(Short) Kids 6 and under + Mammoth cave + Inattentive parents = Bad

[ArenaBoy]

My friends and I went on a road trip this week, we went to Nashville and then on the way back stopped at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Mammoth cave is if anything one of the largest caves in the world. There's a lot of 100 foot drops, unstable ground, and a lot of other things you'd find in a cave. And here I am standing around watching kids climbing over rails while the idiot parents are busy taking pictures. One parent even brought their 2 year old who would not even keep quiet.

One of these days some idiot parent is going to be in trouble when they let little Johnny climb over a rail and has a mishap on a pile of rocks.

[Geek King]

My friends and I went on a road trip this week, we went to Nashville and then on the way back stopped at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. .

I've been there. Neat place. I bought a copy of the map of the caves that I use occasionally as a role-playing supplement for games I run.

[auntiem]

Those parents rank right up there with the ones I saw at Yellowstone who gave their kids some food and took pictures of them feeding a moose. It is pathetic that they have to hand out flyers at the gate listing all the things not to do - like "don't place your child on a buffalo to take pictures". Darwinism in action.

[Gawdzillers]

WOO NASHVILLE

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Those parents rank right up there with the ones I saw at Yellowstone who gave their kids some food and took pictures of them feeding a moose. It is pathetic that they have to hand out flyers at the gate listing all the things not to do - like "don't place your child on a buffalo to take pictures". Darwinism in action.

Or the ones I saw 9 years ago when I was there, walking off the trails onto rocky areas near geysers where there are signs warning the rock crust is thin and can break, plunging you into the scalding waters below.

People were yelling at the kid to get back on the trail, and at the parents to keep them on the trails. The parents didn't get mad at the other people for telling their kids what to do, but they took their time getting the kids back on the trail.

[Rahmota]

Mammoth cave is awesome! They are still discovering sections and pathways down there.

I hate parents like that that wont respect the forces of nature. Makes it so much less enjoyable for the rest of us who do understand thigns. One reason I like to go places whenver I can in the off season to reduce the amount of idiots around.

Oh well.

Say hi to Dunscon for me. (geek points for the reference)

[Will-Mun]

One parent even brought their 2 year old who would not even keep quiet.

I went to... God... I THINK Catskills mountain area on vacation... Not sure... And went to a cave. Part of the tour is that how without the lights it was pitch black (Dur), and that when all the lights are out and everything was quiet you could hear the water rushing through the caves... So they shut off all the lights, and....

A baby was crying. I just don't understand why people bring infants.... ANYWHERE. I get stores and restaurants. But the kid isn't gonna marvel at the caverns, the stalagmites, the power of the water that cut the tunnels... Why is your loin spawn there?

I may be sounding a little insensitive... But if you have the forethought to go on vacation... Then please find proper care for your children too young (below 5 I would say, but thats an opinion matter) to take in what they're seeing.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I may be sounding a little insensitive... But if you have the forethought to go on vacation... Then please find proper care for your children too young (below 5 I would say, but thats an opinion matter) to take in what they're seeing.

Or, here's a thought, plan a vacation that involves appropriate activities to bring said small children so you don't have to worry about it. Wait a few years for the caves when they are old enough to enjoy it!

It's cool when they turn out the lights! It's like you can feel the darkness...there's caves in Hershey PA I've been to a few times (Crystal Caves, I think); last time was in college. Though if I recall correctly they told us NOT to touch the walls of the caves because the oils on your fingers can affect the way the water and whatnot moves along the walls, altering the way they would naturally form and evolve.

[blas]

Um, did anyone ever consider that in certain caves/mines where the ground is unpredictable, so are the walls and "ceilings"?

If someone yells loud enough, there's a possibility that the cave could cave in, no pun intended.

Oh yes, sue em because you brought your 2 year old who screamed like a banshee and then the whole damn thing collapsed and injured everyone.

[JustADude]

Um, did anyone ever consider that in certain caves/mines where the ground is unpredictable, so are the walls and "ceilings"?

Oddly enough, I asked just that question when I was about 12 and saw a huge pile of fallen stone and a jagged, rough-looking roof on a cave-tour I'd gone on.

The answer the guide told me was that that's a GOOD thing. It means that whatever is going to break loose easily has ALREADY broken loose, so the cave is much, much safer than one with a smooth floor and ceiling. I believe the term he used was 'calving', much like how you break compressed grounds out of the inside of an espresso machine.

[Aldous]

Niagara Falls journey behind the falls. It's dark, it's wet, it's cold, and it's awesome. But I swear to god, if I had to deal with one more screaming infant while I was trying to read the history of the falls, or one more "DADDY!!!!! I WANT ICE-CREAM NOOOOWWWW *Banshee wail*" there was going to be hell to pay. I would be able to split the falls with my anger. I don't understand why you would want to take a child behind the falls. It's a man-made cavern, with plaques of various information that a child wouldn't understand. Oh also if I hear "Do they shut the falls off?" one more time, I'm going over the falls. I understand why people went over the falls in the barrels now. They said to themselves "I love the Maid of the Mist, but if I get one more screaming child, or pissed off person because they didn't know they were gonna get wet, or infant crying in my ear, I will go over the falls myself." and at that moment some one shouted that they were wet and their vacation was ruined, a child screamed because they just couldn't hold it in, and our hero placed an order for a barrel that night.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Niagara Falls journey behind the falls. It's dark, it's wet, it's cold, and it's awesome.

Oh, I would love to do that! I was at the falls in 7th grade, on a school trip to Canada (took a whole roll of pictures and promptly lost the film, so the only pic I have of the falls was taken from the bus window as we were getting ready to leave ). We went on the Maid of the Mist but we didn't get to go behind the falls...I didn't even know you could! I'll have to go back someday

[protege]

Hehe I've been behind the falls! I didn't think it was all that dark, but it was very wet. Even with the provided poncho, I still got soaked

My favorites though, are the idiots who bring their kids to the train museum in Strasburg, PA (awesome place)...and then bitch when their kids start crying when the locomotives sound their whistles, or when the Amtrak train blasts its horns at the Strasburg RR crew in Paradise, PA. If you ever get the chance, it's freaking awesome to have an Amtrak train roar past at 79mph while you're stopped. 15 years on, I can still hear it approaching, passing, and then roaring into the distance