Happy Birthday, Luray Caverns!
Jen is out of town for the weekend to work on some creative things (look for a rebirth of her blog soon!), so I took the kids down to Virginia to see the Luray Caverns. By accident, this is the 128th anniversary of the discovery of this amazing, underground space. In honor of the occasion, they had thousands of candles laid out and allowed visitors into an area that is normally closed to the public.
This is my first time ever seeing the place, and it's truly amazing. There are countless unique stalactites, stalagmites, and other limestone formations that I can't name, but they also seem to follow a few basic patterns -- not the typical icicle form I expected to see. There's a particular stalagmite pattern (the one that comes up from the floor) that looks like a Dr. Seuss-style birthday cake. There's a stalactite patten that looks like hanging fabric (Madeleine calls them towels).
It was interesting to imagine what it might have been like to be the first explorers of this subterranean space. The ceiling is relatively close to the floor at the point where they first entered the caverns, but eventually opens up into "Pluto's Chasm" which drops over 100 feet. ...and they were exploring this place with candles.
Posted August 12, 2006 10:31 PM