Monday, January 30, 2017

šŸŽ¢Visiting Theme Parks

Dollywood Theme Park 
This is a map of Opryland Theme Park. We visited this park at least twice a year until it closed.
Riding the Ferris wheel at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Georgia 
One of my favorite rides at Wild Adventure Theme Park 
Epcot with grandkids 2004
Disney Studios 2011
The Animal Kingdom with group cheerleaders
Universal Studios Hollywood, CA, with cousins
Silver Dollar City, Branson, MO 
Magic Kingdom1989
Universal Studios, Orlando, F,L Hubby
Island of Adventure, Orland,  FL 
Bush Gardens Tampa with daughter
Bush Gardens, Virginia, with sisters, no pictures

Touring Caves and Caverns

Luray Caverns, with Lora, is known for its profuse variety of formations and unsurpassed natural color.
Luray Caverns, originally called Luray Cave, is a commercial cave just west of Luray, Virginia, United States, which has drawn many visitors since its discovery in 1878. The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems such as columns, mudflows, stalactitesstalagmitesflowstone, and mirrored pools.
Visited Luray Caverns on 12/19/2012. 
Forbidden Caverns Sevier
One of the most popular attractions in Sevier County is the Forbidden Caverns, which are an underground cave that stretches a half-mile.
Visited Forbidden Caverns 9/29/2014
Forbidden Caverns, Sevier County, Tennessee 
Cathedral Caverns Grant, Alabama
8/13/2014 
Fantastic Caverns, Springfield, MO 
8/13/12012
Fantastic Caverns, Springfield, MO
Fantastic Caverns is a show cave located in Springfield, Missouri. Fantastic Caverns is the only cave in North America to offer a complete ride-through tour, which lasts 55 minutes and is held in a Jeep-drawn tram. The trams drive along the path left behind by an ancient underground river. Tram occupants are encouraged to touch a particular section of low-ceiling dead stalactites.
Cathedral Caverns Grant, Alabama 
Cathedral Caverns State Park is a publicly owned recreation area and natural history preserve located in Kennamer Cove, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Grant and 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Woodville in Marshall County, Alabama. The state park's main feature, first known as Bat Cave, was developed as a tourist attraction in the 1950s. Cathedral Caverns was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1972 and opened as a state park in 2000
Desoto Caverns
4/19/2009
Desoto Caverns 
Desoto Caverns
DeSoto Caverns is a series of caves and a tourist attraction located in ChildersburgTalladega County, Alabama. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is touted as "Alabama's Big Cave". 
Mammoth Cave Bowling Green, KY
7/23/2007
Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S.National Park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. Since the 1972 unification of Mammoth Cave with the even longer system under Flint Ridge to the north, the official name of the system has been the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System. The park was established as a national park on July 1, 1941.
Lost Sea Entrance 
8/29/2006
Lost Sea Cave, Sweetwater, Tennessee 
Your Lost Sea adventure begins with a guided tour of the caverns. This involves a ¾ mile round-trip walk on wide sloping pathways. While touring the caverns and underground lake, our guides will tell of the cavern's exciting and colorful history. They will also explain the fascinating geological development of the immense cavern rooms and rare formations. At the bottom of the cave, you will board a glass-bottom boat for an exciting trip on the Lost Sea, America's Largest underground lake.
Marvel Cave
Marvel Cave is a National Natural Landmark located just west of Branson, Missouri, on top of Roark Mountain in Stone County. The cave was known by the Osage Indians in the early 16th century after a tribe member fell through the cave's main entrance, a sinkhole. There is evidence that in 1541 the Spanish explored the cave, but the first recorded expedition was in 1869, led by Henry T. Blow. The unofficial Stone County chapter of Bald Knobbers, a local group of vigilantes, was rumored to have taken people to the top of Roark Mountain and thrown them in the sinkhole.
Marvel Cave at Silver Dollar City
11/11/2001
Ruby Falls 
8/9/2009
Ruby Falls
Ruby Falls is a 145-foot-high underground waterfall located within Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.


