PHOTOS: HOUSTON COFIELD; ALAMY STOCK
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Breakfast at the Reserve; a fountain at Hot Springs National Park; Buckstaff Bathhouse.
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In the small town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, 700,000 piping hot gallons of mineral water a day pour from natural springs along the mountainsides. That odorless, colorless bounty has long drawn visitors eager for a soak at the string of bathhouses that cropped up in the early twentieth century. Today, Hot Springs is buzzier than ever thanks to new hotels, a growing food scene, and creative new uses for the famous water—including in beer and at a new award-winning sake brewery.
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THREE NEW MUST-VISIT RESTAURANTS |
A Taste of New Orleans’
Temple to Gulf Coast Bounty |
Inside Kevin Gillespie’s New Scottish-Inspired Atlanta Restaurant, Nàdair |
Dinner at Virginia’s Maude and the Bear
Is a Culinary Journey |
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Kayaking through rocky shoals spider lilies.
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WHAT’S OLDE IS IN BLOOM: As its name implies, South Carolina’s Olde English District—spanning Chester, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Union, and York counties—was settled by British colonists in the eighteenth century. The region’s past is on display across numerous Revolutionary War sites and architectural gems, and with spring flowers at peak performance, now is the best time to, well, time travel. Sample the district’s home-grown harvest at its many u-pick farms, or take in rare rocky shoals spider lilies while paddling the Catawba River during Lilyfest (May 18 in Chester County), when the waters become blanketed in white blooms. Plan your spring trip to the Olde English District for a getaway where the past beautifully meets the present.
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ELSEWHERE AROUND THE SOUTH |
Seven Southern Old-Fashioned
Soda Fountains |
ELIZABETH HUTCHISON HICKLIN
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Middleburg, Virginia. If you’ve visited this charming village in Virginia’s hunt country, you’ll understand how quickly my husband and I booked flights when friends invited us to the Middleburg Spring Races. If you haven’t made the trip before, picture gently sloping pastures and woodlands set against the Blue Ridge Mountains along with a bustling town center that dates to 1728, when the first tavern (now the Red Fox Inn) was erected.
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Backroad rambles: From the airport, we stopped off in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, for pastries at Bolivar Bread Bakery and a photo op at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers before making our way to the historic Mill House in nearby Upperville. The impeccably restored rental came with a pool overlooking a creek at the edge of the backyard, where our host had prepared the firepit in anticipation of still-chilly spring evenings.
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Rural idyll: After settling in, we headed to Middleburg’s five-star Salamander Hotel, situated on 340 acres within walking distance of downtown Middleburg, for a quick Friday lunch. From there, our group splintered. Half sought out local pints at the horse-farm-set Lost Barrel Brewing, while the rest of us braved the misty rain for the chance to explore Oak Spring Farm, the rural estate of the famed horticulturalist and philanthropist Bunny Mellon. In preparation for Virginia Garden Week, Oak Spring’s terraced gardens were peaking, and not even the weather could dim the beauty of Mellon’s masterpiece.
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Off to the races: On Saturday we awoke to a bluebird day, and after coffees at Common Grounds and stick-to-your-ribs breakfast sandwiches from the Upperville Citgo (a local’s tip), we made our way to Glenwood Park. A seasonal rite in these parts, the Middleburg Spring Races are rooted in the tradition of foxhunting point-to-points, and heats of powerful Thoroughbreds thunder across grassy hills and over timber and hedges. A picnic lunch from Market Salamander sustained us through the event’s nine thrilling races.
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