Let’s Go Caving! *Plus Nestle Giveaway*
This giveaway is now closed, but please enjoy the post on our Family Adventure day to the Caverns! Congratulations to the winners: Sharon, Ray, Abbie, Steph, Heather, and Stacey Kirk from Facebook! We have sent an email to each winner with instructions on how to claim your prize package! Please note that a lot of our Southern Plate family members have the same name, which is why I’ve notified each winner personally. Thank you so much for entering! Gratefully, Christy
I’ve talked before about the purpose of our Family Adventure Days and what a difference they have made in our family, so today I’m happy to bring you our latest adventure. When trying to decide on somewhere to go for our family day this past weekend, we had one thing in mind: it’s hot outside. With that thought, what better place to go than a natural wonder with natural air conditioning?
When it comes to caves, chances are that you have more options than you think. I found a handy little website that lists a great many of them by location (click here to visit). Ricky first looked up Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, Tennessee, and it looked wonderful. They also have special deals for families and you can save even more money if you purchase ahead of time over the internet. But I got to thinking that we could probably find one more local (Cumberland Caverns is 2 and a half hours drive for us) and so I looked at DeSoto Caverns, and was surprised to find that it was over two hours away as well (and shockingly more expensive). Enter Cathedral Caverns, about an hours drive and the most economical ticket prices of all!
So here is the breakdown for a family of four:
- Cumberland Caverns: They have a wide variety of ticket prices, specials and packages, including a coupon you can print to get two kids in free on Fridays with the purchase of one adult admission! Visit their website to find a package that fits your family and save some moolah. Lots of great deals here, we were just looking for something closer. What we would have chosen was the Family Fun Internet Special which includes admission for two adults, two children, and gem mining for two kids – $55.00
- DeSoto Caverns Park - This must be a privately owned park. They tout rides and all sorts of other activities, but we were just looking for a natural cave experience and some quality time with the kiddos. The prices quickly eliminated this one for us. At $18.99 per adult and $16.99 per kid, that would put us at $71.96- and that is just for the cave tour. There are also “rides and attractions” that you buy additional tickets for. A ten pack of attraction tickets is another $29.99. Photo in front of the cave=$9.99. Now y’all know if we go with kids they’re gonna see the rides and attractions and Ricky and I are softees so you might as well count that and the photo in on the costs if were we to take this trip, which would bring us to a grand total of over $110.00. I’m sure this would be a fun day for a family but this is more of a vacation type budget for us, rather than a fun (and inexpensive) family day out.
- Cathedral Caverns - This is where we ended up going, mainly because it was closer. I’d still like to go to Cumberland Caverns one day, though. Cathedral Caverns not only saved us on gas but had the lowest ticket prices of all – $12.00 for each adult, Katy was free (under the age of six), and Brady was only $6.00. Our day in the cave= $30.00 We did opt for the gem mining, which cost $6.00 for each child, but even with that our total was $42.00, still less than half of what it would have cost us at Desoto. Be sure and check out the photos of the result of Gem mining, they gave us a huge bag of dirt for each child and really packed them with stones!
I don’t like to talk money but I just wanted to show you how many different options there are in our area alone and with a little planning, you can save a LOT of money, easily enough for another great Family Adventure Day!
Of course, on family day the fun begins as soon as we get up in the morning, usually with the kids trying to guess where we are taking them. Sometimes we tell them ahead of time but we kept this one a surprise right up until we pulled into the parking lot! We had our usual fun in the car on the way up, silly songs and silly kids!
They were pretty excited when we got there! (Yes, I splurged and got them these hats)
This is the entrance to the cave. It’s massive. They’ve redone the interior to make the entire tour accessible by wheelchair or stroller.
We don’t often think about that but there are so many people who rely on wheelchairs and they are very limited in their options, being left out of many experiences because of it. My mother was in a wheelchair for several months a few years back and it really caused us to see the world through different eyes so a great big kudos to Alabama State Parks for such a nice design here that so many can enjoy.
You don’t have to walk very far into the cave to see some amazing sights, and the further you walk the more amazing it becomes.
This is our tour guide, Tristan. He is a graduate student studying Geology.
He had a wealth of information and made it a point to pay special attention to answering the kids questions.
the kids looking over the side of a bridge deep within the cavern..
at what remains of a much older bridge from way back when.
The trail really winds back for a good bit. We were walking a pretty long time so I suggest grabbing a snack and a drink ahead of time so everyone is ready to go a while without needing anything. A light jacket is also a good thing but we didn’t have those with us so…
You’ll see a lot of photos of my kids with their arms in their sleeves if you go look at the entire album of photos over on Facebook!
(which gives you another chance at winning my great giveaway at the bottom of this post, by the way!)
This is an indoor waterfall, it was just beautiful.
A random photo from the walking path.
When we walked up onto this I felt like I was in Pirates Of The Caribbean or something.
Doesn’t that look like some kind of Norse god figure to you? Imagine it was a natural occurrence!
This is one of the Stalagmite forests in the cave.
