This is where we went.
This is one of several caverns that are not too far from Grandma's house. I remember going to this cavern when I was young. But I haven't been again for years and years. This is the entrance into the cave. It is rather unassuming.
Here we head down, down, down into the depths of the ground. The stairs were steep and narrow. 
The first big room had all sorts of these beautiful stalactites. There was even some small stalagmites and one column where one met the other. I giggled to myself when Sophie and Ian told the tour guide all about stalactites and stalagmites as if he didn't already know.
These are the only formations we were allowed to touch. These are the "touching Twins", or the cavern gnomes.
We kept going down and down and down more and more steps. Henry of course had to do it himself. He scared me often. He would often jump down from step to step and it just didn't look safe at all "See Henny no fall down" was all he said. But he insisted on doing it without any help.
At the bottom of the cave. Or at least as low as they take us on the tour there is a beautiful formation of crystals made of the limestone. It is very fragile and evidently very sharp. We didn't test it.... thank goodness. At this point we were the equivalent of 16 stories down into the earth. It was a little chilly and when the tour guide turned out the lights it was darker than dark. But the air was fresh somehow and there was even a slight breeze.
There were a whole lot of these drapery formations covering the different rooms of the cavern. 
We made it through the cavern, even Henry and his jumping down those steep steps.
We dragged Grandma along with us. She has lived in the area for decades yet hasn't been since she was a kid. It was good to go and I think the kids will remember it for a long time.
5 comments:
What a cool place! We had plans to take our kids to a local cave this summer, but canceled at the last minute because with the heat we didn't think our 3 y/o would make the climb up the mountain. I just love stuff like this.
You just had to mention being 16 stories underground didn't you? We're planning a cave trip in a few weeks, and I'm starting to rethink this a bit. Of course Lehman caves are into the mountain and not down 16 stories under the ground. A significant difference to me! Looks like a great field trip for you guys though! Thanks for sharing.
great field trip. i think i'd go nuts in there. i've done some caving but it is very troubling for me-- too claustrophobic. i wonder how my kids would respond?
That looks so fun!
I went there as a kid once and absolutely loved it. My dad always made a point of taking us to caves on our road trips. Now I want to see Mercer Caverns again.
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