Amazing Caverns with Pigs before the Snow

Elliott and I got up early Saturday morning and drove to the Skyline Drive. We had been watching the weather reports and knew there was a good chance of some snow or ice on the mountains, a perfect photo opportunity. Alas, when we arrived we were informed that only the first five miles were open, the rest closed due to poor road conditions, so we turned around. We then decided to explore the Skyline Caverns, a couple of miles down the road. I'd been a few years ago but was happy to go again, especially as last time I hadn't checked out the mirror maze that was also on the site.

 We bought our cave tickets but had to wait for a later tour, since social distancing meant the groups were smaller. So we went to the maze first and were delighted to discover we had it all to ourselves. I wasn't expecting much, assuming it was a kids attraction, but after a couple of minutes I realized that this was also great fun for adults too. There was a really creepy soundtrack looping the whole time we were in there, which initially, I found a little disconcerting,but which I was soon distracted from since all my attention was taken with negotiating the maze. The mirrors were immaculately clean so it was very difficult to ascertain where the openings were. I soon realized that I could follow the seams where the mirrors met the floor but this meant I wasn't looking ahead. And also, those seams were also replicated on the floor, radiating out from every column, so ultimately it was very confusing. Elliott simply held out his fingers to determine whether he could walk forward or not, but I deemed this to be cheating, and didn't copy him. Naturally, like Elliott, I also wanted to avoid a broken nose and black eyes, but tried to use my judgement rather than taking the easy route. At times I wasn't even sure if I was following the 'real' Elliott or his reflection.

The whole room was filled with ornate arches and columns, of course many of these were reflections, and there were a couple of green forest scenes, one with a tree and another with a dragon. An illuminated dragon egg could also be seen, but not the way to get to it. We thought we made our way through quite easily but when we backtracked to get more photos we found ourselves actually lost for brief spells or going round in circles.

 This maze was actually a lot of fun, a far better experience than I had expected, and I was very proud to discover it had been created by an English firm, Adrian Fisher Mazes Ltd. It really is a beautiful maze and incredibly deceiving, appearing to be quite large, due to all the reflections, when in fact, it's in quite a small room, which used to be a general store. We spent a fair amount of time taking photos and admiring our repetitive reflections. I loved the photo above which Elliott took of me, reminding me of a witches coven. I took a short video on my iPhone which was pretty tough work, trying to watch my screen while also attempting to keep walking forward without knocking into glass. Plus, I was getting dizzy from turning around in so many circles.

We walked back over to the cave reception and only had to wait a few minutes before our tour started. I was pleased to be wearing my mask as it kept my face warm as we descended to the lower temperatures of the caves. Most caves have a constant temperature of 54F and although I found it a little chilly at first, I was soon warm, rolling up my sweatshirt sleeves, while noting others had jackets on. This is my second trip here. Having caves so close to home is a novelty and an attraction I like to support, especially since they are home to an unusual crystal calcite and aragonite formation called anthodites, which in Greek means flower-like. And even Bing Crosby, when visiting Front Royal, considered the caverns a worthwhile visit. They were first opened in 1939 after huge amounts of mud and clay were removed from the tunnels. Today, only about 20 percent of the caves and tunnels found are open to the public but that still leaves just over a mile of walking and many wonders to take in. The tunnels are easy to traverse, nearly all the paths on the same level and no tight areas to squeeze through. Every time I enter any of the caverns in our area I stop for a few minutes to marvel about how I'm looking at formations that have formed over fifty to sixty millions years. Of course I want to touch everything to make the experience even more humbling but naturally that's not allowed, the oils on our hands would change the rock.

These 'living' caverns, called so because the constantly dripping water is continuously changing the rock formations, have five underground streams running through them, three of which we saw on our tour. The water and formations are lit beautifully by an award winning light display. And of course during the tour we had the moment I always look forward to, when the guide shuts off the lights completely, plunging us into total darkness, while explaining that a relatively short duration of this would send us mad. It's a strange, almost claustrophobic sensation to be unable to see anything, especially when we also stand in silence, straining to hear the distance trickle of water of the streams.

The highlight of these particular caverns are the beautiful flower shaped formations that form in a small part of the caverns, six sided crystalline blooms that resembled giant frost formations and are protected by Virginia State Law. The photo above showing the 'drip' from the anthodite cluster which is called The Chandelier. At 18" long it's the longest and oldest anthodite known to man. They grow abundantly in only four locations in the world, three in the U.S. (New Mexico, Tennessee and VA), and one in France. Their growth rate is about 1 inch every 7,000 years.

 After the tour we left the caverns and decided to reach the Skyline Drive through Sperryville, hoping to see some ice on top of the mountain. Taking the back roads we trundled along, noting that snow had settled on the peaks in the distance, and heavy clouds draped as though caught on the mountain tops. Since Elliott was driving I had plenty of opportunity to take in the scenery, and shrieked when I spotted what I thought was a hog hanging from a wooden frame in someone's front yard. We turned around and drove back, wanting to take a discreet shot or two from the road, but we were delighted to be greeted by a couple of guys as we approached who asked us if we wanted to take photos. Needing no further encouragement we grabbed our cameras and walked over to meet them.

