#148 Lost River Cave 9-12-09

We heard about this cave that you actually ride a boat into and it was right on the way to Nashville, our next stop. It is definitely a tourist trap, but it is different than any of the other caves we’ve been to. There was even a place to park RV’s.

The first stop on the tour was a “blue hole,” it looked more green than blue, but the picture shows more blue than green. The pool is supposed to have been over 300 feet deep. But, with modern equipment they found the pool is only 15 feet deep, but the underground river takes any thing that falls in down river and is lost forever! Thus it has the name as the bottomless hole. An entire wagon, horse and two confederate soldiers were lost in this very pool.

This was our guide. He really had an Eastern Tennessee accent, and was really funny to listen to. His name was Christian. He had a lot of stories about the cave and surrounding area.

We were really surprised to find out about the underground nite club. Be sure and read the sign. What an amazing story.

Frank is sitting on the original stage that was used by the bands that played when this was a nite club.

The original cover was wood, but this has been restored and uses metal, which will last longer. It is a big area.

Check out the original bar in the far corner. Behind it is a door that goes back into the cave. That is where all the liquor was kept cool. In order to get down to the cave there were a steep set of stairs to come down.

Before we went into the cave we had to read the safety rules. I liked the part about tipping the guide, but not the boat! Of course, our guide told us that if the boat did tip, to just stand up. The water is only about knee deep!

We had to bend down in order to get into the cave. The beginning is only about 4 feet high. You look like you are heading down a tunnel with the light at the end. It was pretty cool to be in a boat inside a cave on a river.

Only one place where there was any flow stone. Our guide took us almost to the end where the “dam” is located. It is not a very professional dam because it is still subject to flooding and has to be rebuilt often. Also the owners are going to extend the ride further down the river.

Jesse James actually used this cave. Christian showed us how people toured the cave before the boats. They actually walked up to where Jesse James camped out. As you can see below, there was plenty of fresh running water.

Because there was always running water, this place was also used to power a mill. It kept getting washed out and eventually was closed.

I know this was a tourist trap, but it was really interesting and very well done. We really enjoyed Christian. The tour took about an hour and we took off towards Nashville at about 1:30 pm.

We stopped at the Visitor Center in TN, just over the state line.

We met another traveler who travels with his dogs!

The white dog with the dark beard is the old dog. He is 16 years old. The black dog with the light whiskers is only a year and a half old. They both stay right on the bike, even when the owner is not there. They were so cute!

On to Nashville!

#147 Mammoth Cave, KY 9-10 & 9-11-09

We stayed at Mammoth Caves National Park Campground. All the sites are primitive—no hook-ups. There is a dump station and a place where you can fill up with potable drinking water, so we were fine. Right behind our RV are public restroom. The showers and laundry were up at the store just before you drive into the campground. The site was level and blacktop. Perfect for us. The visitor center and cave tours were about a half mile away. We purchased our tickets on the 10th and did our tours (2 of them) on the 11th.

Our first tour took us to the Historical entrance, where we walked down about four flights of stairs into the cave. Frank says, “another hole in the ground!’

We were surprised to see the remains of the salt peter mining that was done during the war of 1812 and the civil war. Salt peter was used in the manufacturing of gun powder.

Because this cave was once privately owned and operated as a mine, using slaves as laborers and then used as a tourist attraction to make the owners income, there are many places where graffiti occur. Above is one such occurrence.

One of the passages we went through was very tight. Someone gave it this name. Below is Frank coming through the tight quarters. You literally touched each side and some places had to go through sideways.

One of the previous owners got some college kids to work in the cave, clearing out rubble and making the paths safe to walk on. The only pay they received was this plaque naming the area where they worked.

The prettiest part of the cave was the “Frozen Niagara” room. We walked down steps right next to the formations. It was very pretty.

It does look a little like Niagara Falls if it were frozen. Some parts were well lit, others not so much. We really had to watch our step.

Mammoth Cave is the largest cave in the world. It has over 300 mapped miles, and there are still areas that have not been explored. We ended up walking four miles inside the cave. Quite a hike! Over 500 steps on different staircases. It was a very nice adventure.

#146 8-8 thru 8-9-09 Louisville, KY (a side trip)

We decided to drive to Louisville, KY before heading to Mammoth Caves to see where the “Louisville Slugger” bats were made.

We stayed at the Lyndon/Louisville Elks Lodge, where we parked next to the outdoor pavilion and hooked up to 15 amp electric.

It was nice and quiet until the evening when there was a baseball game right behind the pavilion next to the Elks. But, they were having a good time and we weren’t bothered by them. Most of the fans and players left well before 10:00 p.m.

We pulled in about 3:00 pm. and drove to a nearby shopping center. Dixie got her nails done, Frank got a hair cut and we found the Wal Mart Super Center and did some grocery shopping. Now that our domestic chores are done, we can do some tourist stuff tomorrow!

The world’s biggest bat, and look, next door at the glass works the ball broke a window!

We are at the Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat Company. They make 80% of the major league baseball bats. We signed up to take the tour of the factory, but one of the rules was no pictures inside the actual manufacturing plant.

Here’s Frank at the home plate, using Mickey Mantle’s bat. There were other famous baseball players bats you could swing.

A manikin showing how the bats used to be made all by hand on a lathe. This is just before we went inside the plant. Inside we saw the fully automated, computer controlled lathes that make each bat in 30 seconds. The company will make custom bats for the major league players with their signature burned into them.

The players love their “Louisville Slugger” bats!

After seeing 15 minute film about the bats and baseball we walked down a hall that had murals to look like a locker room. Pretty cool.

We left after a short stop in the gift shop and had lunch. I had a brochure from a glass manufacturing studio and we found it right around the corner from the Louisville Slugger plant. So we took a self guided tour around the studio.

They manufacture all kinds of glass, from commercial installation of designer windows to glass sculptures. This is a model of what they made, and the sign tells all about where it is hanging now, how big it is and what kind of glass they used.

They do amazing things with glass. Their office doors are glass with door handles like the sweeping glass above that is attached to the stained glass. Beautiful.

Then we watched a glass blower work in the Hot Room using molten glass to make objects. He made a number of items, all which were just for examples. They were then let to cool, break and would be put back in the furnace to be reused.

I wish you could see the display of glass balls—but the reflection of the windows obscures the view of all the different colors. They were beautiful.

Even on the outside of the building there was glass sculptures representing the fire in the hot room.

After our tour of the glass gallery, we found The Brown Hotel and went to have a “Hot Brown.” This is a sandwich made famous by the Brown Hotel that Bret and Laura had told us about.

All over town there were horse sculptures, similar to the moose we had seen in Bennington, VT. The one below was in front of The Brown Hotel.

As we are leaving downtown we see the building below, with the reflection of a large crane in the windows. I know the picture doesn’t show the amazing reflection that we saw, but you can imagine that the town of Louisville is still a changing, growing city.

Be sure and click on the photo and see it as large as you can. The clouds, the crane and the building and bridge reflected in the building are really neat! A fitting good-by to us as we leave Louisville, KY.