Tribute to Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson Tribute
Beech Bend Park was very excited when the Sea Dragon was purchased from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. While Michaels' life was controversial at times, his contribution to the music world is legendary. With Michael's sudden passing, we have been overwhelmed with calls and visits from fans wanting to ride the Sea Dragon. A memorial has been formed at the base of the Sea Dragon and those wishing to bring flowers, photos, cards and other mementos are welcome to do so. Beech Bend Park will open its doors with free admission to fans of Michael Jackson on Sunday night, June 28th from 5 to 7 p.m. with complimentary rides on the Sea Dragon as a tribute to the "King of Pop"
The Sea Dragon ride was originally puchased by Michael Jackson and installed in his Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara, California in the mid 90's. It was said to be Michael's favorite ride. Beech Bend Park purchased the ride in November 2008 and moved it from Neverland Ranch to its new home in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The photo above is a picture of Michael having fun riding the Sea Dragon and the photo to the left shows the Sea Dragon while at Neverland Ranch. The ride is currently operating at Beech Bend Park and is a crowd favorite.

Visitors welcome free tours at Mammoth Cave(MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK – June 24, 2009) On June 20-21, Mammoth CaveNP offered the Discovery and Mammoth Passage cave tours free of charge.The offer will be repeated July 18-19, and August 15-16, 2009 as a gestureby the National Park Service to help families enjoy the outdoors.“We consider the weekend a great success,” said Superintendent PatrickReed. “The purpose was to give families a break in these tough economictimes. Some came out specifically because of the free tours, others whowere already here added a free tour to their visit. Both Saturday andSunday showed significant increases over the number of people who visitedon the same weekend last year.”On Saturday and Sunday (June 20-21), 7,151 people toured Mammoth Cave,compared to 5,157 people on the same weekend in 2008, a 28 percentincrease. The park ran the self-guided Discovery tour through the busiestpart of the day, and then added extra Mammoth Passage tours to ensure allvisitors would have an opportunity to go on one of the free tours.“One woman told us the tours added to a cheap summer get-a-way she plannedfor her grandchildren,” said Mike Adams, Mammoth Cave’s chief ofinterpretation. “She said they came to this area to use discounted ticketsat one attraction, then came to Mammoth Cave for the free tours. We hopeothers will follow her example when we offer the free tours again July18-19 and August 15-16.” - NPS -

Don't miss the fireworks here at Cave City July 3rd.