It soon became apparent that these guys were at the end of their day and winding down with a few beers. There were actually two hogs hanging from wooden frames, their carcasses stripped of innards and cleaned, pink meat and pearly white fat ready to be cut up the following day. We were told that Grandma had shot them that morning with a 45, and I had no idea if they were telling the truth or not. The piglets had been purchased at the beginning of the year, 3 months old and weighing 30 pounds. The weight of them at their demise was estimated to be 550 pounds each. A huge pot containing the innards sat on the grass and we were informed these would be used to make scrapple the following day. My ears pricked up at this. Scrapple, in my opinion, is one of America's finest contributions to the food scene. I love the stuff. They were also making crackling the next day, and my mouth watered. They must have spotted my drool because they then invited us to return the following day to watch and take photos, as long as we came accompanied by a large quantity of Bud Light. What an amazing chance of a lifetime opportunity to witness how these tasty foods are created. We accepted immediately and very ecstatically. Well definitely on my part anyway, I could hardly contain myself. The guys willingly posed for a few photos and we promised to return the next day. We left them to their cans of beer and continued our drive to the mountain top.

The weather changed dramatically as we climbed towards the peak. The temperature dropped, the sky became grey and dense with snow clouds, and we could see thin snow collected on tree branches and the grass. But as we reached the parking lot at the top the clouds decided to dispense with their watery cargo and flakes of snow began to fall rapidly upon us, getting thicker as the minutes passed. We left the car and walked about, already a couple of inches had collected on the ground. It was magical, the bare trees looking like a scene from Narnia. I took photos then simply stood looking up at the sky, the snowflakes landing gently on my face like tender taps from icy fingertips, although it felt a few times like pokes in the eye as a few flakes made a bullseye with direct contact on my corneas. Yet it was serenely beautiful, a magical moment in time, existing just up here on the mountain, and seemingly just for us. I suddenly became aware that my hands were frozen. I'd been wandering around with my jacket unzipped and with no gloves or hat on. My hair was sporting a white veil, we were getting wet, and so it was time to return to the warmth of the car, and drive back down towards home, where we would charge batteries and buy boxes of beer in readiness for a day of fun with our new found friends the following day.

A Sparkling Celebration in Cape May

As everyone knows, 2020 hasn't been the best of years for most folks. So many families and businesses have suffered tragedies with everybody's lives at some point placed on complete shutdown, trying to unsuccessfully ride out the COVID virus. Keeping any social activities to a minimum, getting outdoors to find places with no contact with other people has been difficult, and for the most part avoided, hence the reason for my lack of posts here, I've not been taking any photos. Excursions have been infrequent and all of us have been lamenting at not seeing our friends and family. Thankfully, at this time, I don't know of anyone dear to me who has contracted the dreaded lurgy, and so for me, 2020 was actually a pretty damn good year because in August I met Elliott. And to make the year even better, Elliott packed up his apartment just before Christmas and moved into The Blue House. Both Rosie Lee and Tricksie Treat have accepted him fully, even favoring him, rather than me, with affection on occasions, and my No.1 Blog Fan, Myra, now refers to him as Sir LancElliott, after I dropped a 'knight' reference during our last conversation. All family members are happy with our union and I'm living in a state of bliss now he's fully integrated into my life. So, thanks 2020, and I'm aware of how lucky I am to be saying that when COVID cases are still escalating, including numbers in our small town, and many poor families have been torn apart by this horrific disease.

But, back to me and the man, the past few weeks have been hectic, with Elliott packing his belongings and then trying to unpack them again at The Blue House. He now has an office in the spare bedroom, so he can feel a little bit grounded while we find space for the rest of his stuff. He's created a media room upstairs, which is a novelty for me, since now it's like going to the cinema in our own home. And he's also become the Indoor Plant Whisperer, after having brought his plants with him, which look a lot more content with life than mine, so he's now taken control of them all.

So, with both of us under a lot of stress lately, we made an on the spur of the moment to get away for the New Year, and ended up leaving the house in the dark early hours of New Year's Eve and driving to Cape May, NJ for the night. Bill and I had done this trip 5 years ago and had immense fun. Neither Elliott or I had been taking any photos recently so a mini photography break and a change of scenery was an exciting prospect. Plus, I was excited to see the pretty town of Cape May decorated for Christmas. We had prepared a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese for the drive, mine with an exceptional slathering of Marmite, and also lunch wraps for the ferry crossing from Lewes to Cape May, but before boarding the boat we spent a few minutes on the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park.

There were hardly any other visitors by the water and the wind was blustery but I'd not seen the sea for well over a year so undeterred I made for the waves as they thundered onto the sand. I was hypnotized by the constant motion of advancing and receding water, white foam bubbles gushed towards my boots, then sucked back towards the ocean, and inevitably, I got my feet wet. We took selfies facing every direction and I've posted one of me laughing uncontrollably. This invariably happens every time we take photos together, there's always a couple of shots where we lose control and giggle helplessly. Well, it's mostly me that does that, but whatever, we do laugh a lot. We left the beach, after picking up a handful of horseshoe crab tails for souvenirs, and made our way to the ferry.

