Stone Mountain, Georgia

From the World of Coca-Cola we headed east of Atlanta to Stone Mountain, the largest piece of exposed granite in the world.

It was quite a neat place/park with lots to do, so much that our plan of a one-day visit turned into two days.

Though not conducive to my tastes, this Confederate Memorial carved into the granite mountainside was the celebrated (and much souveniered...is that a word?) focal point of Stone Mountain.

This relief of (left to right) Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was admittedly quite an impressive engineering feat that produced a product taller than the monument at Mt. Rushmore.

Now that you've seen this memorial and the bearded men carved thereon, let me tell you a funny story that arose from our visit. The day after we returned to Alabama, Jerusha asked Grace about our visit.

"Grace, did you go up to the mountain?"

"Yeah."

"And what did you see up on the mountain?"

"I saw Jesus!"

"You saw Jesus? What did he look like?"

"He was on a horsey!"

Despite my best efforts, my southern belle has already learned to confuse Robert E. Lee (or was it Stonewall Jackson?) with the Savior! Not good. It seems I have much more to teach her.

The old-fashioned way to scale Stone Mountain is an hours-long hike up the backside. We chose this way:

And all were glad:

No matter how you get to the top, the view is incredible.

And it's windy!

One of things to do down below is wander around an "old-fashioned" village with various attractions.

We saw a glass-blower bake a pizza, I think. Or maybe he was making a glass vase or something.

There was a "4-D" movie about Southern story telling, which featured all sorts of snakes and other critters that jumped out and into our faces. Needless to say, Grace decided after a few minutes to forgo her 3-D glasses and cling close to Jerusha. Here are the gals before the frightful flick.

One of the highlights for Grace was the Stone Mountain train, which took us on a trip around the base of the mountain.

It was relaxing for most of us, expect for Abigail, who jumped whenever the engine or the brakes made a loud noise.

In the evening we all gathered to worship the Confederate Memorial, or something like that. No, it was a laser light show that has been going steady (albeit with upgrades) for 25 years now.

Grace dug into the cotton candy with gusto while we waited for the show to begin:

The light show was fun, loud, nicely patriotic and, in the end, explosive.

The next day's activities began with a tour of the "Plantation," for which I use quotes because it was really a collection of old and old-fashioned-furnished houses (including some slave quarters) gathered from around the South and put in one general area. Abigail had a good vantage point but she was still bored.

We had fun ducking into a big magnolia tree, although ironically Jerusha (the one who has lived in the South for 26 years) was the most enamored with a tree that I would have thought she was quite familiar with.

Like I said, Abigail was too bored or too tired to pay attention for long.

At the barnyard area, we got to pick out our lunch, er, see the animals. Grace was generally rather sheepish (ahem!) around the animals, but did venture close enough to feed this one some hay.

This goat got her so excited she decided to show off her vertical.

C'mon, there's a little daylight under those little feet. She's got ups! She'll be dunking a basketball soon enough.

Pretty Abigail enjoyed some pretty flowers toward the end of the Plantation tour.

Later we hopped on the boat for a brief ride 'round the lake. The boat was called, appropriately enough, the "Scarlett O'Hara." Here are my southern belles and me.

A good time was had by all, even by the sleepy one. So here's a Yankee recommendation for any of you to check out Stone Mountain, Georgia if you're in the Atlanta area.

And I couldn't resist another cute shot of Abigail napping, this time as a sailor girl.