Going Down? Underground in New Braunfels
[cue Aerosmith’s (Going Down) Love In An Elevator]
The Natural Bridge Caverns in New Braunfels were my first caverns ever. Yes, I was a “cavern virgin”.
However, unlike that other “first time”, I thought the caverns were great fun. (Don’t worry, I’ve since come to greatly appreciate more than underground caverns. Thank goodness first impressions aren’t always what they seem.)
Moving on…
These caverns are considered the largest in Texas, and were discovered in 1960. What else can you really say about caverns? They’re underground, damp, and full of weird-looking formations. They’re probably really dark, too, when not run as a tourist attraction loaded with artificial lights…
They (“They” being the People In Charge of Caverns) named each of the more interesting formations. The names included such oddities as “Purgatory Creek” which was the deepest point at 211 feet, “Fairy Castles”, “The Watchtower”, “Mount of the Landlord”, and “Fried Egg”.
One in particular reminded me of the creature from the movie Alien. However, They must never have seen the movie so They named it King’s Throne or something. (Hey, I can’t be expected to remember, it was dark down there.) Okey-dokey. I still think it looks like the creature from Alien. Watch the slideshow below to see the one I’m talking about. And if you aren’t familiar with the “Alien” movies series, do yourself a favor and go rent the movies.
Coming up next (as long as I get all the footage edited) will be a one- or two-part post on Texas Ranch life. It’s very different from the suburbs in which I spent the last many years.
Caves kind of freak me out, but at least your Caverns weren’t very cramped. And they came with tasteful lighting too!
Love the Alien series. (with #2 being one of my favorite movies, ever.)
It was cool, but I was kind of glad the bats weren’t around. I’d like to see more caves, as long as they have nice walkways and tasteful lighting.
very nice. It never ceases to amaze me how much of our country I’ve never even suspected existed. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving to you!!!
Thanks, Jenn! Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! I never imagined how little of the country I would have seen after 1.5 years. So much more to go!!