Hiking & Birding Trails in Alabama šŸ¦‰šŸ¦†šŸ¦…

Hiking with granddaughter along the Tennessee River near Wilson Dam, TVA
Bird Site #8, along the Tennessee River below Wilson Dam 
Jimmy Sims Birding Trail #1, Joe Wheeler State Park
The original idea of Joe Wheeler State Park employee and Naturalist Jim Sims is that the birding trail is an easy 1/2 mile hike to the back of Weaver Creek. During the winter months, when the water levels are lowered, the formed mud flat becomes a haven and feeding ground for migrant and local wading birds and waterfowl.
The trail was built in the summer of 2007, incorporating the Eagle Scout project of Joshua Gray, BSA Troop #52, Rogersville, Alabama, and Joe Wheeler State Park.
The trail is dedicated to the memory of Jimmy Sims and his love of outdoor Alabama.
Birding site #3 Joe Wheeler State Park 
Wild Flower Hike with grandkids
Shoals Creek Preserve Track hiking trail with grandkids
Shoals Creek Preserve Track
Nature Preserve and Recreation Area
This track was protected through the efforts of Alabama's Forever Wild Land Trust, the Alabama State Lands of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, with the assistance of the Lauderdale County Commission. The land is dedicated as the Billingsley-McClure Shoals Creek Preserve to provide Recreational Opportunities for all to enjoy.
Hiking on the Bluff near the Sheffield Water Tower.
Exploring the many animals along Deibert Park with Grandkids
Hiking in the Dismals with daughter and grandkids 
Hiking at TVA Rock-Pile
Bird Site #6  along the Tennessee River below Wilson Dam
Bird Site #7 along the Tennessee River below Wilson Dam























Waterfalls in Alabama

Cheaha State Park Falls
The three best waterfalls to see near Cheaha State Park are Cheaha Falls, Devil's Den, and High Falls.
Secret Falls Phil Campbell, Alabama
Secret Falls is one of two falls located in the Dismals, Phil Campbell.
Tucked deep within the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Dismals Canyon is 85 acres of nature. 

 The canyon is home to two waterfalls, Secret Falls and Rainbow Falls, and six natural bridges.

Waterfall on Shoals Creek, Killen, AL 
Noccalula Falls 1500 Noccaluala Park Gadsden
Named after a Creek Indian princess, Noccalula Falls stands 90 feet tall and is one of the most visited natural attractions in the state.
When rain conditions are normal, the waterfall is about 20 feet high, with a smaller one located slightly to the right of the higher fall. Heavy rains cause the two falls to merge into one wider waterfall.
Noccalula falls during a drought.
Noccalula Falls during normal rainfall in Gadsden, Alabama.

Man-Made Waterfall at UNA, Florence, Alabama

Man-Made Waterfall at Marriott Hotel, Florence, Alabama 
Waterfall at Shoals Creek Preserve Track Hiking Trail 

Coldwater Falls, Tuscumbia, Spring Park, 2009


The man-made Coldwater Falls was constructed with over 2,000 tons of sandstone and today sees more than 4.3 million gallons of water flow each day.
Desoto Falls, Mentone, Alabama 

The concrete dam above one of North Alabama's tallest falls, Desoto Falls, was built in 1925 for Alabama's first hydroelectric power plant.


Wilson Dam Falls, Florence, Alabama

The Wilson Dam is the only neoclassical-style dam in the Tennessee Valley Authority System, integrating themes of Ancient Roman and Greek architecture into the modern structure.























2025 Oct 11-19, NCL Getaway Cruise 7-Day Canada and New England Round Trip New York, Bar Harbor & Halifax

 Day 1: Oct 11, Saturday, Flight to New York  We stopped at Jack's in Athens for breakfast and ordered gravy and a biscuit. We drove to...