Hey everyone, this is William — welcome back to Life with the Kuangs!

Thanks for joining us on another National Park adventure. This time, we visited Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend. It was a unique and memorable experience — the landscape here felt very different from other national parks we’ve visited.

We stayed at a Hampton Inn about an hour away from the park. The reason? So we could explore both Tennessee and Kentucky during our trip. The hotel served a continental breakfast, which made for a quick and easy start to our days.

Our main goal was the Historic Tour of the cave. One important tip: book your cave tours early — they tend to sell out fast! Even if you don’t have a ticket, there’s still a free area around the visitor center where you can walk and explore a bit of the park.

The Historic Tour itself lasted about two hours. It wasn’t too difficult, though there were sections with narrow paths and low ceilings. Throughout the tour, park rangers shared fascinating stories about the history of the cave, its formation, and some of the notable visitors over the years. It was truly a one-of-a-kind experience.

The visitor center was also nice, though part of it was under construction while we were there.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKsQTqwxpdz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MXN4NGpwMnNtam5kbQ==

For lunch, we grabbed a quick bite at the McDonald’s inside the Love’s gas station, since it was on the way to our next stop: Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo.

At Kentucky Down Under, we got to interact with all sorts of animals — including kangaroos and parrots! One highlight was renting a golf cart to drive around the park. We even got to feed and pet kangaroos up close. The animal show featured a snake, parakeet, and tortoise, and we were able to interact with them — from holding a snake around our neck to touching a turtle shell, and even jamming with a parrot!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKsRJR7x_fo/?igsh=d3Z1ZHJwbXY1eXdk

To wrap up the day, we headed back into Tennessee for dinner at Butchertown Hall. It’s a barbecue-style restaurant with a great vibe. We ordered ribs, pulled pork, and wood-fired oysters as an appetizer. The food was delicious, but the place was packed, so the service wasn’t as attentive as we’d hoped.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKsRkDRRRlU/?igsh=cG1kNjVhZGtvaXRv

And that concludes our day trip to Mammoth Cave National Park! It was an awesome experience exploring the underground wonders of the cave and meeting amazing animals at Kentucky Down Under.