Deep South Day 2

Got up and had breafast at the hotel. Drove 10 minutes to Mammoth Cave National Park. Took 8:45 Historic Tour through the natural opening. Liked squeezing through "Fat Man's Misery" and "Tall Man's Agony." Experienced total darkness 300 feet below ground level. Tour took 2 hours, but it went quickly. Kids were nervous at first, but they were excited, too.

After the tour, we picnicked under a pavillion and the kids and I chilled in the shade while M explored a trail to the Green River.

Our next tour was the New Entrance Tour at 1:00. We took a shuttle from the Visitors Center to the entrance, which looks like a cement phone booth on the edge of a sinkhole. The entrance is impressive inside - very narrow, twisty and tons of steps. It was hard to imagine visitors in the 1920's navigating down on ropes! Our guide was Jerry Brandsford, whose great-great...Grandfather was a slave who was leased out as a cave guide in the mid-1800's.

The kids were on the lookout for bats, but we never saw any - we only saw one huge spidery-bug thing. Creepy.

Left Mammoth and headed toward Alabama. B lost a tooth in the car, just north of the Tennessee border.

Checked in to hotel (Quality Inn) in Athens, Alabama. Were told that there's not much to do in Athens, but Huntsville is nearby. We had supper at Logan's Roadouse, complete with peanut fight in the parking lot.

Went back to hotel and watched Duke beat Butler in NCAA basketball championship.