Spelunker Claus news

Texas caverns' underground concerts take holiday visitors caroling in the caves

Austin Gilliam San Antonio Natural Bridge Caverns

Performers like Austin Gilliam have been enjoying this unique concert venue.

Photo courtesy of Natural Bridge Caverns

An underground Christmas celebration sure sounds edgy and cool, but little could prepare visitors for this literally underground venue. Natural Bridge Caverns, just on the northeast edge of San Antonio, is hosting its 10th Christmas at the Caverns "season of celebration," but this one adds even more shimmer to these dark depths.

Natural Bridge's "Caroling in the Caverns" opportunities and new Holiday Live Underground Concert series bring the public up close with professional singers and musicians for resonant performances in the stunning underground space. This year, the cavern's festivities are extended five days longer than usual, lasting December 2-30.

The live concerts will take place in a newly developed space dubbed by a release "the deepest underground event venue in Texas."

Photos highlight the unique offering, highlighting performers bathed in light from nowhere amid the quasi-cathedral natural environment. Considering the acoustics, it's almost weird that we don't have more concerts in caves.

"Our 'Live Underground' concerts have been so popular, when we were looking for a way to celebrate our 10th anniversary, it seemed like the perfect way to extend the festivities," said President of Natural Bridge Caverns Brad Wuest in the release.

There are five artists scheduled to play during the holiday series:

Zack Walther Band on December 21
Scotty Alexander on December 26
Matt Castillo on December 28
Payton Howie on December 29
Clay Hollis on December 30

Both below and above ground, classic traditions are returning, starting on December 2: a trail of lights that stretches a third of a mile (with some new additions), a 30-foot Christmas tree, a visit from "Spelunker Claus" and Mrs. Claus. More unusual, the 5,000-square-foot "Reindeer Roundup Maze" gives kids a festive mission.

It's not all just entertainment; in the spirit of the holidays and Christmas at the Caverns tradition, the venue will be collecting food and financial donations for the New Braunfels and San Antonio Food Bank. It will also donate a portion of ticket sales, adding to its previous cumulative donation of $125,000 and 1.25 million pounds of food.

While visitors are there, they might as well take some of the year-round tours that will still be running throughout the holiday festivities. A concert ticket also gets guests into all of the other holiday events, and there are multiple other ways to organize a visit.

Tickets for Underground Live Concerts are available at naturalbridgecaverns.com.

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Holiday News

American Airlines expects record-setting travel on Thanksgiving 2024

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines ready for takeoff.

The holidays are looming and American Airlines is ramping up. Over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, the Fort Worth-based airline expects to process nearly 8.3 million customers across more than 77,000 flights.

According to a statement from American's COO David Seymour, the airline is having a good fall season and canceled fewer flights than its peers during October.

“Thanks to the hard work of our 130,000 team members, we canceled fewer flights than any of our major competitors this October and beat our own records for on-time departures and arrivals,” Seymour says.

That's surely good news. One hates to rain on their parade, but in June 2024, the only flight I booked this year, my flight was canceled less than 24 hours before take-off. I had made hotel reservations, scheduled a pet sitter, planned events, and arranged for a friend to pick me up at the destination airport. One employee speculated that it may have been "insufficient crew." Their only solution offered was: Feel free to reschedule your flight.

Thanksgiving facts and figures
The travel window runs from November 21 to December 3, and the airline expects to carry more than 500,000 more customers than it did last year.

The most-traveled day will be Sunday, December 1. The second most-traveled day will be Monday, December 2.

The peak of peak: 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft will be enroute at 10:45 am on Sunday, December 1 — the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

The airline expects to serve more than 6.8 million Biscoff cookies on board from November 21 to December 3.

Travel tips
Download the American Airlines app and check in for your flight, noting added any bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.

If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry and go straight to the officer.

Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.

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