It is so massive, you really have to see it in person to get a perspective on how far back it goes, and how beautiful it is.
This is me and my babies in front of the forest.
Katy said “Mama, I’m a real mountain girl now because I’ve even been inside a mountain!”
Bradybug and Daddy as we are about to go through a tunnel to another part of the cave.
Isn’t that amazing? Talk about a whole different side to Alabama!
The younguns enjoying the sights.
We had a wonderful time. The tour was about two hours long and a bit on the chilly side, but being able to say its chilly in July while in Alabama is a good thing, trust me!
Still, while not neccesarily claustrophobic, I gotta admit that it was nice not to have several tons of rock hanging over my head and to get to see sunlight again by the time we came back up!
Then we headed for the mining area
Ricky bought two bags of dirt from the park ranger in the gift shop.
I was pretty surprised at how big each bag was, usually when you see things like this they give you a teeny little bag.
They also gave us charts so that the kids could identify each rock later.
At this point, my kids had no idea what this was, lol!
But Brady caught on fast
and wow
Each bag yielded a ton of rocks, much more than I had expected and definitely enough to make it money well spent for something the kids will always remember
We had a wonderful time and made a full day of the experience. My kids had never been down inside a cave before and I know they’ll always remember our family day at Cathedral Caverns.
and now something for your Family!
Nestle is offering a fabulous giveaway on this Family Adventure Day post that I know all of you will love!
FIVE people will receive a pack of coupons to get everything you see pictured above, FREE.
To enter, just leave a comment below! Do you have a favorite Nestle product? I’d love to hear about that in the comments, too! All of the products pictured are favorites around our house ! I’ll also be choosing one additional person to receive a coupon pack from the folks who visit and comment on my Cathedral Caverns Photo Album on the Southern Plate Facebook Family page, bringing the total to six winners of these great grocery coupon packs. Remember, these aren’t coupons for an amount off, they are coupons for FREE products, all that are pictured above. I’m pretty excited about this and I know you will be too.
Contest closes at midnight central time on July 19th. Winners will be notified by email and names will be announced on this post July 20th.
Special thanks to the wonderful people at Nestle, who truly understand the value of family time!
“No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity,
if you can’t look back on having given love and
attention to your own family,
what have you really accomplished?”
~Elbert Hubbard. Submit your quote here.
Disclosure: Nestle has offered the coupons for this giveaway and an additional set for the purposes of taking the giveaway photo. I have not been financially compensated for this post and my opinions are entirely my own. My personal opinion, though, is that Nestle is awesome 
.
Visit these other Family Adventure Day posts to get more ideas for family activities!
- Museum Family Adventure
- Jordans Tour House-Autry Mills
- Falls Mill in Belvedere, TN
- Family Adventure At The Beach
If you enjoy Southern Plate, please tell a friend! You can also subscribe by email so you don’t miss a single post!
Gratefully, Christy
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jul 11 2010. Filed under Family Adventure Day.
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Your caving trip looks like so much fun! My favorite Nestle product is Coffee-Mate … a great way to start the morning!
I would say the Crunch bars are probably my favorite now days, though I absolutely loved NesQuick as a kid!
We love the Carnation Breakfast. The kids love the Nesquick milk. We all enjoy the Stouffer’s Lasagna and Edy’s Ice Cream.
It looked like you had a wonderful caving trip!
Looks like fun!
Looks like fun!!!! I’d love to win the Nestle giveaway!!
Wow, this is an awesome giveaway. I think we use all of these products!!!!!!
Looks like lots of fun!!! I would love to be chilly in July!! my favorite Nestle product is Hazelnut coffeemate!
Great giveaway! We love all those products but Nesquik chocolate milk is probably our house fav!
Awesome trip! When I was younger we went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and I can still remember it to this day. I would love to take my kids to the caverns sometime, we have Meramec Caverns near us in Missouri. Of course thanks for the awesome giveaway you are truly amazing Christy!
Can never pass up a giveaway. We LOVE Juicy Juice. It’s amazing how many juices are only 10% juice. I’m making an effort to give my kids healthy, nutritious food and drinks and Juicy Juice is 100% juice.
love it that they have made them possible for people with wheelchairs to enjoy.. love taking Nesquik choc. and put on vanilla ice cream that is SO GOOD, Loved it when i was a child and still do!
WOW!!! We love strawberry Nesquik at our house.
Awesome pictures! No caves in Louisiana…we have been to caves in Tennessee that are pretty cool.
I get the Carnation Breakfast for my teenage son because he’s always in a hurry to get out the door in the mornings. We also use a lot of Nesquik, and who doesn’t love ice cream this is a great contest
My family loves the Stouffer’s Lasagna. It is especially helpful to serve on a night when the kids are back in school. Just pop it in the oven and no clean up. Add some breadsticks and I don’t feel guilty about not making it from scratch:)
I remember going to North Carolina on a cave expedition looking for stalagtites and stalagmites for a science project. It was a lot of fun!!! My daughters favorite nestle item is their chocolate syrup! She could eat it on anything!!!! Love the pics and totally love your website!! Its amazing!!
