A Visit to Remember

 

This question has been coming up on Facebook lately, too often for me to resist answering. Where is a place you have visited that, if you could go again, you would? It did not take long for me to come up with an answer. On my first visit I did not appreciate everything I should have due to some particular circumstances, but now I would cherish the opportunity of a return visit.

In early 1964 Jim and I planned a trip to Beckley, West Virginia, to visit Jim’s mom. I was pregnant with our first child, but I was anxious to see my mother-in-law again. I knew that when she heard we were coming, there would be homemade chocolate and coconut cream pies waiting for our arrival. Pregnant people have food cravings.

We planned on two days to get there from Delaware, and thought we might do a little sight-seeing on the way as long as snowstorms eluded the forecast. We usually went from Manassas to Culpepper and on south to I-64, at least the part that was finished, but this time we decided to go to Front Royal and down the Appalachian Trail for a more scenic view. Our map told us that Luray Caverns was on the way and after reading about it, we decided we would stop there for the tour.

It did not look like much when we arrived, sort of like a welcome center, but we were in for some spectacular sights. Military personnel got a special discount so that was an additional plus to our adventure. A prominent sign informed us that in the caverns it remained a constant 54 degrees Fahrenheit. That was no problem since the air outside was colder. We were already bundled up in winter coats, hats, and gloves.

As we followed a downward path, eventually we came to Dream Lake, a spring with stalactites reflected in the water appearing to connect to stalagmites making the actual bottom unseeable. It was beautiful, made more so by the electrical lighting illuminating the cave walls. As we walked on we saw many large rooms with crystallized calcium stalactites in all colors of the rainbow, reds from iron, black from manganese, and blues and greens from copper. I had never seen anything so beautiful.

The Great Stalacpipe Organ is one of Luray’s many touted features but because it had some man-made parts, I was not as impressed as I should have been. I thought it would have been better to leave it au naturale since tunes could be played on the actual formation, but instead a custom console had been connected to the stalactites. Granted, the music played from the natural “pipes” was impressive.

The caverns have stalactites (form downward) and stalagmites (form upward), all with majestic names that somehow fall short of their real beauty, Giant’s Hall, Elfin’s Ramble, Saracen’s Tent, Castles on the Rhine and many more. I thought I was in a fairy tale.

The actual hike through the caverns is about 1-½ miles and being pregnant at the time, I did not give it the attention it deserved, and so, yes, I would love to go back. If you are ever nearby, stop. You won’t be disappointed. And if you cannot go in person, click here for a virtual tour. There are other virtual tours online, but I liked this one best and, still, it does not do the formations justice. Be sure to click “full screen”.