Mammoth Caves National Park, KY

July 2-7, 2024

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Jeffrey and I left after work, around 5:00. We were hoping to install a new radio before we left, but unfortunately things did not pan out and work as we wished, so we ended up bringing the new stereo with us to try and install later. (Ours had died a few weeks previously, so we were hoping to have some music for our long drive to Kentucky.)

We drove to Caesar Creek State Park in Ohio, and we managed to get there at 9:30, right as it was getting dark, which was a huge win for us. We rarely get to a campsite on Fridays before nightfall, so it was a nice luxury to not roll in that late. Jeffrey did add a new mix to our oil before we left, and the van noticed a huge difference! She went much faster on the interstate (which we also usually wouldn’t take), and we were quite happy that she ran so smoothly. 

After settling into the campsite, we went to bed for the adventure ahead.

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Happy 3rd anniversary to us!

We woke up hot and headed to the showers. I was looking forward to a nice cold shower to have a break from the heat. Jeffrey was able to achieve this. For me, my shower stalls were filled with feces and the water was hot (which would normally be a win but not on a morning like this). I was able to find a somewhat clean stall to shower, but it was a bit gross. We had cereal and took off to enjoy our anniversary in Louisville. 

We arrived in Louisville and found a public parking lot before heading to the Mussel and Burger Bar for lunch. We both ordered a simple burger that came with delicious seasoned fries. We then made our way over to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. We took a tour around the factory, which was very informative. Did you know that Louisville Slugger baseball bat wood originates from central Pennsylvania!? We didn’t! We traveled all the way to Kentucky to learn about Pennsylvania trees! We got to see signatures from different baseball players, tour the museum, and hold game-used baseball bats! We were even able to hold a Babe Ruth! (The end was covered in a protective silicone, but we still “held” it.) We also got to see a little baseball-themed arcade and the gift shop where we got a little slugger magnet for the van.

After our time in Louisville, we made our way to our campsite along Nolin Lake in Wax, Kentucky. We were very happy to see just how close our campsite was the the lake, and we quickly changed into our swimsuits for a dip. It was so refreshing, and it would become something we did often in the heat of this trip.

For dinner, we had sloppy joes, took another swim, and enjoyed the evening at our site.

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Happy 7th dating anniversary to us!

We started the morning by going to Mammoth Caves National Park to go on the 10:00am Domes and Dripstones Tour. I was super excited for this tour as I love geology and couldn’t wait to see different geologic features. This first look at the caves was so exciting for us! Upon entry, we saw many cave crickets and felt the shift from hot air above ground to the clear line to cool air beneath ground (which was so refreshing). We saw a little gypsum, and towards the end of the tour, we saw huge mounds of the beautiful stalagmites and stalactites. I was a little underwhelmed at the amount of geologic minerals (I was expecting more minerals and gemstones beyond just the limestone and gypsum in the cave system), but it was still incredible! To think that the structures took thousands of years to build is just unfathomable.

After the tour, we headed to Park City to find lunch. We felt it was a bit touristy and didn’t have much to offer above ground, beyond some mini golfing and a dinosaur adventure park. We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch where we discussed our game plan for the rest of the day. It was here we decided to move our Extended History Tour (that we had scheduled for later in the week) to that evening. (The drive from our campsite to the park was a bit farther than we wanted, so we were trying to save some time.) In the down time after lunch, we visited a few souvenir shops.

The Extended Historic Tour was Jeff’s favorite. It toured massive openings in the cave system, but it also took you through some small vertical passageways that had even more dripstones than I had imagined. It was wild how the cave system could be so different from one entrance to another, which did made sense since it was the longest cave system in the world. At over 400 miles currently, it is continuing to get deeper as water is carving new and deeper passageways. We even encountered a group of cave researchers that were exploring new sections of the caves. While the Domes and Dripstones Tour had smaller passageways and more intricate features, the Extended Historic Tour had massive passageways that made you feel very small. 

Our guide was also extremely talented and focused on the stories of the cave, including the horrific slavery that played a large part in the success of the cave itself and our part in the Cold War (saltpeter was mined for the production of gunpowder). She told stories about Stephen Bishop and his famous tours despite his slavery status. She also shared stories about Dr. John Croghan and the belief that the “cave air” could cure tuberculosis. You could see the small shelter that was used for patients to live for weeks at a time. There was even a stone platform outside the shelter where they would lay the dead before taking them to the surface to be buried. It was very solemn during this part of the tour, and it felt a bit heavy. I felt guilty for all of the horrible things that happened in this cave even though I wasn’t alive for this time period. It was also reiterated multiple times that the original explorers of the cave went through the passageways by candlelight. The thought of walking through unknown crevices and massive openings with a single candle seemed frightening to me!

