The Biggest Cave in Minnesota

 Spring Valley, MN

Posing with Bat Art and our tickets.

Mystery Cave State Park

Today we drove south through Mower County among others, and into Fillmore County to visit Mystery Cave State Park.  Apparently it was named by workers clearing the cave of debris.  One was heard saying, "Why anyone would work in this cave is a mystery to me."  That isn't a great story but I didn't make it up so don't shoot the messenger.

Why anyone would want to visit this cave isn't a mystery.  It's awesome!  There are a few different tours you can choose (you have to pre-book) so we chose a 1 hour tour that runs on weekdays.  The tour started at the Visitor's Center.  

The cave is all locked up tight.  It's a 13 mile maze so you need a guide.

It's an active cave so the formations are still growing due to the dripping water leaving deposits.

It's a constant 47ish degrees so jackets are needed year round.  I hear 47 degrees is warm in the winter.

The formations are surreal.  They remind me of working Big Thunder Mountain.  They also remind me of...

This is the Turquoise Lake at the end of the tour.  It's man made.  It was a river but the original "Owner" dammed up the area to make a pool of water.

The Visitor's Center has a gift shop with some cool merch.

Thank You My Try Cave!  More like My Didn't Try very hard.

This is also a pretty crappy depiction of the cave.  I should send them some of my photos.  They aren't great but they are better than these.

There is also a pay phone outside.  I guess it's still here because cell service is bad.

On the way home we stopped in Rochester, MN to get ice cream at Flapdoodles.  The ice cream was great and it wasn't very expensive.  We will be stopping here again but getting the child's size next time.

It's very popular

That's it for today.  If you missed, Another County Fair, check it out.  It was practice for our upcoming State Fair visit.

Another County Fair

 Fairmont, MN

I am in Fairmont, just 8 mines from the Iowa border eating my porkchop on a stick!

The Martin County Fair

Today Donna and I drove south about an hour and 40 minutes to Fairmont, MN, the county seat of Martin County.  The drive took us through 6 new counties as we chip away at a Minnesota completion.  It was a really nice drive down US 169 Dude!  We saw a lot of cornfields because we were pretty much in Iowa.  We also saw a lot of old barns with grain silage.  

Donna didn't snap any photos of the barns but they all looked like this pretty much.

We arrived at the fairgrounds and found parking in a grass lot and then paid our $10 each to get in.  We were there at around 11:30 on a Tuesday so the crowds were light.

Marty is Martin County's mascot.  I guess Martin County is the Bacon Capital of The US.  It's the #1 pork producer in Minnesota.

We each got a porkchop on a stick at the official Martin County Pork Counsels building.  Other rando venders were selling them also but we wanted to support local pork.

I don't know why I took this.  We didn't enter to win although I would love the Bacon Capital T-Shirt.

Donna has wanted a porkchop on a stick since getting one last year at the Kanabec County Fair last year (see here).  Our memory is faulty because we both remembered the porkchop on a stick but it wasn't on a stick.  It was just as delicious as we remembered.

I know I am intimidated by whatever this is.

This is just before Donna got to pet the donkey.

Little Sebastian! 

You're going to want to stay clear of the beater.  It looks painful.

Can I get $10 for wearing one while I am in the grandstands?

I guess there is no data on what chickens look like in 2024.

The porkchop wasn't enough so we got some more food.  Donna wanted Pie

We ended up getting pie and a Hot Turkey Commercial (see below info)

The Hot Turkey Commercial is a regional name for a Hot Turkey or Hot Turkey Sandwich or Open Face Hot Turkey Sandwich or Turkey Manhattan.  I know of this dish as a Hot Turkey Sandwich and ate them a lot while working at Disneyland in the employee cafeteria.  The term commercial probably comes from the fact that it is served at school lunches and so it isn't a thing you would make at home much.  At any rate, it was good, salty, and fun to eat.  

I haven't thought of 7Up in a long time.  This clock is old.

On the way home we took a different rout home so we picked up another county.  Here is where we stand in Minnesota as of today.

The purple counties are this year's new counties.  We will grab a few more to the southeast this month.  We are approaching 50% Complete for Minnesota.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Swing Dancing in a Cave, check it out.

Swing Dancing in a Cave

 St. Paul, MN

Wabasha Street Caves

This evening we used the Jazz 88 Calendar  to find out that The Wabasha Street Caves have a live big band and swing dancing every Thursday night.  Donna and I took Swing Dancing Lessons before we left Washington and haven't practiced since so it was an awkward affair.  The teacher was great and the turnout was HUGE.  We were taught a more easy going swing than the West Coast Swing that we learned in Washington.  It was easier to dance to faster songs with fewer steps during the basic part of the dance.  It was harder for both of us to unlearn what we had already learned.  

After a 45 minute lesson that is included with admission ($10), a 15ish piece big band started playing.  They have been playing this venue for 25ish years so they sounded great.  There was also a bar selling drinks.  It was fun and I am sure we will go back.  Maybe I will practice at home so I am less awkward next time.

The Wabasha Street Caves were, apparently, a hot spot for bootlegging and speakeasies back during prohibition but they also claim the caves are haunted.  One of those things probably isn't true.

Tours are on offer when swing dancing isn't happening and you can even pay for a tour during the swing dancing.

Technically the "caves" are mines because they are man made.

You pay your $10 and enter the "Caves"

We arrived at doors opening so we could see everything before everyone got there.

The bar

I got a "Manhattan".  The bartender forgot to put bitters in it and then took it back and mixed some in.

At 6:15, the swing lessons began.

It was truly a big band, something you don't see that often for $10.

Later in the evening I had local IPA.

The Dance Floor was hopping!

There were also side areas where there was a bit more room to dance.

It was a fun evening of feeling like I needed to learn to dance all over again.  I am sure we will be back to at least enjoy a solid big band and maybe try our hand, or feet, at dancing again.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Can Can Wonderland, check it out.  We played mini golf and pinball.