Apr 30 - Natural Bridge Caverns, and Natural Bridge State Park, VA

  We spent the day sightseeing.  We drove over to the Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, and ended up in Natural Bridge, VA.  First we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns.  Underground limestone caves, with a private guided tour.  These formations were very different from other stalactite and stalagmite formations I have seen.  These were very flowing, and a very pretty copper color.  It had some underground streams, and a little pond.  It also had a lot of very narrow cracks and crevices leading into and out of the main rooms.  Some huge fallen boulders, from eons ago.  It was nicely lit up and the tour guide was very knowledgeable, even if she was a young earth creationist (go figure).
  Afterwards, we went across the road to the Natural Bridge State Park visitor center and had a nice lunch.  Then, went down A LOT of stairs to reach the Natural Bridge formation.  It was HUGE.  It is hard to get a sense of scope through photos, but the feel of the huge rock formations, along with the rushing stream, was really neat.  The area was originally surveyed by a group of men, including Thomas Jefferson's father, and a young George Washington.  It is said George Washington carved his initials into the rocks, in the Bridge formation, 20 ft above the water line.  It is still there, now highlighted in a white box--see the photo.  Also, Thomas Jefferson purchased the land around the Natural Bridge, and owned it until he died and it was sold to repay his debts.  It was all privately owned until 2016 when the State Park Service purchased it.  It's hard to imagine a private person owning something as impressive as this.  I'm glad the park system now owns it.
  After the Bridge, there was a mile long, walk along the stream, out to a beautiful water falls.  On the way, they had a re-enactment of a small Monacan Indian settlement.  We chatted with the men who set it all up and were there as traders, and with a Monacan Indian woman who still does many of the crafts, the same way they did back then.  All very interesting.
  It was a beautiful day for a hike up in the VA mountains.  We had thought we'd travel the Blue Ridge Parkway some today, but these activities took up all day.   Since we were driving right through the large town of Lynchburg, we ended up going to the movies to see The Avengers-The End Game.  I actually liked all of the other Avenger and related movies much better than this one.  This one seemed so scattered, and the plot line was not very clearly explained.  Oh well, we enjoyed it anyways.

Natural Bridge Caverns photos:

Peter holding up the falling boulder!  He's my MAN.

Natural Bridge State Park photos:

Monacan Indian settlement photo:

Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway photo: