Cave City, KY

Yours Truly with entrance sign of Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave National Park

For my 2nd state in my travels to 50 states, I took a road trip with friend JH to visit Mammoth Cave in Cave City, Kentucky.

JH on the left, Yours Truly on the right

JH is a teacher and had the week off for fall break. (BTW, she is fabulously single fellas, just saying). We packed my car full of suitcases, camping gear, food, firewood, beverages, matches, purses and s’more sticks. We left our furry friends - Buddy (JH’s collie) and Rain (my whippet) - at our perspective relatives’ houses and we headed out.

It was about a 5-ish hour drive, and we made it to the campgrounds with enough day light left to make camp. JH put up the tent, while I made the fire. Dinner was grilled cheese and a vegetable soup that JH made the day before. Dessert was s’mores, a campfire classic.

The Campground

Grilled cheese and vegetable soup yummo!

We called it an early night and I went to bed wearing my clothes because it was cold!

The next morning, we attempted to use the 35 year old camp stove that JH brought to make eggs for breakfast. We could not get it working, so we had sandwiches and applesauce muffins JH made using her grandma’s recipe. She generously shared her recipe with me - see below. Disclaimer: Drag N Weight bears no responsibility for addictive behaviors that may occur after using this recipe.

After breakfast, we drove to Mammoth Cave Canoe & Kayak for a kayak ride. We saw the water misting up from the still water. We paddled past two bald eagles perched on branches.

Cabin where we signed in, got our kayak gear and watched a safety film. Shadow of Yours Truly.

After kayaking, we had a brief picnic lunch at the car of deli sandwiches, grapes, and carrot sticks. Then we headed to our first cave tour - The Violet City Lantern Tour. This was my favorite tour we did. It was a little smaller group, and we took old fashioned oil lamps with us. All the lights in the cave were extinguished.

Yours Truly holding oil lantern incorrectly so that her face is illuminated. Correct position of lantern holding is arms down so as to illuminate the path in front of you.

Our tour guide gave us the history of the use and tourism of Mammoth Cave from prehistoric times to the present. I was most curious to hear about an enslaved man named Stephen Bishop. He was a tour guide who taught himself to read and write by writing tourists’ names on the cave walls. He was able to purchase his freedom and later returned to the cave and continued conducting tours. His gravestone can be viewed on an above ground trail called the Heritage Trail.

Gravestone of Stephen Bishop

Unfortunately, JH developed a migraine after the tour. We stopped briefly at The Watermill Restaurant for some country cooking, before heading to the hotel. We were both grateful to have reserved a hotel room that night.

Country cooking from the Watermill Restaurant

Our final tour of Mammoth Cave was the Historic Tour. We got to see the cave with the lights on this time. There were few stalactites as the cave is very dry. We made it through Fat Man’s Misery and crossed over the Bottomless Pit.

A narrow passageway named Fat Man’s Misery

Just beyond the entrance to Mammoth Cave

After a brief sojourn to the gift shop, we bundled up back into the car and headed for home. On the way, we listened to an audio book about Native American children’s stories. We also played a game where JH played ‘80’s music and Yours Truly had to guess the title or artist. Epic. Failure.

JH’s Grandma’s Applesauce Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup no sugar applesauce
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix oil and sugar. Add applesauce, baking soda, flour and cinnamon. Bake 20 minutes.

Cost of Trip
Lodging
- Camp grounds: $25.00/night
- Hotel: $105.95/night
Tours & Excursions
- Violet City Lantern Tour: $32.00/adult
- Historic Tour: $24.00/adult
- Kayak: $67.20/kayak (holds 2 people)
Food
- Watermill Restaurant: $34.44 (2 people + tip)
- Groceries: $13.41 (my half)
Transportation
- Gas: $20.25/tank
Total per person: 12.50 + 52.98 + 32.00 + 24.00 + 33.60 + 17.22 + 13.41 + 10.13 = $195.84