We decided to squeeze in one last vacation before school starts so we squeezed ourselves into a cave at Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown, Texas. I remember seeing caves as a kid in other states but I had no idea the amazing caves that existed only a few hours from us!
Inner Space Caverns is a karst cave (meaning it formed when water dissolved limestone rock over time) and was discovered in the 1960’s when the Texas Highway Department was building an overpass for Interstate 35. I don’t know how many times I’ve driven on I-35 and had no idea that a 100 million year old cave was below us.
From the moment we entered we were amazed at the beautiful sights. 
I think the hardest part for the kids was they couldn’t touch the plethora of stalactites and stalagmites. But we did learn a nifty way of remembering which one was which. Stalagmites are on the ground because you “might” trip on them! There were even sections that the tour guide showed us that glowed in the dark.
I have to admit as soon as we started the decent I started to feel a bit claustrophobic. My first instinct as a mommy was how would I get out of here in an emergency? Of course about that same time my 8 year old even turned to me and said, “Mom, aren’t you claustrophobic?”
But I pushed on because it was such a cool experience. Also, there is no stroller access and taking a two year old down a cave that you couldn’t touch anything was well a bit challenging. It was also a bit wet and muddy so if you go make sure you don’t wear your nice shorts or shoes!
My 5 year old was on a mission to see some bats but unfortunately there were no bats in the cave, only fossilized bat poo which the kids still talk about! We were amazed that several fossils of mammoths, giant sloths, saber tooth tigers, and other Ice Age animals had been found in the cave that entered through an ancient sink hole.
Here is one of the original holes that was made by the Highway Department when they first discovered the cave.
Towards the end of the hour long tour there was a nice area to take family shots. Eesh, the flash is BRIGHT!
We are still talking about our trip to explore the caves and I “caved” by letting the kids build their own inside our house which actually turned out to be hours of entertainment for a slow Monday. If you get a chance Inner Space Caverns is a must see!
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