Adventures of a Gem Diva


On Saturday, I went with some friends up to Sweetwater, TN and had "The Lost Sea Adventure." It was pretty much a guided tour through an awesomly huge cave that had an underwater lake. Now, I know you are saying it's not a real spelunking experience since they had it wired up with some electricity--you've got to realize it's a kid friendly adventure and let's face it--our society is kinda spoiled.

They do offer the Wild Tours where you get to stay the night and do these hard crawls and no light whatsoever. I would have loved to have done that but we didn't have the time. Anyway back to topic here, I have captured some decent shots and will start off with a gorgeous Agate maybe some Fire Agate that I picked up in the gift shop. This little baby just called to me and it is now a part of my personal collection.




The photos below are of the beautiful trees around the outside. I love how pretty the light is as it just flows through them. 



This was the first thing the guide showed us and the light you see is man made but if it wasn't for the light no one would probably be able to see it. 


These are photos of the underground lake. I have more but they did not come out that great. You have to keep in mind that I was using a camera phone on an old black berry  so I did the best with what I had. The lake was cool--yes we were able to touch the water--and there are fish in the lake. 



I really enjoyed my touristy trip to the cave and underwater lake and would love to go and do the wild tours one day and of course, stay the night. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Teacher, Daryl Thompson

Image
Daryl Thompson Taught Me More Than Just How To Wire Wrap Gemstones Into Jewelry.  Painting of Daryl by a fan. (I don't know their name) Before I go into detail about his legendary music, let me introduce Daryl to you from my eyes.  In 2007, I was in Atlanta walking through Little 5 Points trying to sell my art. I was broke, a student in Job Corps, trying to make extra cash to help my mother get off the streets. I found myself in Elegance Boutique and met Denise and Daryl for the first time. The Daryl I met was kind, caring, and very informative about jewelry and gemstones. I felt at home from that first moment and knew that these two people were special. Time passed and I became close to them both. Daryl needed a website and online presence for his music. I didn't know he was a musician. I thought, "Okay cool. He can rock out," I had no idea of the gem I found until I was typing up his music resume for the website and learned he was a Grammy winner. Yes
Read more

Jeremejevite: One of the most rarest crystals on earth

Image
Since moving to Arlington, TX, a DFW suburb, I stumbled upon this gem of a store. The owner, Trey, is super friendly and knows his stuff when it comes to gems and minerals. Trey does it all: he wire wraps, solders, cuts gems and minerals shaping them into cabs (cabachons for those of you who are not nerds like me) facets gems like emerald and diamonds. I'm so glad I found Trey and his shop which is right across the street from my apartment.  Today I went over to Power of The Rainbow to pick out a moonstone for a commission. And maybe a couple of extras to wrap and sell. Trey and I got to talking about Phenakite and, yes, I'm gonna make some earrings, but he pulled out this little, tiny, almost microscopic piece that had a name so huge. This piece, he told me, would sell for about $300ish on the market. He was selling it for $50. Why? Because Trey is the type of person who, when he gets  good deal, he makes sure he passes that on to his customers.  Anyway, Trey was kin
Read more

Gemstones: Semi Precious and Precious

Image
What Are Precious and Semi Precious Gemstones? When most people think of gemstones, they think of diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. They don't think of phenakite, moldavite, morganite, alexandrite, carnelian, cinnabar, or others. Most people think of precious stones. And semi precious stones like amethyst and citrine come to mind also.  So what makes them precious or semi precious? Definition of a Gemstone First, a gemstone or jewel is a mineral that is been cut and polished to sparkle and dazzle. All gemstones are not minerals though. Some are organic like amber and pearl. Today, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphire are considered precious stones and the rest are semi precious. Why? I have no clue. It's just the way modern society has it and they got their ideas from the Ancient Greeks. Read more here. But gemstones such as Tsavorite, a form of green garnet, can cost more than an emerald. Why? Because some semi precious stones are rare. Gemstone Groups
Read more