Sweetwater, Tennessee: The Lost Sea

It's been lost in a cave. See the sea by boat. It's really a lake, not a sea, but it has hungry fish and helpful tour guides.

July is their busiest month according to our guide. The Lost Sea is open year round except for Christmas. There is also a general store, sweet shop, glassblowing shop, gem mine, nature trails for hiking and some other odds and ends.

My husband and I were driving cross-country and saw the billboard. We looked it up on Roadside America and thought the reviews made it sound fun. It is! We took our four month old daughter and had a blast.

Yes, it was difficult at times to go up or down through the cave, but well worth the effort my husband put in. He carried her in a front carrier the entire time. The boat ride was short, but loads of fun because of the entertaining fish and the tall tales from the guide. The wait outside to get in was okay; would have liked it a bit faster because it was so hot, but then we would have run over the tour group in front of us, so it was good timing.

The water has risen in the cave and the glass bottom boats are running again -- water is clearer and you can see the fish. Nice cool place to go in the summertime.

An interesting place to visit, though I agree with the comment that the official website hypes it way too much. The water was indeed murky and I felt sorry for the trout. Still, the geology and human lore of the place is worth knowing.

Because it has had fairly constant use over many centuries, many of the formations one expects to see have been damaged. The company offers a Wild Tour that apparently takes you to less visited spots in the cavern.

Next to the cave tour is a small "village" with a gift shop, glassblower, smithy demo, and "gem mining" (buy a bag of dirt and run it through the sluice.).

The village closes 2 hours earlier than the cave tour, so visit it first.

It's also in the Eastern Time Zone, so we were expecting another hour to visit since we came from the Nashville area to see it. Adjust your watches early so you won't be surprised.