton First Monday Trade Days

[happybooker1]

Son and I just got back from a GREAT week. We stayed at Crystal Springs COE in Royal AR. Most sites are either ON the lake or with lake-view. We had a fairly level site but some looked to not be as good. Breezes coming off the lake were nice.

Third day we were there a cold front blew in with rain for 2 days. Down to 65 degrees at night, and this was the end of July!! We didn't use the AC for 2 whole days!

Park is about 30 minutes from Hot Springs -- a nice drive through the countryside. We were there Monday-Friday and did: Alligator Farm and Zoo, Duck Tour, Bathhouse Row, the shops across from the Bathhouses, Gangster Museum, Wax Museum, and Maxwell Blade's Magic Show. Plus just enjoying the campground.

We left on Friday and started home (near Houston Texas) but making a stop at Canton for First Monday Trade Days. WOW! Native Texan here, and I KNOW we do things "bigger" but just -- WOW! A flea market/trade show the size of a Six Flags amusement park! We spent 2 full days there and didn't see but about 2/3's of it. Didn't even get to all the booths/stores in the town itself.

Luckily we were still in that cool front, so day temp's were only in the high 80's -- not triple-digits like it would be most years at the beginning of August. We camped at Lake Tawakoni SP, where we could have FHU's. About 40 minutes away from Canton.

FABULOUS full-length concrete pads as smooth and level as a parking space in the CG. A fire pit AND a grill, table and lantern hook made our nightly suppers easy to cook out. Supposed to be known for its fishing in Lake Tawakoni, and we saw PLENTY of fishing boats, but surprisingly they have NO fishing piers. You can walk through the scrub marsh to the lakeshore however -- but your shoes will probably get stuck in the mud! Son was looking forward to fishing there, but after one trek we didn't try that again.

All in all, we had a terrific time and really lucked out with that cold/cool spell we were blessed with!