This afternoon, the 1st Lady and I went north to Bonne Terre where, along with 9 other sorority members and spouses, we took an hour tour by foot and boat through the Bonne Terre Mine. A former lead mine.......this are was the largest producing lead area in the world......it is a really, really huge mine that is now partially flooded. Difficult to explain, it is in several layers and the bottom three layers of the mine are flooded with the clearest water I have seen. Each day 500,000 gallons of water are pumped out and into a local small river or it would be completely flooded. It is now used for scuba diving training and recreational scuba diving. In fact, Jacques Cousteau visited the mine.......
"In 1984, Jacques Cousteau and his team of underwater explorers came to rural Missouri to check out an unlikely dive site -- the water-filled abandoned mines at Bonne Terre. Cousteau intended to stay for a day and a half. He ended up extending his visit to a week. It's easy to see why the world's foremost undersea voyager would become a big fan of this subaquatic gem in the Ozark foothills -- and why National Geographic has rated Bonne Terre diving as one of the 10 greatest adventures in the United States. The old mines, which ceased production in 1962, have filled over time with more than a billion gallons of pristinely clear water. The result is a unique diving experience. This isn't the Caribbean or the Great Barrier Reef -- no rainbow-colored fish or masses of tropical coral -- but you will find many miles of old mine shafts and caves, many of which still contain oar carts, elevator shafts and other artifacts of the mining days, all in water that stays at 58 degrees year-round. Diving at Bonne Terre (along with any necessary training for novices) is coordinated by West End Diving in the St. Louis suburb of Bridgeton (11215 Natural Bridge Road), which is open Mon.-Sat. and is closed on Sundays."
WOW.....it was a wonderful tour. About 2/3's of the way through, we boarded a pontoon boat and cruised silently through the mine. At times the water is 275 feet deep!!!! There were some scuba divers from St. Louis spending the afternoon in the water and in the deeper recesses of the mine. I can't recommend this place highly enough!!!!!!!!! If you are ever in this area, 60 miles south of STL, take the time to go on a tour of this lead mine and scuba diving area!!!
Following the exciting tour, we remained in the small town of Bonne Terre and had dinner at the Crossroads Restaurants. Ok......they try, they are friendly, it IS a small town, but the service is a bit lacking, and the food is just a small notch above average......and the prices are a bit high for this food. We,.....11 of us.....were there for 2.5 hours before we had our pre-dinner drinks and then finished our dinners. I ordered a Porterhouse Steak.....and it was less than a half inch thick with no searing on the outside.......just not what I have come expect when eating a Porterhouse! The 1st Lady's steak was mucho better than mine.......I'm happy for that. The salad was very, very ordinary......with dressing that matched the quality of the salad. My baked potato was not baked sufficiently......I had to cut it into small bites to eat it......ugh. Oh well........we always hope that we will find a really great little place to eat in these small towns, but.....hmmm, it was a disappointment.
Tomorrow........during the afternoon, we will be joining friends at the very new local winery here in F'town: Vance Vineyards........for a few glasses of wine and some great conversation. A couple from Guatemala will be with some friends of ours so this will certainly provide some interesting discussion about their country.
I am posting a few pictures that I took today.....however, the mine is sooooooo damn large that most of the flash became lost in the cavernous spaces below ground. And....the spectacular clear water cannot be shown with the beauty that is actually there to be seen.
All in all........a really wonderful day!!!!! Again......come down here and visit the Bonne Terre Mine!!!! And.....after a day such as today, what else can be said, but............
LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!......And...I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
WOW.....it was a wonderful tour. About 2/3's of the way through, we boarded a pontoon boat and cruised silently through the mine. At times the water is 275 feet deep!!!! There were some scuba divers from St. Louis spending the afternoon in the water and in the deeper recesses of the mine. I can't recommend this place highly enough!!!!!!!!! If you are ever in this area, 60 miles south of STL, take the time to go on a tour of this lead mine and scuba diving area!!!
Following the exciting tour, we remained in the small town of Bonne Terre and had dinner at the Crossroads Restaurants. Ok......they try, they are friendly, it IS a small town, but the service is a bit lacking, and the food is just a small notch above average......and the prices are a bit high for this food. We,.....11 of us.....were there for 2.5 hours before we had our pre-dinner drinks and then finished our dinners. I ordered a Porterhouse Steak.....and it was less than a half inch thick with no searing on the outside.......just not what I have come expect when eating a Porterhouse! The 1st Lady's steak was mucho better than mine.......I'm happy for that. The salad was very, very ordinary......with dressing that matched the quality of the salad. My baked potato was not baked sufficiently......I had to cut it into small bites to eat it......ugh. Oh well........we always hope that we will find a really great little place to eat in these small towns, but.....hmmm, it was a disappointment.
Tomorrow........during the afternoon, we will be joining friends at the very new local winery here in F'town: Vance Vineyards........for a few glasses of wine and some great conversation. A couple from Guatemala will be with some friends of ours so this will certainly provide some interesting discussion about their country.
I am posting a few pictures that I took today.....however, the mine is sooooooo damn large that most of the flash became lost in the cavernous spaces below ground. And....the spectacular clear water cannot be shown with the beauty that is actually there to be seen.
All in all........a really wonderful day!!!!! Again......come down here and visit the Bonne Terre Mine!!!! And.....after a day such as today, what else can be said, but............
LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!......And...I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!
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