Luray Caverns, Virginia

These are called 'eggs'. Can't you tell by their looks, but actually they are made of crystallized rock with iron ore, limestone and sulfur all found underground in the Luray Caverns.  What a sight! It took millions of years to develop the stalactites, the rock formations that grow down from the ceiling and the stalagmites that grow up from the ground.  They are actually growing about 1/2 a cubic inch in 120 years.  Wow! If you touch the rock formations they will not grow any longer. Luray Caverns were discovered by Andrew and Quint Campbell and a photographer Benton Stebbins in 1878.  Their attention had been attracted by a nearby sinkhole that had cool air coming up from it.  Can you imagine digging and then using only candle light to go in underground to find the sights I have featured here.

I don't have the pictures we took cataloged but can tell you some of the facts our tour guide said.  One of the pictures is referred to as the skeleton because the bones of a young Indian girl were found laying there. Another one was referred to as the draperies, and another is called Pluto's Ghost. You can see where one of the giant stalactites fell from the ceiling and is propped sideways. Several of the huge areas cleared had small lakes that reflected the rocks. Over 500 weddings have been housed in a giant area down in the cavern.  Even in 1956 Leland Sprinkle was given a large sum of money(a grant) to install a pipe organ and put rubber thumperson the various stalactites to play Almighty Fortress Is Our God! Beautiful! Although I can' t agree with our government using our tax money for ventures such as that! There are other caverns found under these mountain ranges the e Appalachian and the Allegheny, but the Luray are considered the largest-about three miles.  They are 164 feet deep. One stop we made in the cavern was the wishing well where you could throw in money and make a wish.  Since this started they have received over one million dollars that have benefited many charities that they had listed on a wall.

There is a law to protect the formations because when they first opened them they allowed people to break off souvenirs. This caused the rock formation to die and they realized how disastrous the outcome would be to continue that practice. Anyway, now if you are caught breaking off any part you will be fined $5000 for every cubic square inch.