Sunday Republican, November 7, 1993 LURAY CAVERNS 1 The vast Double Column stands nearly five stories high and dominates Giant's Hall in Virginia's Luray Caverns. 34 Subterranean splendor in America's caves By RANDY MINK Copley News Service STANTON, Mo. On family vacations as you drove through the hills of Missouri or Kentucky, Virginia or Tennessee, you probably remember all those billboards touting tourist attractions, particularly caves. Over the years, the idea of visiting commercially exploited caverns has "haunted" certain folks who either view them as tourist traps or perhaps are a bit wary of what lurks in the damp. drippy, "bat-infested" depths.
But to a new environmentally aware generation, these spectacular underground chambers are seen as precious natural literally buried treaFor children, a cave tour is educational as well as just plain fun. Caves are coo: again. So cool, in fact, that these "air-conditioned" vaults with temperatures hovering between a constant 52 to 60 degrees, can be a bit chilly. I But that's mighty refreshing on a hot summer's tours provide a look at dreamlike formations in galleries, grottos and alcoves lavishly decorated by Mother. Nature and enhanced through" manmade illumination.
Listen to the guide, use your infa*gination and see shimmering sculpted rock in the form of totem poles, anthills, statues, draperies, icicles, frozen waterfalls, even fried eggs. You might, see "cave popcorn" drops of limestone that have plopped down and crystallized in clusters. Many formations are still growing and glisten with moisture. (Just to refresh your memory stalactites point their craggy fingers down from the ceilings, while stalagmites struggle up from the floor.) Commercial caves are easy to explore via well-lit, paved paths. Whereas early explorers used ropes and stuffed lanterns with braided rags for wicks, most caves today are accessible by elevator.
All have souvenir and snack shops either at parking lot level or inside the vaulted rooms of stone. Some caves "are noted for their fanciful formations or sheer size of their chambers. Others may promote their natural colors or role in American history. One Missouri cave specializes in wedding ceremonies. Missouri is sometimes called the "Cave State," and for good reason.
More than 5,000 caves honeycomb its hills and valleys, providing plenty of opportunities for daring spelunkers; more than 20 caves offer guided tours. Perhaps Missouri's most famous cave and certainly one of its most advertised tourist attractions is Meramec Caverns. Nestled in the Ozark foothills near Stanton, alongside the Meramec River, it's just over an hour from downtown St. Louis. Meramec Caverns is probably best known as a hideout for outlaw Jesse James in the 1870s.
James' knowledge of the caverns' intricate passageways gave him cover after numerous robberies. A guided tour of Meramec Caverns ends at the "Stage Curtain," billed as the world's largest single cave formation. A light show features the Ameri-. can flag emblazoned on the 70- foot-tall. 60-foot-wide expanse of vertical dripstone as the sound system plays "God Bless America," sung by the late Kate Smith, who once performed her trademark song in front of the curtain.
The Meramec riverfront of- Chill out: Seniors find fun in the snow Continued from Page T-1 and wondered how anything could survive up there." I For both McDowell and the Sommers, a highlight of trip dogsledding. "Wc saw the beginning of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, with 60 or 70 teams, McDowell recalls. "Then we got to go on a dogsled ride. They let us drive a little bit. 1 It was kind of scary the dogs really go like sixty." Sommers had just as much fun.
"They were fantastic, well-trained dogs, really interested in what they were doing," he says. Senior travelers who want a more cducational approach to Alaska in winter can look to Elderhostel, a non-profit network of low -cost, weeklong academic programs for travelers 60 and older. Alaska sessions include lectures on ecosystems, marine mammals, economies, people and history of the Inside Passage aboard the Alaska Marine Highway ship. A 2.180-mile round-trip voyage starts and ends in Bellingham, and stops for field trips at such ports as Skagway, Ketchikan and Sitka, as well as other sites. There's opportunity to mect local people on too.
Those seeking the downhill thrill can join the Over the Hill Gang International, an organization of more than 3,000 50-plus skiers, which sponsors a dozen or more trips each year to Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains in British Columbia, which also include tours of Vancouver and Victoria. Other Over the Hill Gang destinations are Steamboat, Aspen, Vail, Redstone and Summit County in Colorado and Utah, plus Valle Nevada in Chile. Additional trips and get-togethers are sponsored by the association's 14 local chapters. Travelers 55 and older can zoom along trails in and around Yellowstone National Park on snowmo- If you go: Alaska Wildland Adventures offers its 10-day winter safaris Feb. 11-19, Feb.