The main reason for taking the ferry, which made our trip longer, was for the Bloody Mary's. When Elliott called to make the reservation, they hadn't been able to confirm that these would be available, especially since nobody could sit inside the ferry. Because of COVID, everyone had to be outside on the deck or stay in their vehicle. I was elated to discover that this glorious tipple was still being served and I was first in line. And they were every bit as delicious as I remembered. And I say 'they' because I had two of them. Elliott loved the concoction too but only had one since he was driving. He's a stellar guy.

We were staying at a small motel in Wild Wood, NJ, so went there first to register and drop off our bags. There seemed to be only a couple of the rooms occupied besides ours and the rest of the town was empty, hardly any cars on the streets or people walking. It was a little eerie, especially being New Year's Eve. We dumped our luggage on the bed, wrapped up in big jackets, grabbed camera bags, and drove down to Cape May beach for the sunset.

It seemed like it had been years since I'd used my camera and we had to move fast to capture the setting sun. Tripods were erected on the rocks and cameras attached. Elliott was faring far better than me. My eyes were streaming from the cold wind, making my nose run, my hair was blowing all over the place so I could barely see what I was doing, plus I had to keep clutching the hand warmers in my pockets to prevent the numbness that kept creeping into my fingers. Eventually I gave up and so the top 2 photos above were taken with the iPhone while only the bottom one was with my Sony. Not much difference in quality, and we would continue to be amazed with the phone's performance throughout the rest of the evening.

This, right here, is a portrait of dedication. The sun had pretty much waved its final farewell and was dragging the last vestiges of color below the horizon. I had packed my camera away, preferring to keep my hands in my pockets with my hand warmers, yet Elliott stood resolutely on the rocks, camera still pointed towards the horizon, just in case the sun changed its mind and hauled itself back up again to throw a few final golden rays across the water. Being the dutiful girlfriend, I stood patiently, mouth shut, and waited, thinking of pretty twinkling lights on picture book houses, Christmas trees sparkling and festive music, and a nice pint of beer, all those things that would be in Cape May town once we left the beach. Channeling my thoughts energetically towards Elliott, who was fast disappearing in the dusk, must have worked because after not too long of a wait, after me having hopped only a few times from foot to foot, he finally returned to where I stood and mentioned that he might be done. I held back my excitement with a struggle as I smiled in calm agreement and I even managed to force out a cheerful, "Are you sure?"

As we packed up a small plane barreled towards us, low over the sand, twin headlights blazing, and then roared overhead towards the distance. It was thrilling but unfortunately it didn't return so we could grab a fast photo. We trudged through the dark back towards the warmth of the car, passing small groups of people who were evidently keen to see in the new year and were already cracking open bottles of champagne and red wine on benches. We drove into town where we parked close to the Victorian houses on a street that seemed to have the most lights.

It was like a fairyland. White and colored lights lit up the houses and streets, decorations adorned doorways and porches, windows and gables and columns, it was beautiful. The bright paintwork of the homes was illuminated by strings of lights, lanterns and spotlights on the ground. Christmas trees winked inside windows of rooms that were also twinkling with festive lights, there were trees glistening on wraparound porches and trees glimmering on front lawns. Yet incredibly, we had the street almost to ourselves. A few other couples strolled past but we saw more brightly lit carriages, filled with sightseers drinking hot punch and pulled by horses, than we did people. I found this video taken on December 16 when it seemed to be a lot busier than when we were there. It shows the houses and town center where we walked. But it was too cold to be outside for too long. The wind was getting icier as the evening drew on and we were hungry.

We took this photo, which I love, by the bandstand, had an amazing seafood dinner in an empty, but warm, restaurant, grabbed coffee to go, and even briefly popped into a Zoom meeting with our urbexing friends to wish them a Happy New Year. And then it was back to our motel room to warm up, have a short rest and then head down the road for a mile to the boardwalk, carrying a cooler with champagne and munchies. We weren't going to celebrate the New Year in a pub or restaurant with hoards of people, instead we chose a sheltered spot on the boardwalk, with a small table and chairs protected from the rain and wind, and were amazed to have the boardwalk completely to ourselves, only a handful of people passing by including a security guard who completely ignored us. We could hear a party in a nearby bar taking place, loud music and happy voices carried to us by the wind. We sat and snuggled, enjoying our private little spot, and waited for midnight.

We took photos of the boardwalk lights but gave up when my iPhone was capturing far better shots than our handheld cameras. All four of the above are with my phone. As midnight approached we cracked open the champagne and set up Elliott's phone for the countdown, the party voices a few streets away also roaring down the seconds and then cheering loudly as 2020 came to a close. And so Elliott and I toasted the New Year, each other, our wonderful life together and cuddled up in our corner, relishing our exclusively special celebration. Just us in our own little world. It was the perfect end to the old year and a perfect start to our new one.