Girls Weekend in Louisville - Part II

After a fun day of walking around Louisville and visiting the zoo, Amelia and I were ready to head to the hotel at 9pm. We picked up some more food and then settled in comfortably while watching Magnificient. My little girl was so precious and sheer delighted to be hanging out late with her mommy and watching a movie way past her normal bedtime. 

Makeshift dinner at the hotel

We slept really well and since we had no specific plans, we relaxed in bed, ate some breakfast, played and watched tv. We just did nothing for 2.5 hours and it felt great.

Mommy and Daughter

I looked up some attractions nearby and discovered that there is a huge old mine, called Mega Cavern, only a few minutes from the hotel where they offer daily tram tours thru the cave. So before heading back home we girls did just that: an underground tram tour. 

In the tram before departure

It's a balmy 58F year-round in the cave, hence the blanket. The tour took 75 minutes and was very interesting. It was amazing how huge the cave is and that we only explored a tiny part of the 17 miles of underground passageways. It also is home to the world's only underground aerial rope course and zip line course as well as a huge BMX and bike track. And for the holidays, they are getting ready to convert the cave in to an underground Christmas display spectacle where you can drive your car thru (trying to convince my husband to go back for that one). Pretty amazing!

Entering the mine from above ground:

The mine, which is privately owned, consists of lime stones and is approximately 100 acres in size. The cavern was mined from the early 1930's to the early 1980's. Nowadays, it is not just used for the aforementioned attractions but is also the largest recycling center in KY by tonnage. 

Exhibits showing some former mining activities:

The mine also serves as a storage facilities for buses, boats, trailers, etc. and 18 businesses renting storage spaces currently (i.e: medical records, salt for the city, construction equipment).

There is also a worm recycling center in the cave and our guide even ate one. Yuck!

At the exit, there was a little preview for the upcoming Christmas Lights Display:

The tram tour was very informative and despite it being dark in the cave, Amelia was not scared at all. We truly enjoyed our girls weekend and had so much fun together. But we also missed the boys, who had enjoyed hanging out at home, eating pizza, having sword fights and watching some football. Now, since the kids are old enough, we will be having more of these one-on-one days. Can't wait for our next girls weekend.