25-March 6, and March 5-14 at $1,995 plus tax. The company provides such winter gear as insulated boots, overpants and parka. Trips coincide with either the Fur Rendezvous festival or Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Alaska Wildland Adventures, P.O. Box 389, Girdwood, Alaska 99587; (800) 334- 8730.
Elderhostel's 7-day Sheldon Jackson College Alaska Marine Highway Floating Campus program is scheduled throughout winter months and costs $780. Elderhostel, 75 Federal Boston, Mass. 02110-1941; (617) 426-7788. Outdoor Vacations for Women Over 40's cross country ski trip to Big Sky, is Feb. 27-March 6 and costs $1,665.
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Groups of 28 stay in a lodge miles from Jackson Holc. where they learn to operate the machines and ride trails. They spend two days inside Yellowstone National Park. snowmobiling the Grand Circle route and staying a night at West Yellowstone Lodge. In Jackson Hole, they take a sleigh ride among 8.000-10.000 elk wintering at the National Elk Refuge.
and can try out other winter activitics. Each tour member is provided a snowmobile. all winter clothing, lodging and meals. Yellowstone is also the destination of a women-only tour in late $925. Call for other dates and chapters also sponsor warm-weather rafting, hiking and canoeing as skiing.
First-year dues for at-large individuals and $60 for couples; local dues. The Over the Hill Gang Heights Drive, Colorado Springs, Rainbow Adventures' trip to Yellowstone is Jan. 29-Feb. company provides cross country members at least have tried cross Rainbow Adventures, 1308 (708) 864-4570. Saga Holidays' Dec.
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canoeing and cruises on the Cavern Queen line. (The cave's thousands of bats do campers a favor by completely devastating the local mosquito population.) The easiest cave tour in Missouri is at Springfield's Fantastic Caverns, which offers a 45- minute tram tour; no walking is required. In the Lake of the Ozarks region- near Camdenton, exquisite onyx formations provide the setting for weddings at Bridal Cave. which claims the world record for underground nuptials. Mark Twain Cave, in the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, figures in five of the author's books, including "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" Tom and Becky Thatcher got lost there.
Also popular is Marvel Cave at Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson. Luray Caverns, in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, is the most visited cave in the East, and a major Shenandoah Valley attraction. Its most distinctive feature is Great "Stalacpipe Organ. recognized by the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the "world's "largest natural musical instrument." The organ is located in the "Cathedral" where music. is produced when electronically controlled- rubber-tipped plungers strike stalactite formations encompassing three and a half acres.
The organ can be played manually at its console or automatically through a music boxlike mechanism. Visitors to Luray's vast chambers also remember the mirrorlike Dream Lake, which reflects thousands of stalactites hanging from above and is considered the most productive wishing well in the world. Luray Caverns also has the Singing Tower (a carillon of 47 bells) and an antique museum. In nearby New Market are Shenandoah Caverns and Endless Caverns. Organ Cave, a leading sight in southern West Virginia, is named for a huge formation that resembles a church organ.
Civil War as shelter ConThe cave played a role lore the federate troops and a source of saltpeter, an ingredient in gunpowder. Other West Virginia caves include Lost World Caverns near Lewisburg; Smoke Hole Caverns, Seneca Rocks and Seneca Caverns, Riverton. Motorists cruising through Tennessee can't escape the roadside hype for Chattanooga's Ruby Falls, a cave buried deep inside Lookout Mountain, the home of another heavily advertised attraction Rock City. Each year. 400,000 visitors see the cave's 145-foot waterfall, America's highest underground waterfall open to the public.
At 1,120 feet beneath the top of the mountain, Ruby Falls is the deepest commercial cavern in the country. The roaring waterfall, bathed in colored lights, was named after the wife of the man who discovered the falls in 1928. At the southern gateway to the Smoky Mountains, northeast of Chattanooga, the Lost Sea in Sweetwater features glass-bottom boat tours on the world's largest underground lake, which is stocked with huge rainbow trout. receive a national directory of caves, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to National Caves Association. Route 9, Box 106.
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