>>4226183Melrose Civil War Cavern, pic related, and then do Endless Caverns. Melrose has a ton of CSA and USA history behind it. Shenandoah Caverns was cool too hopefully they have their elevator fixed.
Luray is really touristy but it's worth it if you go during the non-touristy season. Pretty much all of those caves in the Shenandoah Valley are cool and you should do them. None of them allow tripods or even a monopod so plan accordingly, I have the Tamron 15-30/2.8 VC which is perfect for caves like these. You'll want something UWA like the Tammy and then something 50mm or 70-200 for the pool reflections in some of the caves, I liked the 50 ART because it works in basically no light.
If you head south a bit do Dixie Caverns too. There is a ton of history along US 11 and while you're at it you should do the Virginia Military Institute. I did a car meet and we stayed in the Valley and I took US11 everywhere in my track car it was super liberating not dealing with retards on I-81.