Caving is awesome way to chill in the summer, looks like you had a great time
Looks like yall had a lot of fun! My family loves caves.
Nestle products are really great quality! My 3 boys loves Nestle hot chocolate in the winter time and drink a lot of Ovaltine and Juicy Juice. I love Stouffer’s Lasagna Italiano!
I LIVED on the Breakfast Essentials drinks in college and even after. The Vanilla is extremely yummy!!
Of course, who doesn’t have a case of bottled water in their house?
I love your pictures. What a great family adventure. My daughter favorite is the Nesquick, I like the Stoffers Lasagna. I would like to enter your free give away.
Thank you
Carole
my favorite Nestle is The Nestleeeeeeeeeeeeee Chocolate Milk…
Chocoooooooolate…remember in the old days…on tv….they said…chocolateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… oh well…guess you had to be there to remember it
Marian…Old and proud of it
We have caverns just a day trip away that we have yet to explore. Thanks for sharing the pics we will have to look into doing this with the kids. BTW Are kids any quieter in a cavern?-lol
I remember going caving as a child – so much fun!
Too many good Nestle products to choose just one, oh my! NesQuick, Toll House morsels, Digiorno, and Nerds! My kids would love so many things they make.
I grew up in Fayetteville, Tn, which is not too far from McMinnville!!!! My favorite Nestle product is the water! I drink over 80 oz of water a day and me and my girls love the Nestle water! They also love the Juicy Juice.
My little girl loves chocolate milk and so I buy the Nestle Chocolate syrup. I like that it has no fructose corn syrup additive. I wish they would do one with Splenda for those of us that can’t have sugar.
The Lasagna is wonderful and cheaper than homemade. Great site
A favorite Nestle product in my house is NesQuik…the kids go crazy for it, and I’m not ashamed to say that my husband and I enjoy it as well.
What a fun family adventure day you had! This will make for wonderful memories!
I love Nestle products! Especially the crunch bars, Yum!
I couldn’t live without Stouffer’s Mac & Cheese! Thank you for the chance to win!
My favorite must-have Nestle products are Coffee-mate, French Vanilla please! I also HAVE to have my Nestle Pure-Life water. You will see at least 2 of those 24 packs you have pictured in my kitchen somewhere. I can’t drink my tap water because it’s completely chlorinated, so I buy the bottled water. Nestle is by far the best tasting! I remember having Ovaltine as a kid. I loved it, and have bought it for my kids before, but now they are strawberry Nesquik kids.
There are so many Nestle products that are so good!
Oh yea! I cannot make a chocolate cake with chocolate icing without Nestle Tollhouse Morsels in milk chocolate! Best chocolate chips ever!
Thanks for the chance to win! Absolutely love your website!
Loved your article! Reminded me of a family trip to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky when I was about 7 years old! Makes me want to go back. Of course, I would love to pan for gems and find a waaaay valuable stone too
Love Carnation Breakfast Essentials. DH drinks French Vanilla every morning before work. I drink the sugar free chocolate after I run. Would be thrilled with this package!
Looks like ya’ll had a blast on your trip! We go to the Carlsbad Caverns out our direction…as for the favorite Nestle Product…definitely the Stouffers Lasagna! My hubby could eat us out of house and home with that!
We love any of the Edy’s ice cream products. Mmmmmm. I may have to go to the freezer now.
I would love to win! I saw that Nesquik and realized it’s been way too long since I’ve had a glass of chocolate milk! Yum!
Crunch bars are probably my favorite Nestle product! Thanks for another great contest!
Our family’s favorite Nestle product is their Nesquik chocolate powder.
“It’s so rich and thick and choco-lit! But you can’t drink it slow if it’s Quik!” Love that Quik bunny…Nestle Quik that is.
I would love to win!!
)
Stouffer’s Lasagna is the BEST. My mother found it years ago and we have all taken it to church suppers, reunions, and get-togethers. Of course, any Nestle chocolate product is great, too!
i love tons of different nestle products. but i think probably my favorite is good ol’ nestle chocolate chips! gotta love nestle chocolate chip cookies!
Enjoyed the caving summary and pictures, thanks for sharing. Would love to win the Nestle Pack!
Thanks.
All great products shown here, but I LOVE Ovaltine!! It not only brings back childhood memories of my love for chocolate milk, but I drink it still today as an adult. It is the best!
My favorite would be chocolate nestles crunch, close second would be the Edy’s coffee ice cream, we could use the coupons, daughter will have an off campus apartment this year, and at least I would know she is eating something
I love the hot chocolate and candy bars.
Enjoying time with our kids is something that can never be replaced. I know you all had a great time! Nestle Carnation Breakfast Essentials became my best friend in December when I had a difficult surgery on my esophagus. They are delicious !
Caving looks like fun. Also I love just about anything stouffers makes in a dinner. Take them to work for lunch.
I am a chockaholic so I love everything chocklate!!