Mini-vacay: Part One
After Christmas presents were opened, dinner was had with a couple of guests who had no family nearby to celebrate the season, and a charity fundraiser was completed by myself, we decided to get away from home for a few days over the New Year holiday. We had no specific plans but we looked south towards warmer weather and settled on the Lake of the Ozarks region which has plenty of rentals to choose from. We found one in a condo next to the lake, reserved it and drove down the following day. Above is the view from our living room.
My eldest daughter home from college, was gracious enough to plan everything out and so after cooling our heels for an hour or so, we went spelunking in a nearby cave known for it's elaborate formations. In fact, it is a sought after wedding venue these days which I suppose it why it is called Bridal Cave.
Since it's discover 100+ years ago, it has been on the tourist track and we could see signs of old ladders and walkways overhead between some of the chambers. To allow for modern tourists, there has been a tunnel added between chambers so that one doesn't have to climb 25 feet into the air, walk across a board spanning a huge void and descend on the ladder seen above.
The cave was pretty wild with all the stalactites....
... stalagmites and even columns where the two have grown together.
I don't know how deep the cave went but our journey ended at this point where the way forward was to descend 30 feet to a river below and float onto into the bowels. We, along with the other tourists, chose to walk out the way we'd come.
After the cave, we ate supper at an unassuming little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Table 33. You had to walk in, order off a very limited menu off the wall at a counter, find your seat, and the food was brought to you in short order. The menu, maybe 12 items in total, covered everything from southern comfort food to Jamaican food. Eclectic is about the only way to describe it. After eating my shrimp and grits with a few bites of my wife's butter cake, outstanding would be another word I would use to describe the place. We all agreed it was the best place we had eaten at in many years.
Back home, the dock in front of our rental was all lit up and worthy of a photograph.
Oh! That’s a colourful cave with fab formations. The only cave near us is dull by comparison.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if we have any caves at all in my area. There are a few old abandoned coal mines according to local history but I've never even seen a shaft for those.
DeleteThanks for sharing the pictured Ed! I have to admit that I am finding I have more love of caves than I did before (although not spelunking per se, I think).
ReplyDeleteIt is always such a pleasant surprise to find small thing that are excellent. Shrimp and grits are up there on my list!
Well it was pretty tame on any spelunking scale I think. We had to pay for the privilege and follow a guide on mostly paved walkways. Some crouching over to avoid hitting my head was required.
DeleteI would not have guessed that to be a ladder. I was thinking ancient snow ski.
ReplyDeleteI never feel claustrophobic until I watch someone going through tight spaces or crawling through a cave.
I thought it was a pretty clever ladder and easy to make, hence why I took a photo of it. I an uneasy the entire time underground. I always think about some earthquake happening and being trapped in total darkness forever!
DeleteThat cave is gorgeous although I definitely would have turned around at the same spot you did. How wonderful to find a unique and delicious restaurant! You never know what you'll end up with when you travel.
ReplyDeleteFor sure. It was a unique gem of a find and I was lucky to stumble upon it.
DeleteSounds like a good trip and a fun adventure, Ed. For some reason, as I have aged, I can't do caves anymore. But glad to see your interesting photos.
ReplyDeleteI've never been thrilled about them but was able to swallow my fears and enjoy this one.
DeleteThe cave looks fantastic! I think places like that are pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteThey are and I'm glad they take pains to protect it now. They even have gone so far as to repair damage done to stalactites that souvenir hunters took before it was protected.
DeleteLooks like an excellent choice for a spontaneous mini-vacation. I haven't done very many cave tours, but that one really takes the cake. I can only imagine how amazed its first explorers were.
ReplyDeleteThat was the first cave tour I have ever done myself outside of one I did as a child in Hannibal. All the rest have been self directed and just with my immediate family.
DeleteThose caves are beautiful. On a completely unrelated note, have you read about the cheeto bag dropped in Mammoth caves?
ReplyDeleteI had not but thanks to your tip, now have. I am a bit confused though. I'm assuming the Cheeto bag didn't have mold on it when brought into the cave so in my mind, it seems as if it wouldn't have introduced mold to the cave ecosystem. But yet the rangers spent time cleaning up all the mold it attracted and seem concerned about it spreading. Regardless, I understand the peril and the reasons for the rules and it is a shame that people can't follow them. I hope the "problem" is able to be contained.
DeleteBrrrrr! I would feel claustrophobic even though it was gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThere was one point in the passage called the lemon squeezer. My wife, petite, could walk through it and barely catch her shoulders. I on the other hand had to exhale a bit to get my back and chest to fit through the available space. Had I been a bit shorter, it would have been easier as it was wider down near my stomach and hips.
DeleteNice place to visit! What a pretty cave:)
ReplyDeleteIt really was beautiful and beyond what I had expected when we were getting ready to enter it.
DeleteBeautiful cave! I would have thought the boats and the ramps would have been taken up for winter ice. May you be blessed in the New Year.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I've ever driven past when the lake was completely frozen over but I'm sure the bays can and do freeze from time to time. We saw several boats a day go zooming by during the few daylight hours we were there and looking out the window.
DeleteThat cave is amazing! But yeah, I'd have stayed out of the water too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the ranger would have had me in a choke hold if I had climbed over the fence between me and the drop off into the water.
DeleteWe've been to a number of caves just because I loved the idea of them long ago. Your cave would have captivated me. I remember going to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky with our son who must have been about 8 years old at the time. I think. The guide told us about a native American they called Lost John who was in the cave. Well... once Jon heard that, he said he didn't want to go into the cave. We had to convince him that he would be safe.
ReplyDeleteYour cave is beautiful. How wonderful that your daughter is now able to plan these trips for you.
It has been a game changer for family vacations. It changes the entire dynamics for the better.
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