New Thing #76 - Underground Barge Ride

I'm really thankful for Groupon and Living Social. They introduce me to things around St. Louis that I never knew existed, or didn't want to pay full price for. Today's adventure is an underground barge ride in Crystal City.

Yeah, a barge ride. Under ground. Who knew?

Crystal City is only a 30-40 minute drive south of St. Louis, and I didn't really know much about it. Well, other than the less than stellar things I've heard anyways. But, I'm always up for a little adventure, so I figured why not. The deal involved two for the price of one, which is always my favorite kind of deal.

Meredith happened to be in town for a Cardinals game and to celebrate my birthday, and seeing as how she's a big fan of adventure as well, she was the perfect candidate to join me. The website didn't exactly explain much about the facility, other than the barge rides and disc golf, so, naturally, we were a little wary on what to expect.

Fast forward to today, with Google maps in tow, we headed south down I-55. My iPhone was feeling pretty saucy today, because it took us the most roundabout way imaginable. Rather than taking a quick exit to the east from the highway, it took us west, then north and back east. Yeah, we made a giant effing circle. For no good reason. But seeing as how we really had no idea where we were going, we followed along like good little girls. Even when it took us down a one way street. Good thing this is a small town and no one was around to run in to.

Eventually, we neared the end of our journey, and all that lay ahead of us was a gravel road, fences and no signs of intelligent life. A bit further down the road, an old one-lane bridge was followed by a giant creepy looking tunnel. As we often do, Mere and I just looked at each other and said "What the hell did we get ourselves in to?"

At least we were in the right place.

The bridge in our rear view.

When I say creepy tunnel, I'm not joking. I had no idea we'd actually be driving under ground to get to this place. But, we came this far, so I turned my head lights on, and rolled slowly into the tunnel. *Side note, I've been watching the series True Blood recently, and I have to admit, my mind went a little nuts being encased in this dark tunnel, not knowing what was inside it or when we'd get out. It ended up being only maybe a quarter mile long, but I couldn't wait to be out of it. Due to a big curve in the middle, we couldn't see the end of it at first. Back in the light of day we pulled into a small gravel parking lot and headed toward the cave entrance.

Heading into the tunnel.

The entrance to the cave. No one was around, so we weren't really sure if we should just walk in or not.

As we walked in, we could see a soccer game being projected onto the cavern wall. Tables and chairs, a stage and bar awaited us after we walked down a ramp into the main room. Beyond that...total darkness. I checked us in with my deal and the lady turned us over to a guy to take us back to the barge. I just realized I never got his name. For the sake of the blog, I shall call him Luke.

It's hard to see, but the projection is on the wall in the back.

We started the walk toward the barge, and it took quite a bit longer than I anticipated. And it was freezing. I figured it would be cold, being under ground and all, so Meredith and I had come prepared with sweatshirts. But, since it was about 305 degrees in the shade outside, I couldn't bring myself to wear long pants. Fortunately, I wasn't completely freezing, but Luke told us by the time we got to the barge, we'd be able to see our breath.

Joy.

As we walked, Luke told us a little bit about the complex and explained about the disc golf (sometimes known as Frisbee golf). I've never played it, but I know the gist of it. You throw a Frisbee and try to get it into a basket. It's scored like golf is. Well, when I had read about it online, I assumed it was played outside. In the sun. Nope, it's played under ground. In the dark. I have a feeling they go through a lot of Frisbees every year. However, they do offer lights that you can buy to put on the discs, so if your aim is off, you can still find them in the caves. Tough guys like to boast that they don't need lights until they come back after one hole and realize they do indeed need them. I would need them.

As we continued to walk, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was inside of these caves. Some points were fairly short, but as we descended down a slope, the "roof" area got bigger and bigger and I sensed just how large this place really was. There were lights strategically placed along our path, but if those were off, it would be very easy to get lost down there. Tunnels came out of tunnels which led to more tunnels. I imagine the staff has a map, but I wouldn't want to be down there alone with the lights off. Luke said it's his job to turn them off every night and it can get a bit freaky.

No shit.

We eventually came to the water's edge and the barge was just returning from a trip. Perfect timing. Other than the hum of the barge and the faint chords of an Elvis song, it was eerily quiet down here. Peaceful. Haunting. They should use this as a scene in a movie. Or at the very least, for one hell of a haunted house.

The barge docking back to the shoreline.

All lit up. This comes in handy.

The "shoreline".

Two tunnels you can't really see down on either side of the center formation.

Not the best photo, but I like the way the lights went all crazy and the fact that it looks like the water is glowing.

