On March 16 (the last day of Spring Break), we took the kids to Desoto Caverns in Childersburg, AL. I had heard great things about it, and the kids were excited to experience their first cave!
Desoto Caverns is Alabama's largest cave, and dates back to 2,000 years ago! There is evidence that the cave was formerly used by Native Americans, and it was mined during the Civil War. It has been family owned since 1920, and has a height of 120 feet and length of 100 yards in the opening room.
This was the opening room, which was the length of a football field! The pictures don't do it justice, but it was breathtaking. Our group had about 50 people in it, and the tour lasted about an hour.
This was one of our favorite spots: the draperies! They are the second longest in the WORLD! (The largest are in Africa.)
So, so pretty!
They joked that this stalactite and stalagmite were "dating," because they had not just fully joined. Fun fact: they grow at a rate of one cubic inch per 200 YEARS! They kids went crazy when they heard that.
Looking up into one of the draperies:
We left the main room and headed towards the back of the cave. This place went on and on!
We thought these looked like teeth / jaws!
The tiny little formations are called "soda straws"
It is a cool 60 degrees year-round in the cave! It was nice to bundle up and not be hot :)
We were allowed to touch anything in the cave, but it sure was tempting when they were right above our heads in some spots!
My favorite picture of the trip! I have no idea what Abby is pointing out but I just love how tiny Greg & Abby look in comparison to the massive cave.
She requested this picture :)
After the cave tour, we had a picnic lunch and then hit the "attractions." There were about 20 to choose from and the kids started with Gem Panning. I have *no* idea why they love this activity so much, but they do!! They each found a few pieces of gold and some cool gems that they got to keep.
The maze was my favorite attraction because it was surprisingly hard!! Nate and I teamed up against Greg & Abby to see who could get to all 3 towers. Nate & I lost and he was so bummed. But we grabbed Abby at the 3rd tower and the 3 of us raced back to the starting line. We left Greg in the dust!
The kids wanted to go on this spinny thing with Greg, and I was happy to sit on the sidelines and watch :) #idontspin
These little go-kart bikes were way too small for the kids, but they insisted on riding them. They looked ridiculous but had a ball.
The air cannons turned into a full out girls vs boys war!
Again, another spinning contraption that the kids loved. Greg was happy to sit this one out too!
Nate did this "wacky" basketball game, that had 10 different stations with hoops at weird angles or behind obstacles. He & Greg spent a good 5 minutes studying the angles on this one :)
Nate tried his hand at archery too!
Another attraction I didn't understand - the Cave Crawl. Basically, it was a claustrophobic person's nightmare. Kids loved it though.
And last but not least, Greg & Abby went on this upside-down hamster wheel. (It had an official name, but I can't remember what it was). Abby was *so* excited to go on this, but that didn't last long. She was almost too small to ride on it, and didn't like that the handles were far away and she couldn't get a secure grip on them. She asked to stop about 30 seconds into the ride :)
After a fun-filled day, we headed home but not before a stop in Hoover at Pazzo Big Slice! I had heard this place had massive pizzas, and it did not disappoint! We got the 24" pizza, which was insanely large. We literally had to move tables so it would fit. And there was even an 38" option! Insane! (Plus the $90 price tag was a bit much too.)
Abby and I couldn't finish our piece of pizza, and Nate gave his last few bites to Greg. We took home 2 pizza boxes full of leftovers! (2 pieces per box).
It was a great day and an even better ending to our Spring Break.
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