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I realized the other day that I have expended more effort to experience travel destinations across oceans and continents than where I call home. Although not fully understanding this phenomena, I am working to change it with the help of my children. The simplicity of enriching weekend jaunts with my son and daughter, who couldn’t care less where they are as long as they are enjoying themselves with Mom and Dad, fulfills my quest for low maintenance short travel experiences (see my previous story “Reality Camping”), I am learning that attractions and activities, near where we live, are no less rewarding than on any another continent.
Rich with scientific oddity and geologic treasures, Luray caverns will fascinate children of all ages. Although I had visited the Caverns as a child in the sixties (quick, do the math), I finally learned this time exactly how they were formed and continue to grow at a rate of one cubic inch per 120 years, plus the differences between the formations, a stalactite is from the ceiling and a stalagmite is from the floor. The guided tour is very efficient and allows little opportunity for monotony.
My favorite parts were the playing of the stalacpipe organ and when all the interior lighting is briefly extinguished. The organ is an amazing example of patient tinkering and ingenuity. A musical piano-like keyboard is wired to electro-magnetically propelled hammers fastened to stalactites of exact pitch so when activated, the necessary note is heard. The inventor, a scientist at the Pentagon, spent untold hours in 1954 locating the formations with the exact pitch by trial and error. Those were the days when people actually had spare time. While still fascinating, the haunting door bell-like notes seemed more rich and amazing during my
childhood visit
After the tour, let your kids run wild in the attraction’s one-acre ornamental garden maze next door. Mom and Dad might also enjoy this clever challenge of pathways with eight-foot
tall evergreen walls leading to four strategic checkpoints. I had trouble
The next day, explore the Shenandoah’s famous Skyline Drive or the George Washington National Forest on the way home. This scenic highway, nine miles from Luray and part of the U. S. Park system, rides the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains for 105 miles interspersed with overlooks, hiking trails and the largest concentration of North American black bear. If the fall crowds are inhibiting, investigate the George Washington National Forest - the largest publicly owned land base for recreation in the eastern United States. With over 100 developed recreational sites, overlooks, streams and pristine woodlands, your remaining hours will seem all too short. Do not be surprised if, on your low maintenance drive home, you are already planning your next weekend adventure.
Luray Caverns
Accommodations Jellystone Campground: www.campluray.com |
Luray Caverns - Again
These experiences also tend to be profoundly memorable when visiting an attraction from my childhood. It encompassed a time and social strata when out-of-town travel was a luxury and an overnight weekend jaunt was worthy of a Lowell Thomas travelogue yet, in some ways, the experience possessed a simplistic quality overshadowing that of exotic lands. With the high degree of mobility today, I wonder if, years from now, writers will describe nostalgic travel memories of jetting to the Mediterranean with their parents?
finding one of them and wound up having a nice exercise experience keeping up with my squealing children as they confronted the dead ends at full running speed. Finish the visit by poking your
head into the antique Car and Carriage Caravan Museum next door. Expecting to walk
through fairly quickly you’ll find yourself pausing more and more wondering about those who rode and owned these impeccably preserved horseless carriages. Some of the memorable highlights include a 1892 Benz still in operating condition, a Conestoga Wagon, a 1908 Baker Electric, a 1913 Stanley Steamer, Rudolph Valentino's 1925 Rolls Royce, Model Ts, motorcycles, farm machinery and gangster getaway cars. As a gear head, I not only appreciated this virtual time machine but also found the machinery as an effective venue for American history appreciation.
