Lutefisk, hot springs and happy soakers

I don't know how it happened, but last weekend in the hot tub at The Symes Hotel in Hot Springs, the conversation turned to lutefisk.

I was visiting with a Polson woman who weaves baskets from pine needles when I overheard a few soakers, my own husband included, decrying the Norwegian delicacy. I had to politely excuse myself from that conversation and set the record straight.

"Hey, don't knock lutefisk until you've tried it," I told them as one bather feigned nausea. (It's the reaction I typically get when it's explained to them that one really can eat lye-soaked cod).

It just goes to show that you never know what's going to happen when you soak at The Symes, and that's the beauty of the historic resort.

For those who have never stayed at the popular enclave in downtown Hot Springs, it's truly a step back in time. The rooms are much the same as they were when built in 1929 - no phones, no television, no air-conditioning, but lots and lots of hot, soothing mineral water.

Although The Symes has been upgraded through the years with the addition of outdoor pools, it has kept much of the original flavor, including a row of original claw-foot bath tubs (in private stalls separated by partitions with swinging doors' in the original bath house. Visitors lounge around in all kinds of swimming suits and robes, and you learn quickly to lose any inhibitions you'd be inclined to have when bathing in such close proximity to others.

We usually stay at The Symes during the Sanders County Fair in Plains, where we operate a bratwurst and barbecue food booth. Although it's a 20-mile drive every night from Plains to Hot Springs, it's worth it for the pleasure of crawling into the hot tub to soak away the aches and pains of slaving over a hot grill for 12 hours.

The mineral baths draw an eclectic bunch of people, and that's what is so fascinating to me.

For example, last weekend, we conversed with a wonderful worldly woman from Estonia who teaches at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo.

There was an electrical engineer from Kalispell, the basket weaver from Polson, a group of Russians from Spokane and a cowboy who had his horse tied up in the next yard over.

For entertainment that doesn't involve water, area musicians come to perform on the weekends, or you can read the paper at the big round table in the lobby. There's no cell-phone service in Hot Springs, so the daily newspaper is pretty much the only source of outside news.

During one of our more memorable stays at the hotel a few years ago when the owners were doing a major roof repair, an unexpected rainstorm caught them off-guard and rain poured down into the hallway and down the stairway.

It didn't leak in our room, so we simply navigated around the buckets in the hallway on our way to the hot tub.

Such is life at The Symes. You go with the flow. Hot mineral water is the attraction, but the hospitality and down-home feel of the funky resort is what keeps you coming back.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com