crazy water
I am sitting at my desk typing and sipping a glass of “Crazy Water.”
What is Crazy Water? It is a bottled mineral water that I bought yesterday at a “water pavillion” in Mineral Wells. In fact this is the stuff that gave the town of Mineral Wells its name if I understand correctly.
It supposedly cured some crazy woman a hundred years ago. The water has a lot of lithium, which may have been what did the trick.
Anyway, word spread about the water and its curative powers and people started coming from all over. Drinking pavillions sprang up where you could sidle up to a bar and order a drink of mineral water. Or you could sit around and play cards or dominoes while drinking water.
The Famous Mineral Water pavillion is the only one left. You can still go in and sit at the bar and order a drink of water. Or you can buy it by the bottle and take some home with you like I did. You can even have it delivered if you live in town.
I’ll let you know later if it restores my sanity.
October 6th, 2006 @ 11:23 am
Now I have an earworm: Robbie Robertson is singing “Somewhere down the crazy river…”
Somehow I don’t think it’s the same stuff!
October 6th, 2006 @ 4:52 pm
It just slays me that people charge so much money for a glass of water!!!
October 7th, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
Not far from Kansas City is an old mineral springs spa that originally became famous because it cured some woman’s skin disease after she dipped her legs in the spring. What bothers me is that for more than 100 years, people have been drinking from the spring where the woman bathed her diseased legs. ugh!
October 8th, 2006 @ 8:09 pm
You are correct in the naming process. All started in 1877 on the Lynch farm. A decent book on it, an other Texas heatlh spas.
Crazy Water
The Story of Mineral Wells and other Texas Health Resorts
by Gene Fowler, TCU press
isbn 0-87565-091-0
October 11th, 2006 @ 9:40 pm
Forget the healing, I bet you will need an extra outhouse after consuming that stuff.
“Running To The Outhouse”, by Willie Maekit
What does it taste like? Well water? High sulphur content?
October 16th, 2006 @ 8:46 pm
Pablo, I bet you’re talking about the “Elms” in Excelsior Springs, MO. My son was born there & lives there now. Our well water was so heavy w/iron that all the plumbing fixtures turned orange. Yet, he was born w/an iron deficiency…go figure !