Summer Sizzle: A Ramble Through Inner Space Cavern

You're familiar with soda straws, naturally, but have you ever seen one that lasts for centuries and eventually becomes a cave carrot? Our family recently relished a whole smorgasbord of new "culinary" delights during an outing to Inner Space Cavern in Georgetown. And after more than an hour of hiking through refreshingly moderate temperatures, we had worked up an appetite. But hey, at least we weren't sweaty or sunburned!

Inner Space Cavern is open seven days a week, which fit our desire for a Sunday afternoon outing nicely. Since we have younger children, we chose the hour-and-a-quarter Adventure Tour ($16.95/adult; $11.95/child; check http://myinnerspacecavern.com for a coupon), although longer (and pricier) tours are available. And while children three and younger enter for free, I would not recommend taking children younger than three on the tour. Strollers are not allowed, and if you happen to have a toddler who likes to wiggle, wander, and touch things ... wait, don't all toddlers like to wiggle, wander and touch things?

Touching is verboten in the cavern (with two exceptions) for the simple reason that the skin's natural oils can bring to a halt hundreds or thousands of years' worth of the caves' diligent efforts to adorn themselves with stalactites, stalagmites, and delightful formations such as the soda straws and cave carrots mentioned above, the cave bacon, the Rocky Road ice cream sandwich, the Fairy Tale castle, and - my eight year old's personal favorite - the sumo wrestler eating an ice cream sundae.

Our group descended into the cavern on a cable car, immediately appreciating the twenty-five degree temperature drop. Our first stop was at the photo station, where well-lit formations provided a lovely backdrop for family portraits, available for purchase later on.

From there our guide led us on an adventure that seemed to offer just the right combination of information and entertaining stories to please our crowd (although my son would have asked more questions given the opportunity). The amount of walking involved seemed surprisingly manageable even for my hiking-averse six year old, possibly because of the frequent pauses and relatively even terrain.

On two separate occasions our guide enriched our education by turning off the electric lighting in a particular room to give us a moment in "total natural darkness." Even for this claustrophobe, the experience was brief enough to be enlightening rather than uncomfortable. My three-year-old, however, reacted with slightly less enthusiasm. Therefore I repeat: use caution when toting a toddler.

We finally emerged from the cavern and navigated the final and most challenging obstacle: the gift shop. If you visit, you might augment the experience with a bit of do-it-yourself gem mining outside the Inner Space visitor center. Our crew had to pass, since all those delectable-sounding formations had put food firmly on the brain.

Bonus: If you're making a day of the drive north, consider continuing on to Waco, where the Mayborn Museum at Baylor University is currently exhibiting an impressive collection of Leonardo da Vinci's machines. Admission is $6/adult; $4/child (http://www.baylor.edu/mayborn).

Happy wandering!