|
Using local stones and specimens he had collected from travels around the world, Garth fashioned inlaid, hand-crafted bartops. More of the fascinating story about the Cave: https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2003/d ... -heritage/
The bar stools are indeed made of tree trunks. I did a little filming too: [ youtube video ]
Asked about the dichotomy of being a Mormon who owns a bar, Lex said that his father picked up smoking and drinking as a soldier during World War II, but later returned to the ways of the church. That’s when he converted the cave to a museum, but the amazing nightclub bars and stools, handmade by Garth, are still there. They feature back-lit counters and facing that illuminate slices of multi-colored stone, and are used for display.
Garth also was quite the Renaissance man, according to Lex. Besides being a carpenter, entrepreneur and explorer, Garth was a masterful wood carver and won awards for his bronze sculptures, which are on display. https://thecoastnews.com/former-cowboy- ... -tourists/
As the white sandstone, which is covered by a reddish sandstone layer, is rather soft it is subject to erosion. The official story is that the cave was formed by the river erosion and is rather old, at least 10,000 years when the last cold age ended and there was much more rainfall and melting water creating many of the erosional forms we see today. There is little information about the history of the cave and it is likely the cave was extended when the speakeasy was established. It may have been extended again in the 1950s for the bar.
The bar stools are indeed made of tree trunks. I did a little filming too: [ youtube video ]
Asked about the dichotomy of being a Mormon who owns a bar, Lex said that his father picked up smoking and drinking as a soldier during World War II, but later returned to the ways of the church. That’s when he converted the cave to a museum, but the amazing nightclub bars and stools, handmade by Garth, are still there. They feature back-lit counters and facing that illuminate slices of multi-colored stone, and are used for display.
Garth also was quite the Renaissance man, according to Lex. Besides being a carpenter, entrepreneur and explorer, Garth was a masterful wood carver and won awards for his bronze sculptures, which are on display. https://thecoastnews.com/former-cowboy- ... -tourists/
As the white sandstone, which is covered by a reddish sandstone layer, is rather soft it is subject to erosion. The official story is that the cave was formed by the river erosion and is rather old, at least 10,000 years when the last cold age ended and there was much more rainfall and melting water creating many of the erosional forms we see today. There is little information about the history of the cave and it is likely the cave was extended when the speakeasy was established. It may have been extended again in the 1950s for the bar.