"It is impossible for the emotions arising from the sublime
to be felt beyond what they are here; so beautiful an arch, so elevated,
so light, and springing as it were up to heaven, the rapture of the
spectator is really indescribable!"
-Thomas Jefferson, former owner of the Natural Bridge, Notes on Virginia, 1782
One of the sights we saw on the aforementioned cabin trip was the Natural Bridge and the Natural Bridge Caverns. Thomas Jefferson put it very well, for there really is no way to describe the awesomeness of the natural rock formation that is the natural bridge without doing it a terrible injustice. It literally does take your breathe away as it is way more astounding in person than it is in my picture. It is 215 feet high and 90 feet wide. Cedar creek which runs below is culprit for carving out the archway. There are many historical claims to the place, though some seem a little suspect. For example, it was one of the wonders of the New World that European visitors came to see, which is no small feat as the country wasn't terribly settled in the 1700s-1800s and it is rather far inland. George Washington apparently surveyed it and there is a rumor that he could throw a rock up and over the whole thing. Methinks he'd have made a great pitcher if this is true. Thomas Jefferson bought it for 20 shillings (gasp!) from King George and in order to relax while he was president, he surveyed the land himself. He is also rumored to have chucked rocks up to the bridge. seems to be a popular legend for any famous person. The rock face below the bridge was waaaaaay too much for the climbers in our group, and Robby and Titus were up before we could say a word.
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| "Close up" of Natural Bridge. Hard to tell how tall it is from the photo!!! |
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| Copperhead below Natural Bridge |
Our dear MaryClare with her extra-observant-mommy-eyes noticed a cute
little snake on the wall under the bridge...and quickly realized it was
probably poisonous. With that, Rob and Levi flipped it into the water.On investigation after coming back home, I found that it is a little copperhead. A snake fairly common in the eastern half of the USA, it is part of the pit viper family and probably the least venomous of that family. Nevertheless, more snakebites happen with this particular species simply because instead of running away (like most snakes will do when a human is around) it freezes, which is exactly what you see this little guy doing here. He didn't move the whole time we were watching him. He is about 9 inches long I think, and if you notice, he has a yellow tipped tail, which the babies use to lure in small frogs and insects.
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| Little Isaac waiting for someone to go in Monocan dwelling with him. |
There was also a replica of a Monacan Indian village there. The site is believed to have been held sacred by them owing to a victory at that location over the Powhatans some centuries before it was settled by whites. The dwelling looks like it's a little worse for wear, and about to fall over!
After the village, there is a lovely little hike up to a waterfall (which we did not make it to) which winds through the forest.
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| Hanging out by the river and watching the fish. |
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| At the mouth of a cavern that is not open to the public. |
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| Playing in the creek...best place ever for a pit stop! |
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| And the sky opened up! |
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| The rain does not stop those of the party under 4 feet tall. |
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| Soaking wet children waiting for food. |
There is also a wax museum, a butterfly garden (kinda so-so) and toy museum (dusty and full of old toys) where we went to dry off before heading down to the caverns. For some very logical scientific reason, subterranean air is always freezing cold...and I'm never sure if I've got the reason figured out in my head. furthermore, I'm being lazy so I'm not going to look up any more factoids for this post. period.
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| she found a doll as big as she was. |
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| Yes, he's that big. |
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| Stalagtite and stalagmite have grown together to form a column. |
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| Looking up, the hundred foot crack in the roof of the cavern caused by an earthquake a century ago. |
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| We finally made it out of the caverns in one piece!!! |
That's all folks. Ttfn.
One of the sights we saw on the aforementioned cabin trip was the Natural Bridge and the Natural Bridge Caverns. Thomas Jefferson put it very well, for there really is no way to describe the awesomeness of the natural rock formation that is the natural bridge without doing it a terrible injustice. It literally does take your breathe away as it is way more astounding in person than it is in my picture. It is 215 feet high and 90 feet wide. Cedar creek which runs below is culprit for carving out the archway. There are many historical claims to the place, though some seem a little suspect. For example, it was one of the wonders of the New World that European visitors came to see, which is no small feat as the country wasn't terribly settled in the 1700s-1800s and it is rather far inland. George Washington apparently surveyed it and there is a rumor that he could throw a rock up and over the whole thing. Methinks he'd have made a great pitcher if this is true. Thomas Jefferson bought it for 20 shillings (gasp!) from King George and in order to relax while he was president, he surveyed the land himself. He is also rumored to have chucked rocks up to the bridge. seems to be a popular legend for any famous person. The rock face below the bridge was waaaaaay too much for the climbers in our group, and Robby and Titus were up before we could say a word.
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