Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Pictures from the Frozen Niagara tour. You can take pictures but aren't allowed to use a flash. Amazed I got anything since I only had my phone!

 Random man I accidentally got in the shot. Or maybe a cave ghost since I don't remember anyone getting in my shot?!?

 From the museum...

 Okay, so if you have known me long, you knew I had to ask about the critters in the cave!! There were lots of cave crickets crawling everywhere. Too dark to get any of my own pictures. When he aimed  the flashlights into the dark corners it was sort of Indiana Jones creepy to some of the people on the tour!

Would like to come back again and do other tours. I planned to do the self guided but it wasn't available today.

Bass Pro Shop Memphis....Must see attraction!

Never would have thought  Bass Pro Shop would be on my must see suggestion

List for anywhere, but this one is pretty amazing. They took the pyramid in Memphis which had gone bankrupt and was a hot mess and turned into something really cool!

Inside it has a hotel, restaurants a bowling alley, an archery range, outdoor glass observation decks and o r course the Grand-Daddy of all Bass Pro Shops!

It come complete with its own fishing  legend....

Story has it that Bass Pro Founder Johnny Morris was trying to decide whether to build in the pyramid. He was discussing it  while fishing the river by the pyramid with his buddy Bill Dance, Memphis native and legend in the fishing world. He said "If we catch a 30 pound or heavier catfish today I'll put a Bass Pro in the pyramid." Legend says they caught a 34 pound catfish and the project began!

Look closely at the top of the pyramid at the glass observation decks.
Will I or won't I???

A swamp complete with fish and boats. Look closely under the boat.

The tallest freestanding elevator in the USA.

A restaurant in the very top by the observation deck with a great menu!

Hmmmm, maybe some Mule'shine will help overcome the glass floor outside......

 Pimento Cheese topped burger sliders with burnt onion jam. Yum!!

Standing on the glass observation deck to take a picture of parking lot.  Could live without ever doing that again!

Walked all the way over the glass to the railing!

Outside the elevator.......can't have a swamp without gators right?

Cherokee Landing Thousand Trails

This is an old campground about an hour from Memphis, Tenn.  It was super peaceful and relaxing.  The dogwoods were amazing.  Super quiet, no traffic noise. However lots of Canadian geese wandering around. Man they are noisy!!

 Cabins were rustic log cabins. Felt like you had stepped back a decade or so.

 View from my campsite, the next 3 rows didn't have many usable sites. Although they had only been open for a week this season, may be different by summer.

 Can barely see the nearest neighbors!!

Great relaxing week with long walks and kicked back in the lawn chair or rv reading. It's a hard life...... really!!  Rained a lot! Big storms came thru twice that were generating tornados in Texas and Mississippi. Rain, rain and more rain....

Tulip Extravaganza at Garvan Woodland Gardens

Garvan Woodland Gardens -- Hot Springs, AR

The history of the gardens.....

http://www.garvangardens.org/visitor-guide/garden_history.aspx

What an amazing day! The Gardens were beyond beautiful, a truly lovely spring day.  I was lucky enough to be here for Tulip Extravaganza and they weren't kidding!!

The garden has many many different sections.  The first on the self guided walking tour was the Garden of the Pine Wind. A Japanese garden that was forerunner 5 in the nation by the Journal of Japanese Gardening.

One of the first things you see is this stone sculpture donated by Hanamaki, Japan, Hot Springs' sister city.

More pictures from this section, 300 varieties of Asian plants in this area!

The next section was the Southern Inspiration Garden

Then I turned a corner and found the tulips.....breathtaking!

And right in the middle of the tulips........a Fairy Village!!!!

 The bathhouse of downtown Hot Springs....

Then more glorious tulips!

The rest are pictures taken all over the park.

 Kids Adventure Garden and Treehouse

Might just be the best chicken salad ever, and it came from the Chipmunk  Cafe!

  And you couldn't get a better view for lunch!

All in all, a very awesome day!