I am always excited to perform in Quincy. On election day 2010, Getting Excited About Science will be at 2 Quincy schools. I believe this area has more caves that are used for commercial use than anywhere I else that I have traved. Even Google is looking at the Quincy Caves for underground storage. Look up this link for the story.
http://www.connecttristates.com/news/story.aspx?id=443899
There is a road that runs along side to the mighty Misissippi river and the big limestone bluffs. There are big industrial style garage doors leading into the hill sides and underground. These doors are big enough for a 2 way road in which big trucks can deliver goods and take goods out. These caves keep all goods around 52F. They are also dangerous. Last time I was in the area, a truck hit a support collum and debris from the “ceiling” fell, killing a worker.
This area is only about 16 miles from Hanibal, MO where Mark Twain wrote about those caves with Tom Sawyer. Our Science shows were in the greater Hanibal area for WOW Children’s Museum (traveling to 15 schools) a few years back.
Caves have been used for centuries to store goods and they always have a story to tell. I saw some smaller caves this summer near Chippewa Valley, WI and in S.E. Kentucky.