There were also winding passageways and steps to beautiful drip features, which were one of my favorite parts. She pointed out gypsum (which is used in makeup and drywall) and explained how Native Americans would scrape it off the walls and take it to the surface, but no one really knows what they use it for since it dissolves in water. She explained how there are burial grounds of Native Americans in the cave system, which is withheld from the public, and that there are definitely parts of the cave that could be haunted. She said that there were numerous stories and artifacts found that she was unable to share with us, but that were evident, some still under research. She ended the tour by reiterating the importance of telling our stories, being true to ourselves in the telling of the stories and our perceptions of them, and also making our stories worthy of being told and passed down. We are responsible for the legacy we leave behind.

It was humbling to think that this cave system is still generally new to us and that there are sections still being discovered. In the past 26 years, the majority of the cave has been discovered. Imagine what will be discovered in the next 26 years!

After the evening tour, we headed back to our campsite, had leftover sloppy joes for dinner, and then we took a bath in the lake! Since it was the Fourth of July, we were surrounded by fireworks! It was so lovely floating in the river (our life jackets were so enjoyable for this), watching fireworks, and celebrating 7 years together.

Friday, July 5, 2024

Because we moved our Extended Historic Tour to Thursday evening, it meant we didn’t have a wakeup time of 6am on Friday for it! We were so grateful to be able to sleep in! Since the day was wide open and we didn’t have a tour, we decided to explore the area a bit.

We started at the Lincoln National Historical Sites where we got to explore a museum about his life, see where he was born, where he grew up, and we learned about prominent people that influenced his life. 

We then went to Willet Distillery to try some Bourbon, since that is such a popular thing to do in Kentucky. Driving around, you would see giant warehouses aging the bourbon with the windows open. Sometimes you could even see the thousands of barrels in a facility. So we figured, why not?

Well. We quickly learned (we kind of knew this already) that we are not bourbon people. If it hadn’t been for the little oyster crackers served along with our pricey tasting menu, I’m not sure if I would’ve been able to get through it. It tasted like caramelized nail polish remover. I’m much more of a moonshine kind of person if I’m going to go for something that strong. 

After discovering our distaste for bourbon, we decided to go to a brewery, something much more our speed. Immediately, I knew this was a good decision. We went to a place in Bardstown called Scout & Scholar, and it was definitely the vibe. We ordered 2 flights to try lots of different local beers. Jeff got a burger, and I got delicious pork quesadillas. I also got the cutest tshirt that says “Hold My Beer, I Gotta Pet That Dog,” and it supported the local animal rescue. I couldn’t pass it up!

We then drove back to the campsite and, of course, took another swim before heading to bed.

Saturday, July 6, 2024

We started our morning with bagels with butter before heading to Mammoth Caves again for our last tour, The Onyx Lantern Tour. This tour was given by the national park but takes place in Great Onyx Cave. After seeing such different types of caves in our last two tours, we weren’t really sure what to expect with this one. 

We had to take a bus to the entrance to the cave. There was a door that led you down some steps into the actual cave itself. They lit Coleman lanterns for about every fourth person to carry to light our way through the cave. We had an older couple from the Carolinas behind us who quickly befriended Jeffrey and the light he carried to be their guide. They were so funny! 

As we entered the cave, we realized, yet again, just how different the cave was from the others. It wasn’t tight like the Domes and Dripstones Tour but it wasn’t massive like the Extended History Tour either. I will say though, there was MUCH more gypsum (including a gypsum flower!) in this cave than the others and the drips in this tour rivaled the ones on the Domes and Dripstones.

Our tour guide shared stories about the history of this cave as well, how two men used it for tours, their falling out, and the mystery of how it was discovered. He discussed the poor business of the men as they would show parts of the cave before asking for more money to continue taking people further. The illusive water boat tours through the cave always seemed to suspiciously be closed in early days of the cave tours as well, even though the guides claimed they were “famous” for these boat tours through the cave. I think this was probably my favorite tour. I loved the geology that was quite evident in this tour, and the lanterns made it very cozy and surprisingly brighter than the other pre-lit tours. Having our own lantern allowed us to direct light at specific areas we wanted to see better too, making it more personalized.

After the tour, the bus brought us back to the visitors center, and I noticed a bug climbing up my sweatshirt. It looked like a very large tick but with different colored speckles on its back, very different from the ones we have in PA, so I wasn’t sure. I went to one of the park rangers from our tour, and his eyes grew large immediately, positively identifying it as a tick. He brushed it to the ground and took a lighter to it! Obviously they are just as big of an issue in Kentucky as they are in Pennsylvania!

After the tour, we took a small ferry across a creek (which Jeffrey always is excited to do) before going back to our campsite for a quick swim. We then decided to start heading home to break up our drive into two days. We figured we’d find some cool places to stop on the way home to make the drive enjoyable, but we really struggled to find things that weren’t super out of the way. We even struggled to find a spot to stop to make dinner that wasn’t a truck stop or gas station. We also struggled to decide if we should try to find a free spot to camp for the night or if we should find a state park. After taking too long to decide on anything, we ended up at Tar Hollow State Park. We cooled off and almost immediately went to bed sticky from the earlier heat and tired.

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Finally, we drove to one more spot in West Virginia to visit my grandmother (who treated us to dinner!) before heading back home filled with fun memories (and covered in sweat haha).