Day 34 – Mammoth Cave and Gallatin to Chattanooga

212 Miles

We purchased the tour we wanted for Mammoth Cave online a few weeks before leaving for our trip. This was a good move, it turns out, because even though we were at the park by 9:00 am, the electronic board showed very few tours still available for the entire day. We waited in line a few minutes, then presented our confirmation number to get our tickets.

As I mentioned in the entry about Carlsbad Caverns, I’ve long been fascinated by caves, so was really looking forward to Mammoth. With over 400 miles (and counting) of explored passages, it is the largest in the world. 

The cave is situated in the middle of Mammoth Cave National Park, so aside from the cave itself, there are lakes, hiking trails, campgrounds — all the things one would expect to find at a national park. We were able to enjoy these grounds for a little while after our tour, though we didn’t even scratch the surface of what’s available.

As for the cave itself, I reluctantly admit that it was mildly disappointing. Perhaps the tour we selected (“Domes and Dripstones”) was not the best, although the person we ordered it from on the phone had recommended it as the most popular. Or maybe because we visited the impressive Carlsbad Caverns only a few weeks earlier, we were making an unfair comparison. There were certainly some beautiful formations, and the tour guide was good. But for whatever reason, in the end, it just didn’t excite us the way Carlsbad did.

When we were done there, we headed south on I-65 toward Nashville and then cut east just before downtown to head to my cousin’s place in Gallatin. 

A beautiful town built on Old Hickory Lake, which is a byproduct of WPA-era dams and locks, Gallatin is growing and attracting a good number of families wishing to relocate from harsher winters farther north.

As can be expected with family visits, we ended up eating a ton and staying longer than anticipated out of sheer enjoyment. We had a great time catching up with that part of the family, and even had a beautiful boat ride on the lake, where the kids jumped out to have a swim. Once again, our ability to be open to whatever came our way during this journey paid off.

When it was time to leave, we headed back south through Nashville and stopped for the night in Chattanooga, ready for our last day of vacation.