You thought I had to be done showing pictures of our vacation in Iowa, didn’t you? Almost – it would not have been complete had we not ventured into the coolness of the Crystal Lake Caves. And yes, the caves are actually underneath and behind this building:
After descending the 32+ steps into the depths of the tunnels, we were besieged by glorious sights of stalagmites and stalactites:
As the tour guide told it, this graffiti is from the late 1800’s or early 1900’s from the miners who were digging out the caves:
The placards marking what some of the formations looked like, were also placed in the early 1900’s:
This water jug really has been in the cave since 1880:
The tour guide joked that not only does it look like Noah’s Ark, it also looks like the Titanic…and if you look really closely you can see Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet at the front:
Just kidding!
There’s a cave ‘chapel’ down there, and people have actually had wedding ceremonies in it:
Crazy, right?
It’s sad they had to put chicken wire up to prevent people from stealing the ancient formations:
It was pretty cool, in spite of the cramped quarters with a fairly large group of people all trying to get some good shots. Not to mention it was literally cool, as in a welcome relief from the heat above ground to cool down and look at cool stalagmites and stalactites – how many of you know the difference between the two?
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Cool pictures, I love the pipe organ.
The next time we visit my in-laws we should visit a cave! Our boy’s have never been in one.
Super cool photo’s!
One grows up, one grows down, I don’t remember which is which.
How Awesome!! When I was a kid I went to Mammoth Cave in KY! I loved it! I wanna take my kids to a cave someday!
Aloha! Mrs. Marine
& the Tiny Troops
That is so cool about that cave. I figured it would be welcome coolness in there.
Love the one about Lot’s wife too 🙂
I would love to visit!
Glad you had a great time with your family!
Such a nice COOL place to visit in the summer – hope you enjoyed your visit!
Ramona
http://create-with-joy.com
Beautiful photos!! Caves are so cool! Visited Carlsbad Caverns here and it was awesome and HUGE!!
I am with you on finding a cool zone!! Yikes is it hot!!
Hugs
SueAnn
That’s a really interesting place with all the formations inside the cave.. like the pipe organ one the best.
Everything you do is cool.
I love caves; I took my older kids to some in Texas a couple of times when they were young. It’s a shame, though, that people have so little respect for the thousands, if not millions, of years it took for those formations to, well, form that they have to cover them with chicken wire.
beautiful cave.
I bet PN loved to go down there.
I have been there as a teen and n ever forgot it beautiful 🙂 happy we
Fantastic! Love the formations. Very cool shots.
So very interesting. I’ve never seen anything like it!
Love the pictures. Now I’m totally motivated to visit our local caves with the kids!
Wow, that is BEAUTIFUL!
I think the claustrophobia would prevent me from seeing too much of it, but great pictures!
Great pics. Looks like a fun time!
This looks just like Howe’s Caverns in NY. Very cool (literally and figuratively!) What made me sad is that so many people had touched the formations over the years that it had killed them ;(
Amazing pictures! I have never actually been in a cave…going my to-do list!
Cool picts. Thanks for sharing. I love how caves give one a relief from summer heat.
hi Stacy,
You surely had a blast here in IA. I’ve never been there and never heard of it before. It’s so cool! where is this exactly? Thanks!
Pearl
So very cool (eventhough I was getting a little claustrophobic just looking)—I have so enjoyed your vacation, as I knew nothing, nada, zip about Iowa!
I wonder what the jug story is.
I’d get down there and have some kinds of a crazy allergy attack. Makes me glad that you took the picture for me 🙂
Very interesting – I’ve been to caves like that in the Caribbean, but not in the US. Not sure if I would choose to get married there, but hey, to each his own.
Thanks for the nice comments on my blog!
I’ve always wanted to visit a cave, and we live very close to some famous taverns. This may be the motivation I need!
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The cave looks awesome! Our kids love driving down to the caves and taking tours.
Underground caves are so cool. It’s always fun to think what you think they all look like.