My Rain-Drenched Trip To Virginia -- Part Two -- Dixie Caverns At Salem, VA

Dixie Caverns visitor center, gift shop, and antique mall.

Welcome back, y'all! 

Taking I-77 north and then turning northeast on I-81, the next stop on my trip north would prove to be a remarkable preview of things to come: lovely Dixie Caverns near Salem, Virginia (Exit 132).

This roadside attraction is a limestone solution cave discovered by a couple of local farm boys back in 1920 after their dog, Dixie, fell through a hole that led to the caves. They decided to name the caverns after their dog in honor of his discovery.

Dixie Caverns is unique in that instead of going down, the 45 minute tour leads you up inside a large hill, where outstanding formations of all sorts can be seen -- particularly in the large Cathedral Room where stalactite and stalagmite formations tower over everything. 

Two of the most beautiful parts of the tour included a reflecting pool and a formation called the Wedding Bell, where dozens of couples have actually gotten married. 

The temperature inside Dixie Caverns stays around 57 F year around, and can be enjoyed throughout the year regardless of the weather conditions outside -- good thing if you have been traveling in rain like I had been. 

The tour guide took this photo of yours truly inside one of
the formation. You can see me sporting my Svengoolie
Glow-In-The-Dark T-Shirt.

A funny story about the last photo. 

During the final stretch of the trip, our tour guide wanted to show us just how pitch black the caverns were with the lights off. So dark you shouldn't have been able to see in front of your face. 

He cut the lights off and there was a bright glow coming from .... me. Rather it was coming from my official Svengoolie Glow-In-The-Dark T-shirt that I ordered from the MeTV store a few months before. Everyone thought this was funny.

Svengoolie is a long-running horror movie show broadcast from Chicago, Illinois on the MeTV network that features classic monster films, particularly Hammer's horror movie monsters and Universal monster films, classic science fiction films, and the occasional Godzilla film -- all of which this blogger has a passion for. 

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed the photos and story of this part of my trip. Be sure to leave me a comment below and stay tuned for the next part where I visit one of the more breathtaking sites along the way.