#floyd collins

[teenytinysandwiches]

Jeremy's message to his fans after his final Gatsby performance!

See you at Floyd Collins!

[afireformyheart]

Thank you for everything as Gatsby ♥️

[variberry]

manifesting a tony for pookie this year

[chungledown-bimothy]

JEREMY NO 🤣🤣🤣

[postersscreenplays]

Jeremy Jordan is very princesscore💖✨

[untltledforyourpleasure]

guysss im so sad Jeremy's leaving Gatsby...

BUT MY BANK ACCOUNT SHALL BE DRAINED FOR FLOYD COLLINSSSSS

[doyouknowthismusical]

[wizardlizardtravels]

It was a 20 degree snowy day when I decided to go on a trip to Mammoth Cave. This was due to me assuming that a cave would be a good vacation on a winter’s day due to it staying the same temperature no matter what it was like outside. Was it still cold? Yes of course it was, especially when we first entered it was essentially a wind tunnel. My work jacket could only protect me so much. I registered for the historic tour, and if you have never been I highly recommend it as your first tour. I laced up my boots and got on my way. Our tour guide was a man full of humor but also harsh truths about the cave system. He was formerly a high school science teacher and it shows in the way that he carried himself.

On this tour I learned about the slave labor that went into carrying this cave. We learned of the low light that the slaves had to work in. I had the pleasure of getting to blow out the lantern. It was pitch black, one could not even see their hand just a few inches from their face. No one screamed thankfully, we had forewarning. We learned of the nitre and salt that was mined from the caves. We learned a little bit about how limestone is used to treat heartburn. Our group was also treated to an old gospel hymn that had been sung for years in the great cave. Our tour guide had a lovely voice as he showed us how the cave allows the voice to echo and made for a great tune.

Mammoth Cave is the world’s largest cave system and it shows. It stretches out to roughly 425 miles, and that is only the parts of the cave that are mapped. The cave has stood the test of time and has graffiti in it from all the way back in the 1700s. Back in the 18 and 1700s people would use melted animal fat and oil on a stick in order to painstakingly dot by dot paste their names onto the cave walls or even the taller ceilings.

Bands have even played in Mammoth Cave. Back in 2023 the Louisville Orchestra, featuring world renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma played in the caverns. One can only imagine how beautiful the orchestra must have sounded down there within the ever stretching maw of the cave. I for one wish that I could have seen that likely masterful performance live.

A stretch of the cave called Fat Man’s Misery was surely my misery as well, even as a man who is five foot and about a hundred pounds it was still a bit of a nightmare to get through. Our tour guide warned us that these caves were no place for people with claustrophobia and went on to quip how odd it would be for someone with that specific fear to book a tour in the first place. I had to think it odd either way it is for I and many other people to pay money to have a complete stranger take us into a dark tunnel several feet under ground.

I took a small walk on a trail where Floyd Collins got trapped near. Floyd Collins, if you are not familiar with this famous story of a caving adventure gone wrong, was a caver who was trapped in what is today called, “Sand Cave”. He got trapped in late January of 1925. The whole thing was a huge spectacle with food vendors and even bootleggers selling their wares. Collins ultimately died despite rescue efforts. I went on a small roughly quarter mile trail showcasing a few of the landmarks.

The tour itself was around two hours long and roughly a two mile walk. It was a fun experience and I look forward to doing other tours sometime as well. Overall I highly recommend a trip to Mammoth Cave. It will surely be a trip that will be unforgettable as you behold the majesty of this gigantic cave.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and please leave a comment as well. Thanks for reading.

-Nick

[beautyinsteadofashes]

i think we should crown Lizzy McAlpine as Queen of the JJ fans.

She's only gone and done it.

[broadwaydreamerblog]

FUN Fact I visited the Sand cave as in the one that Floyd Collins was trapped in and later dies in

while you cannot explore it u walk on a little pathway that leads to the cave that tells his story

[thedivinemagnet]

Web weaving

[teenytinysandwiches]

Jeremy Jordan is Floyd Collins!

[afireformyheart]

I knew it!!! So exciting!!

[dailyunsolvedmysteries-movedd]

Tragedy at Sand Cave

William Floyd Collins, better known as Floyd Collins, was born June 20, 1887 in Logan County, Kentucky to Lee Collins and Martha Jane Burnett. From an early age, Floyd developed a hobby of exploring caves. This pastime led to the discovery of Crystal Cave in 1917 beneath his father’s farmland. Floyd developed the cave into a tourist attraction that boasted unique helictite and gypsum cave formations.

Floyd knew of another potential cave located on property owned by Beesly Doyel. This cave, known as Sand Cave, had prime real estate situated right beside Cave City Road. Travelers would easily pass by Sand Cave before continuing to the other show caves such as Mammoth Cave. Floyd entered into an agreement with Beesly Doyel to explore Sand Cave and share the profits if the cave proved worthy to show.

Floyd first entered Sand Cave on January 30, 1925 with only a single kerosene lantern and shortly found it offered many challenges. He found himself squeezing through tight passageways – at one point so tight that he had to inch through on his stomach, with one arm stretched out ahead of him, pushing his lantern, and the other arm at his side. Beyond this crawl, the cave began to open up, but his lantern suddenly began to flicker. 

Floyd knew the peril of losing light in a cave, so he reluctantly began his return journey. As he returned through the tight crawl, his foot dislodged a 27-pound rock which wedged his ankle in place. Try as he might in his awkward position he could not remove his foot. He was trapped in a stone straight-jacket. Thus begun Floyd’s harrowing tale in Sand Cave.

 Once it was discovered that Floyd was trapped in the cave, rescue efforts slowly ramped up. Engineers, geologists, and cavers were called in from all over the local area and state. When more conventional means failed, miners began digging a shaft to reach him. Rescuers worked long hours day and night in hopes of finding a solution to getting Floyd unstuck from Sand Cave. The workers encountered periods of rain and cold weather, cave collapses and disagreements among leaders on how to proceed. The rescue efforts spanned over 17 days with many tactics to rescue Floyd attempted, but all of them ultimately failing. Throughout the rescue efforts, the story became too big for Cave City. People began to arrive from all parts of the country and a "carnival atmosphere" took hold at the mouth of Sand Cave. Vendors appeared, selling food, drink and souvenirs. Thousands of sightseers descended on Cave City, and the state was forced to dispatch troops to keep order.

On the eighteenth day after his entrapment, rescuer’s finally reached Floyd via a 55 ft. vertical shaft, but it was too late. Floyd Collins was pronounced dead of exposure, and Sand Cave was sealed with Floyd’s body inside. Only months later would his body be removed for a formal burial closer to his family’s home near Crystal Cave. He now rests in the Mammoth Cave Baptist Church Cemetery.

[chungledown-bimothy]

"he's stuck under a rock for basically the whole show" is definitely a new take on the "how to get around the fact that jeremy can't dance" problem

[godlessondheimite]

will shuester walks into the rehearsal room and writes “kentucky sand cave” on the white board