点评:I grew up in PA but had never been to Crystal Cave (I've done Penn's numerous times, Indian Caverns at least once). Went with my mom and son on a Saturday in June.
You can park pretty close, buy tickets at the inn, and walk up some steep stairs/ramps to the cave entry. First, they make you watch an 11-minute video in a room smelling of human BO. It was boring--think elementary school film strip--I almost fell asleep and my mom did drop off.
But then we went in the cave, which is very nice! You can walk all the way to the back, seeing cool dripstones, shiny gypsum and calcite formations, and some sparkly (small) crystals along one wall. Our tour guide did a great job addressing my son's (many) questions and comments with aplomb. I learned a lot about cave geology that I hadn't known before; I had no idea the rock formations were so fragile. The history of the cave is also quite interesting. Let's just say, I would not wanted to have toured it the way they did 100 or so years ago!
The site also includes a gift shop and rock shop (of middling quality); an ice cream shop (Hershey's brand); that thingy where you use a sluice to pan for stones; and a Dutch fast food place (did not go in); hiking trail (did not try); and mini-golf (did not do).
I am very glad we stopped by because the cave was so cool. My mom is a cave aficionado and she liked it a lot too. My son was totally fascinated. Great family outing.
翻译:我从小在宾夕法尼亚州长大,但从未去过水晶洞(我去过宾夕法尼亚洞穴好几次,印第安洞穴也至少去过一次)。六月的一个周六,我和妈妈还有儿子一起去了。
你可以把车停在离洞穴很近的地方,在旅馆买票,然后沿着陡峭的台阶/坡道走到洞口。首先,他们会让你在一个充满人体体臭味的房间里观看一段11分钟的视频。视频很无聊——就像小学课本一样——我差点睡着了,我妈妈也直接走了。
不过,之后我们进入了洞穴,那里非常漂亮!你可以一直走到最里面,看到漂亮的滴石、闪闪发光的石膏和方解石构造,以及一面墙上一些闪闪发光的(小)晶体。我们的导游非常出色,沉着冷静地回答了我儿子(很多)的问题和评论。我学到了很多以前不知道的洞穴地质知识;我以前根本不知道这些岩石构造如此脆弱。洞穴的历史也很有趣。这么说吧,我可不想像一百年前的人那样参观!
这里还有礼品店和岩石店(质量一般);冰淇淋店(好时牌);淘石头的那种装置;一家荷兰快餐店(没进去);徒步小径(没尝试);以及迷你高尔夫(没玩)。
我们很庆幸去了那里,因为洞穴真的太棒了。我妈妈是个洞穴爱好者,她也很喜欢。我儿子更是看得入了迷。真是一次很棒的家庭出游。