Stone Mountain

As sort of a last-minute thing, we decided to go to Stone Mountain near Atlanta, GA over Memorial Day weekend. It's very cool! The largest high relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving, depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The entire carved surface measures three-acres(!), larger than a football field and Mount Rushmore.

 They have cable car rides that take you to the top of the mountain and let you get out and walk around the surface.

 

 

It was QUITE THE VIEW!

 

The ride back down seemed to go faster, but it didn't. It's on a pulley, so it brings another car up at the same time, and always at the same speed.

 

 

They had mini-golf, a train that takes you all around the park, lunch in the 'cafeteria,' 3D show called "Journey to the Center of the Earth" where you feel the wind blow, water sprays on you, etc., and general fun stuff like that.

Grayson and Sam were totally annoyed by the kids sitting in front of them
on the train (hence Sam's face in the photo above)

 

This is the view of the mountain from the ground. It is HUGE! And they were getting ready for the concert, laser show, and fireworks that night for Memorial Day.

 

There's an activity there (don't remember what it's called) where all these tubes and funnel things and containers are holding and shooting out these little balls. It's BRILLIANT, because the object is for the kids to run around picking up the balls (heh, heh) and putting them in their bags, and then running to a shooting area and shooting them out at each other.

Grayson and Sam didn't pick up too many balls, but they found a shooting area and stood there and shot out hundreds of balls like a big bazooka or something. They got a kick out of that...

THE BEST PART  about the whole place was the fireworks and laser show that night. There were a bunch of up'n coming music acts, then the Charlie Daniels band (they were pretty cool to see, and very patriotic!) -- and then an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G laser and fireworks show with the big mountain as a background. It's hard to even explain it, but it was set to music, and was incredibly patriotic, and every one of us had tears in our eyes at one point or another. It went on for like 45 minutes, too! The BEST FIREWORKS I've ever seen, and ended with Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."

 

 

It was AWESOME!!