Luray Caverns

Recently, I was lucky enough to spend a week with friends in Bristow, Virginia. We had hoped for warmer weather than in the frigid north, but unfortunately, we brought the Siberian air mass with us. Enough snow to close down the federal government, including the Smithsonian and National Aquarium in Baltimore for a day.

 

But before the cold air struck, we had the chance to tour nearby Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley. It was my second time touring the caverns, but the place never ceases to amaze me. So other-worldly. I am always looking for inspiration, and I find that real settings are often that inspiration. We took a guided tour, spending about an hour underground among fantastical rock and mineral formations. I like to listen carefully to the history of a place, and sometimes even a piece of history is a seed for a story. Once I have a place for a story, characters start forming, plot starts developing.

 

Among all those orange, gold and white stalactites that look like remants of a long-forgotten desert, I think there must be fodder for a story setting.