The few passengers on the barge exited, and Meredith and I realized that we had it all to ourselves for the next ride. Along with the captain, who's name I also didn't get, so he's going to be called Bo. The barge itself was pretty much just a flat slab of wood with railings and a motor. They had it strung up with Christmas lights so you could see your way around, and a few tables and chairs littered the center. Also on board were the heat lamps. Thank you dear sweet baby Jesus. 

As Bo and Luke (ha, see what I did there?) traded sarcastic jabs at each other and secured the barge, I got my first view of the water and the caves ahead of us. The water was crystal clear and you could see all the way to the bottom. Granted, we were on the shore, so it was only a few feet deep, but later we'd realize that parts of the lake were 30-40 feet deep. 

This is what awaits us.

Bo started up the engine and pulled us away from the dock. Luke wasn't planning on joining us, but at the last minute, he hopped on board. When there's two pretty ladies on board, how could he resist? I looked around, and the barge really was meant for a party. They had speakers set up and the boys were currently playing a little Elvis, but we could hook up our own iPhones and play any music we had if we wanted. You could even bring on your own drinks. We weren't really planning on partying at this place, but at least we know it's there if we ever want to in the future.

Lots of room for entertaining.

I was really mesmerized by the beauty in the caves as we headed out. Unfortunately, either my camera isn't bad ass enough, or I just don't know how to use it, but I wasn't able to get any good photos down there. I tried numerous different settings, but I eventually gave up and just enjoyed the ride. If you want to see professional photos, check out their website: www.crystalcityunderground.com/Photos.php

This is how the ride went...just staring off into the darkness ahead.

I like the shadowing effect.

Luke is attempting to fish some trash out of the water.

My attempt at photographing the water to see the bottom. Clearly, it didn't work. Which is sad because the water was so clear, and with the glow of the headlights, it was pretty cool to look at.

Again, the headlights on the barge made for great contrasts.

Bo on the left, Luke on the right.

Bo and Luke continued their bickering until I asked Luke if he could tell me more about the caves and how this came to be. I don't really remember what he said, but I have their info sheet, so I'll just go from that. Crystal City was first founded for the making of glass. Silica (sand rock) was found and since it's of superior quality for glass making, the town was quickly settled. What followed was over a century worth of innovation and quality. They started making plate glass in the mid 1800s, but by 1990 it was turned over to the salvage company. Today, nothing remains of the glass factory on site. In 2007, the cave site was bought to be used as a convention, sports and entertainment complex. It covers 200 acres, 150 of which are the lake. Most of the ceilings are nearly 40 feet tall.

Not only do they have the barge rides and disc golf, they also have space for 5 volleyball courts, they hold concerts and wedding receptions, along with an area for pole vaulting. You read that right. Pole vaulting. I'm not sure that's a hot commodity to the public, but if you need a place to pole vault, regardless of the outside temperature, it's game on.

Most of ride was pretty quiet. Bo and Luke kept to themselves, and Mere and I were fairly quiet other than a few laughs here and there. As pretty as it was, it did get to be kind of redundant after awhile. Every pillar looked like the one we passed before, and other than one time where we were able to jump up and touch the ceiling, it was pretty tame. I can imagine it'd be much more entertaining with a big group of people.

 

I hate that these photos suck, but I think it's funny the side is blurry. It makes it look like we were going really fast!

Digging the Elvis tunes.

Coming back to dock.

About 20 minutes after we started, it was all over and we were heading back to dock. The boys told us that we could ride the barge again all night long since we had already bought a ticket. I wonder if that's actually true, or if they were just telling us that so we'd ride again.

As we started the trek back up to the surface, Luke pulled up in a golf cart and offered us a ride. Score. Well, he didn't so much as offer us a ride, as I requested one. In the process he took us to see some of the disc golf holes, as well as the volleyball courts.

Oh, and I made Meredith ride on my lap, so she got the brunt of the cold air rushing into our lungs. Sorry dear. :)

The textures in the walls are beautiful.

The lit trash barrels for disc golf to let people know what tee they're on.

The tee marker and the basket in the distance.

The basket. As you can tell by the photos, they really do play in the dark.

People playing volleyball.

Luke eventually dropped us off at the main entrance, and we took some time to look around and take a few final photos before we headed back out into the suffocating midwestern afternoon.

I have no idea why these figures were there, but it gave us great photo ops.

Oh hey.

Meredith won.

Bar area where they have concerts.

Heading back toward the entrance.

No idea.

The entrance.

It was murderously hot outside, not to mention bright as hell, so it took some getting used to when we got back outside. We headed back through the stupid tunnel and made our way slowly back to civilization. I had a great time, and am so glad we did it. the caves were awesome, and I think some disc golf or volleyball should be in my future. Not pole vaulting though. I don't think I'd make it very far doing that.

The exit tunnel.