Episode 3 | MAMMOTH CAVE

May 3

Mammoth Cave | May 3rd to May 5th, 2021

Welcome to TheMillennialGuide.To! Thanks so much for joining us 🤩

This is post #4 of our Cross-Country Road Trip. Check out the beginning of the story at “THE PROLOGUE” here.

Long Story Short

After camping with wild horses on Assateague Island we drove 12 hours to Nashville. There we stayed with our friends Olivia & Chase, took a day trip to meet our friend Alex at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and stopped by downtown to see our friend John. This is that story. Now read on or choose-your-own-adventure-on-over to the next post.

Short Story Long

We love Nashville! Some of our best friends live there, the music scene is the best in the world, and you get to pretend you’re living in Netflix’s Marriage or Mortgage (the best worst show of all time). Having been several times in the past this guide isn’t going to focus on Music City but instead on its’ closest National Park about an hour and a half north.

But First! You should do is follow our amazingly talented friends who joined us on this adventure!

Olivia Lane: Musician - https://www.olivialane.com

Chase Guyton: Vocal Coach - https://www.instagram.com/chaseguyton

Alex Domini: Triple Threat - https://www.instagram.com/alexdomini0607

John Koski: Singer - https://www.instagram.com/johnekoski

Preparing for Mammoth Cave

This place is the largest known cave system in the world with over 400 miles of discovered tunnels and who knows how many more still undiscovered! It’s easily accessed from both Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. We were told to not follow our GPS but to instead use the directions on the National Park Site. We found that if you put in the visitors center google maps routes fine. Maybe if you just put “Mammoth Cave” but not the visitors center it goes to the wrong place? Either way double check so you don’t miss your scheduled tour - and oh yeah - you have to schedule your tour in advance to go into the caves.

During Covid there’s only one tour type available - it’s a self guided walk through the largest portion of the cave. In other times there are other tour options that bring you into deeper levels of the cave system. The park is on Central Time as well so be aware of that if you’re coming from the East.

Once you arrive you check in at the front of the visitors center, then use the bathroom cause there isn’t one anywhere near or in the cave itself, then go through or around the visitors center to the amphitheater space where your group will be part of a ranger talk about the caves. From there…well check out the video to get a taste of the orientation and the cave entrance.

Entering Mammoth Cave

Watch your head! The entrance gets tight. You go by a glistening waterfall as you walk downstairs and feel the cold suck of air at the cave’s mouth. From there you walk through Houchin’s Narrows into the Rotunda. The temperature drops down to about 50 degrees no matter how hot it is outside so bring a jacket. In the Rotunda there’s leftovers from a saltpeter mine everywhere that you can see. The cave perfectly preserves the wood and rope that would typically decay under normal outside conditions. In fact, the cave preserves almost anything - food, footprints, bodies (yes bodies), ghosts (it’s super haunted).

To the Left to the Left

From the Rotunda take a left to goto past the coffin (a large rock slab) and another large opening that used to be used for church services. We spoke to the ranger there for quite a while who told us about how the cave formed. Then you keep going and there’s another ranger who can tell you about the different layers of the cave. Keep an eye out for carving in the walls from explorers in the cave’s pre-national park days. After about 3/4 of a mile you’ll hit the end of your journey down this tunnel when you encounter a ranger standing near a stone structure. These cozy cabins are the remains of an 1839 tuberculosis hospital. Dr.John, the owner of the cave at the time, thought the cold weather would help cure his patients…it didn’t. Now, walk back and slide over to the right side of the cave.

To the Right, to the right, to the right, to the Riiight

From the Rotunda take a right to go back into the part of the cave with several placards depicting cave life, indigenous exploration and a sabotaged mushroom growing operation. Here you’ll also see the original entrance to the cave which has collapsed. At this point you’ve seen about all there is to see on the self-guided tour so feel free to head out of sit on a bench and take in the cave for a bit.

Outside Mammoth Cave

We brought some food for a quick picnic and found a great area right past the parking lot of the visitors center. There’s apparently lots to do at this park besides the cave - this can be useful to know if you’re going to be around here for a few days or if you’re feeling claustrophobic. There’s hiking, camping, kayaking, biking, horseback riding, a super short car ferry. We didn’t get to check out any of that because we had to get back to town but on a longer day trip or multi-day trip make sure to take advantage of the whole place. It’s beautiful.

Back in Nashville

Maybe someday we’ll do a Nashville Millennial Guide, we didn’t do any of the typical touristy stuff this time, but from past experiences here these are the places you should go in town:

Broadway - Go into any bar and you’ll get a phenomenal show. Even if you’re not a country music fan you’ll appreciate and understand it about an hour after stepping foot on this main strip. You can take the pedestrian bridge too to get a view of the river. Go shopping for cowboy boots too - there are some great deals. Warning: this is the Times Square of Nashville AKA the most touristy spot.
See a show at Ryman Auditorium - a hallowed hall in folk and country music lore. Only the best of the best play here. You can get a tour of the space as well and hear the history but there’s nothing like hearing the walls sing in that place.
The Bluebird Cafe - This is the place where artists perform their newest songs about a year or two before you can’t get tickets for that same artists sold out show. This is the up-and-coming capital of music. It’s like the best Sofar Sounds gig you’ve ever seen every night.
Visit the Parthenon in Centennial Park - why go to Greece when you can goto Tennessee? There’s a full scale replica of the Athenian Temple just sitting in the grass across from Vanderbilt University.
Farmers Market and Bicentennial Carillon - a large local market and an even larger musical instrument. A Carillon is a giant system of bells. This one is made of towers all across a plaza at the end of the Capitol Mall. Think of Quasimodo’s job in the Hunchback of Notre Dame but spread out instead of all one tower.
Country Music Hall of Fame - After you’ve been indoctrinated by the Nashville water and air (aka beer and melodies) for a few days you’ll probably want to know how it came to be. Even if you’re somehow still not a classic country fan (keep drinking) this is a fantastic museum with great stories, artifacts, and honkey-tonk vibes.
Grand Ole Opry - The home of country music. Catch the weekly radio broadcast if you can. Life changing.
Take a music lesson - why not? The best teachers of modern music are here. You’ll learn so much from even one session.
Karaoke - Sing your heart out. Just make sure to sing country, you might get boo’d out if you don’t…not saying that from experience or anything 👀

There are hundreds of other sites to explore in Nashville - these are just a few highlights I know about. Go out during the day and go out at night because it’s a different city in the sunshine and under neon lights. A two for one vacation.

Next Stop

We got the chance to see our friend John for a quick bite at Tailgate Brewery. Then we shipped a box of items we shouldn’t have taken in the first place to LA (you don’t need a Nutri Ninja on the road; or six hats; or three bags). After that we started down route I-65 to our next campsite in Mobile Alabama. See you for that adventure in the next post!

Camping Costs

$0 - Sites. We stayed with Olivia. Thanks Olivia!

$23/person - Cave tour. Not covered by the National Park Pass

$0 - Entrance Fee. No charge to wander the grounds.