First Stop: Mammoth Cave National Park
I selected this stop after a request from my son who completed a science project on Mammoth Cave National Park in 7th grade. A kid excited about a school lesson??? Yes, please. (Hey, Mrs. Lammers!) Also, Mammoth Cave was an easy five-hour drive from our house which leads us to your first tip…
Tip #1 - KEEP TRAVEL TIMES BETWEEN DESTINATIONS to 5 or 6 HOURS AT THE MOST. Trust us.We booked a site at
Cave Country RV Park in Cave City. It’s a "Good Sam Campground" which means it must meet certain standards to receive that designation. The public bathrooms were really clean and the sites were nicely groomed. So why would you need a bathroom if your camper has one? My husband was adamant that all things involving a number "higher than 1" be completed away from the RV. Never mind that stores sell these nifty things called RV toilet tablets which are dropped in the toilet to break down all that's solid while leaving a pleasant, blue-colored water and minty smell. But that’s his issue and the boys obeyed. Plus a nice shower in a public bathroom campground comes in handy when you forget to turn on the hot water heater for the RV shower.
Cave Country was a nice and clean campground but it’s location was, as my 15-year-old son says, "bleh." We were behind the hotels and next to a farm field.
Because temps were extremely hot, we chose not to grill out that night and had supper at the local Mexican restaurant,
El Mazatlan.
It was your typical small town Mexican restaurant where, as my dad always said, every plate is a circle of rice, beans, and something brown. But like most small town Mexican restaurants, it was surprisingly delicious. It was here where we saw the unique fashion of Cave City, KY. A fellow diner walked by in a baseball hat that read “Tattoos, Titties, and Tacos.” Nice. Welcome to America, boys.
The next day we headed to
Mammoth Cave National Park for two tours I reserved for that day - Domes and Dripstones and the History tour.
Tip #2- RESERVE CAVE TOURS IN ADVANCE. The more popular tours sell out. Because we waited to reserve our tickets, we ended up with two of the “classic tours” with larger groups. “Domes and Dripstones” was our first.