Kentucky

Thursday, August 13, 2009















The first tour of Mammoth Cave we took was the Grand Avenue tour. It was 4 1/2 hours, 4 miles, 670 stairs and was considered the most strenuous tour unless you went caving on your hands and knees. It has a cafeteria called the Snowball Cafeteria because the ceiling looks like someone threw snowballs on it--see above Randy's head. It even has restrooms--at 267 feet below the surface! (They pump the sewage up.)

Randy has always wanted a Ranger hat.

Friday, August 14,2009

Today we took the Historical Tour. It starts with the natural entrance and shows the mining they did in the cave for salt petre--an ingredient in gun powder. This mining was crucial for the war of 1812 because before that they mostly imported the salt petre to America. Slave labor was used in the mining and later for guides for tours.

This passage was called, Fat Man's Misery.

That night we went on another tour, The Star Chamber Tour. On this tour, lanterns are used to simulate how tours were done in the early 1800's.

At this place, about 17 men were sacrificed. That's what the male tour guide says. (ha ha) About 17 marriages have been performed here.

The slaves who conducted tours in the 1800's would write the names of their clients for a "tip" with candles on the ceilings and walls of the cave.

This is a petrified bat on the rock.

People would build monuments out of rocks. There is even one with a plaque by the governor of a state--tax dollars at work!