Ruby Falls

Does a cave count as "outdoor"? What if the cave was a commercial venture from day one? I mean, it is the natural world, but there's a gift shop, so...

For now, we'll assume that a cave with a waterfall counts as "outdoor". I may change my mind later, but by then it will be too late.

I was in Chattanooga this past weekend, buying old computers from a guy up there. When in Chattanooga, one must "See Ruby Falls". Or, so said every roof and barn within a 100 mile radius of it since the 1930's. Actually, I remember seeing a million of these in the late '90s, but I really haven't seen many since moving to Atlanta in 2000. At any rate though, I saw Ruby Falls and it was pretty darn awesome.

Ruby Falls is inside of a cave on Lookout Mountain.

The guy that discovered the cave had a girlfriend (fiance? wife?) named Ruby and he named it after her. He originally wanted to explore (and exploit commercially) the Lookout Mountain Cave, but it had been sealed up by the railroad. So, he (somehow!) convinced a bunch of investors to back him, bought the land above the cave and bored an elevator shaft straight down through the mountain. He pulled out enough rock to build a tower and a gift shop.

The view from the tower is actually pretty spectacular.

While digging though, they hit an opening earlier than they expected, and it turned out to be a completely unknown cave, about 18 inches tall. He crawled (literally) around for hours, discovered all kinds of amazing rock formations. He could eventually stand, and the cave just kept getting taller until it finally opened into a massive chamber with the waterfall in it. His investors were probably pretty happy when he described what he'd found.

They excavated a trail through the caverns deep enough to walk on, and it's been open to the public ever since.

While waiting for the elevator, there's this monitor displaying its weight and speed. When it was moving, it was always redlining.

When it was loaded, they always loaded it into the yellow.

I thought it was funny that it was the only thing there was in the room to look at while you waited, and it wasn't especially reassuring.

Yeah, it's a total a tourist trap, but it REALLY delivers. I mean, just look at all of this!

And that's just on the way to the falls.

Then there's the falls itself!

Bam!

Amazing.

I'd seen it in 1998 I think, then again in the early 2000's with the family, but I guess it's been long enough because I was genuinely amazed to see it again.

The chamber that the falls is in is called the Cathedral, and it's super, super tall.

Even if there were no actual falls, the cave would be pretty amazing just on its own.

I bought a little tree made out of gold wire and rocks at the gift shop, then went and picked up the computers.

On the way out, I ended up at Sugar's Ribs. I've eaten there several times, actually. When driving out from Raccoon Mountain, it's kind-of right there. The computer guy just happened to live off of the same exit this time too.

They have goats.

They also have an amazing view of Lookout Mountain.

I half-considered staying overnight and maybe going to the Aquarium in the morning or something. But, I had stuff to do back at home, so instead, I drove around downtown a bit, walked halfway out on whatever bridge this is that gives you such a good view of the river, hung out there in the freezing wind for a while, grabbed some ice cream, and hit the road for home.

It was a pretty good trip. Almost Adventure.