You are visiting http://geocities.datacellar.net/SoHo/Workshop/2096

To see an archive of the articles on this site, click here.

Ruby ŚFallsą takes on new meaning

By Tim Wood

It started innocently enough as a weekend getaway, an opportunity to see some of Tennesseeąs tourist attractions. It ended up as a nice trip, but not before the term łRuby Falls˛ took on a whole new meaning.

If you drive anywhere in the direction of Chattanooga, you canąt miss all of the łRuby Falls˛ signs. According to tourist literature and its own web page, Ruby Falls is a lovely waterfall that is found in an underground cave.

I would like to be able to offer a first-hand description of Ruby Falls. That was the original plan. Unfortunately, my family and I came up about 150 feet short.

We followed the signs to Chattanooga during the July 4 weekend after planning the trip by visiting the Ruby Falls web site and reviewing some tourist literature.

We found our way there and promptly went to the end of the line, where a Ruby Falls staff member approached us and handed us a pass that would allow us to get in free. Apparently, the staff was trying to chart the waiting time at the attraction. The man wrote the time on the back of the card. One and one-half hours later, we presented the card to the ticket sales agent, who seemed surprised at the length of our wait. But the real wait was yet to come.

There are two ways to access Ruby Falls. Tourists get to take the elevator. There also is an emergency exit out of the cave itself. But unlike most elevators, which are in buildings that have a door to a floor every 10 feet or so, this elevator goes up and down a shaft cut out of solid limestone.

We waited a little longer, then boarded the elevator.

The front of the elevator has an old style door that allows you to see out of the elevator. As our descent started, it was fun to watch the limestone rock go by.

Then the elevator shook and came to a hard stop. The elevator operator didnąt think it was anything unusual and pushed a few buttons. We didnąt go anywhere.

He called to the staff upstairs for help, and they told him to try a few more things, which didnąt work. We were stuck. The elevator operator, who appeared to be in his early 20s, was apologetic and assured us the problem would be fixed shortly.

It wasnąt.

Finally, the folks up at the top decided to call in the łelevator guys.˛ Presumably, these are people who know how to fix elevators and make them work.

But in the meantime, about 10 of us were stuck in this elevator. We tried telling jokes. One person told us that if the elevator plummeted down the shaft, our best bet for survival would be to lie down on the floor. Jumping before impact would not help she said.

For some reason, the information didnąt comfort me.

I started to have a little trouble breathing and thought this would be a bad time to find out I had claustrophobia. I said the first of many silent prayers, collected my thoughts, and hung in there.

We could not pry open a door, because all we could see was solid limestone. We tried rearranging ourselves to improve the flow of air. We talked some more, but we just became more nervous. One passenger tried to negotiate some compensation for our convenience, suggesting that we be given some nice gift shop items.

The elevator guys arrived and we heard them talking, but I couldnąt make out what they were saying. Perhaps that was a good thing. We felt the elevator shake and we went up. Up? But we wanted to go down - slowly.

But up we went, a few feet at a time, with the elevator shaking with each start and stop. Finally, we got to the top. We left the elevator in an orderly fashion, but we didnąt waste any time, either. The poor elevator operator had to get back on.

Upon returning to the ticket desk, we were presented with a couple of options: a refund or another opportunity to stand in line and ride the elevator. Since we hadnąt paid any money, we didnąt feel entitled to a refund.

But another trip on that elevator? That was a no-brainer.

Amazingly, they still had people lined up to go down the elevator. After what we went through, I thought they should have taken the elevator out of service. But I guess the elevator guys had everything under control.

We had wasted three hours of our life and spent a harrowing 45 minutes in a stuck elevator. All we had to show for our time was a pass that would let us come back.

I guess the elevator guys knew what they were doing. The next dayąs newspaper didnąt have any stories about anyone falling to their death in an elevator at Ruby Falls. I guess those other tourists got down there and back safely.

We salvaged the trip with visits to the Tennessee Aquarium and the IMax theater in downtown Chattanooga. Those two attractions alone were well worth the trip.

But twice last week I visited doctors in a building with an elevator. Their offices were on the fourth and fifth floors. Guess who took the stairs.

Home page||Send me an e-mail ||Click here for great deals on CDs!

||Tim Wood's Rocketry page ||Tim Wood's Music Page, featuring Chicago (the band)