Cavemen BBQ and Steakhouse

[AndrewsGhost]

I tried to find a phone number for the place to see if it is still open. Heard there is some crazy lady who is a erk to everyone, might be worth the trip just to visit her! There is a cheesy video on youtube that someone posted showing the shuttle ride to the cave, it sucks tho.

[slow_walker]

Heard there is some crazy lady who is a erk to everyone

I hate erks, that's for sure.

[AndrewsGhost]

I meant jerk, but erks are equally as bad. Weird lookin too.

[crazydrummerdude]

If no one goes to this any time soon, I have an explosives class at Premier Pyrotechnics on September 20/21 in Richland, and I'll stop by and see "what's up."

Are they open on Sundays? Are they even still open? Ha.

[crazydrummerdude]

Well, this is what happens when you rely on other people.

I still have yet to go to this place.

[lolabelle]

So we went to this place last weekend. Went up Saturday, piddled on the river, stayed in the cabins, then went to the restaurant for some coffee and dessert the next day. Glad we went, but I've got to agree with the posted reviews. I got the cheesecake, and it was good. Nothing spectacular. We actually climbed the spiral staircase up to the cave, then took the elevator down. The old resort-turned-campground is actually kind of neat. This place used to be a hunting and fishing resort (Ozark Spring something). There's a cool old foundation at the bottom, which I'm curious about. Not sure what it used to be...maybe a spring fed swimming pool. Also, supposedly the cave, back during prohibition was a dance hall (accessed via ladder) and maybe speakeasy.

If anyone has any history information on the resort, I'd be interested.

[critter]

I floated down to the cave for dinner the second weekend of July. This place has improved. Apparently the owner of Dowds Catfish House bought this place and changed the menu for the better. Decor is still hokey, but the food and free take-out on the river is worth my visit.

[slow_walker]

Since we've revived this thread, I thought I'd share a blog post I found with photos of the place.

http://cavesandgraves.livejournal.com/5170.html

[SubLunar]

I'll be going there this weekend actually.

[SubLunar]

Warning: Lots of pictures...

My woman and I went out here this weekend. We decided to camp and do the 6 hour (12 mile) float followed by dinner at the restaurant.

We were told that the place was originally created in the early 1900's as the Ozark Spring Resort. The newest cabin was built in 1919. Currently, I think only 5 are in use but they have all the necessities. There are several others either crumbling away or awaiting remodeling. The foundations at the bottom of the hill were originally the recreation area. The one with the flower pots built into it was the croquet field, the other was the tennis court. The current owners bought it in the 90's and have been slowly restoring it. As Lola said, the cave was once used as a dancehall and speakeasy. The back entrance to the cave is on top of the bluff. I did not go in, but we found another cave nearby on the same side of the road about 100 yards down.

The float started off bad. Within the first 10 minutes, I was attacked by a vicious tree branch sticking up out of the water at a sharp turn in one of the few spots where there actually was current (90 percent of the float had zero current). A few minutes later, I saw a leech crawling around the bottom of the boat. When we got to the first sandbank, we pulled up right into a copperhead. The water had poor visibility (2-3 feet) and was very deep and rather treacherous in spots. At one point i saw a fish easily at least as big as my paddle. Needless to say, we weren't crazy about the idea of swimming in it..

We finally got to the restaurant and it was pretty good. Not bad, not great. The cave wasn't real big, but I liked it. There was a guy playing piano in it for most of the time we were there. Cool atmosphere. If you're within driving distance, you should go here sometime. It's a good way to spend a Saturday and they do have cabins. I like the fact that they're keeping the place around and restoring the cabins instead of just bulldozing everything.

Overall, I had a great time, but towards the end of the 6 hour float I was exhausted from paddling and disappointed about the water conditions. We did some swimming, but concerns of leeches/copperheads/huge fish kept us out of it more than we wanted to be. The scenery was nice and there were lots of cliffs and things to keep it interesting. We were the only float trippers the whole time.

I didn't have my good camera...












I was told this door lead to the rest of the cave. No-one would show me.


The founder, Edmund Steckels. Note the machinery to the right. I looked it up and determined that it appears to be a Renault FT Model 1917, one of the earliest tanks.


I believe the bottom right picture shows the cave before the restaurant was built into it.


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Nearby cave: It's about 15 feet up in the cliff. There were a couple branches and an old rope leading up to it. I lost my footing on the way back down and almost really fucked myself up.


Inside, it narrows down to waddle-space, followed shortly by crawlspace. I only went in about 30 feet.


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The spring: Notice the faucet below.




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Cabins: Most of the ones in my pics are unrestored or otherwise not used. The ones you rent are in better shape.














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Going here will give you the added bonus of visiting an abandoned house or two along the way:

[crazydrummerdude]

Happy chair is happy.

[Nicotti]

Awesome!


Not to sound like an ass, but any pics of your hotty gf in a swimsuit?

[Twail Wetard]

I was also told that that door lead to the rest of the cave. Anybody have a map or a cave name?

^^^and yes gf pics?

[SubLunar]

I got her to float topless for a while..

[Twail Wetard]

I usually float topless aswell.