Luray Caverns

For the past two years, we have talked about stopping at Luray Caverns. We pass nearby every year, as we crisscross the state on our drive to Ohio and back. My in-laws gave us a DVD a few years ago and we’ve watched it several times with Andrew. He showed a lot of interest in visiting, so this year we made it happen.

The drive up to the mountains was perfect. The weather was ideal – clear and crisp with unlimited visibility. I had Peter in the front and Andrew in the back, while Susan rode along with her dad. The drive took about 2 and ½ hours, with half of up being in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley. Andrew enjoyed being pulled around in his seat as we rounded all the sharp curves. I couldn’t help but think about the sharp contrast of landscape as compared with oh-so-flat Florida.

We arrive in Luray right at noon. Luckily, we had pre-made sandwiches so we didn’t have to stop to eat. Susan paid the entrance fee and we hung out in the gift shop until our tour was ready to start. Andrew found a rock display and couldn’t resist playing with all the colorful stones.

Before the tour started, we were all given little audio devices and headphones. Down in the cavern we entered the code for each stop along the path. We had to two choices – the 100s or the 200s. The 100s were geared for adults and the 200s were for kids. I started on 101, but decided to switch to the 200s after seeing how much fun Andrew was having with his channel. The 100s talked about geology and other boring stuff, whereas the 200s talked about finding things like ghosts, eggs, bacon, and other things made out of rock.

The tour wound around one amazing rock sculpture after another. In one place, it looked like a dense collection of stalagmites on the floor, but it was really a reflection of stalactites hanging on the low ceiling. Another amazing site was a column from floor to ceiling, penetrating the walkway. There was a wide open cathedral room with an organ that uses rubber hammers to gently tap stalactites to make music. At another stop, we saw a stalactite and a stalagmite separated by less than an inch. Andrew plans to return in 100 years to see if they have reached each other.

After the tour, we visited the other gift shop. In there, we found homemade chocolate fudge. Of course, we had to buy some and try it out. There was an old car and carriage museum on site, so we quickly walked through it, too.

On the way home, we decided to take a detour and stop somewhere to play in the snow. We ended up at Montpelier, James Madison’s home. It was still open, but tours were done for the day. It didn’t matter to us, since we didn’t plan to stay that long anyway.

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