Stone Mountain

It was a nice day today, a chance for us to "do Stone Mountain" together, something we really haven't done as a family yet.  Sure, we went to see this place at Christmas time, and that was reasonably fun. But we didn't really get a chance to see the Laser Show, which we capitalize here because this is a classic event that's been going on at Stone Mountain since 1983.  

Before we did anything, we went to the chiropractor this morning.  Daddy put on his best Hawaiian shirt, because that's what Doc Williams wears, and the three of us made some adjustments, doing our usual games in the waiting area:  "I Spy," and "Name a Star Wars Character That Starts With Every Letter of the Alphabet."  (or NASWCTSWELOTA, for short).

We got home, and it didn't take long to pack, because we're just spending on night at the Stone Mountain Inn tonight.  The drive down to Stone Mountain was short and uneventful - Madison took a nap on the way down, in fact.  

When we got there, we were early, and that was okay.  They let us in a little early to the attractions though, and that was great.  Our first stop was the historic village area they have set up, where you can walk through old houses from as early as the late 1700's.  This one below was more recent, a magnificent jewel:

This is the Davis house.  It was just gorgeous inside and out.  We took a lot of pictures of the individual rooms, but this exterior shot was nice too.  There was also a barnyard, which was a recreation of an old barnyard area from over a century ago.  

This goat is the Greatest Of All Time.  He just had a look about him that said, "Don't even think about petting me!"

But there were plenty of other goats that were very friendly, wanting to be pet, or scratched behind the ears.  In turn they would start licking your arms, and then when you weren't looking, they'd start trying to eat your clothing.  That's what Madison and her new friend above are warding off - they were having a fun time in the barnyard area.

There was a nice garden area there, of course, and an area where they grew crops as well.  We were tempted to get some more corn while there, but held off.  This dragonfly came by to visit and was pretty chill about us taking pictures.  Must be used to it.

There were plenty of old homes, from cabins to slaves' quarters to the Davis Home.  This above is an early example of a "man cave," a "study" of sorts.  Wouldn't it be great to have one of these in our house?  Madison doesn't think so.  

One of these would be nice though.  Apparently, they have weddings and receptions here, so this area is a well-kept garden area with trimmed trees, hedges and flowers.  And nearby was the local school:

Yes, Madison is ready for middle school!  We took so many pictures of this village area, and unfortunately can't post them all here - but there was so much to see here.  And because school starts this week - and it was a weekday - the place was very, very quiet.  We had it all to ourselves, basically.  We could walk into all these homes and explore, and spent time reading, or letting Madison tell us all she knew about each place:  she was just here a few months ago on that field trip, so she remembered a lot of what she saw.

Back at the Stone Mountain Inn, we rested for a bit before launching out on our evening.  We were able to check in, and as you can see from this picture, all the rooms have balconies with a couple rocking chairs on them, overlooking the pool, and yes, you can see Stone Mountain from here as well.  It's right there, big as anything, right in front of us.  That said, you could literally walk across the street, and there's the sky tram up to the top.  We chose to drive, nonetheless!

Here's Madison and Mommy on the gondola, and you can see Madison holding on tightly to the bar there because she's telling us she's a little scared of heights.  You can also see in the background the sculpture of Davis, Lee, and Jackson looking on.  Daddy hasn't done this gondola ride in forty years.  Madison has never done it at all.  

Here's an interesting angle of the Stone Mountain Sculpture.  This was taken from the gondola on the way up.  It's interesting to look at things from a new angle!

And here we are at the top of Stone Mountain.  We're looking to the north in this picture, back towards our house, which you can see if you look really, really, really carefully.  There was a bit of wind up there, and that was fine because the sun was beating down on us with a very humid day.

We walked around the summit of Stone Mountain, looking over to the north, south, east and west, exploring the rocky surface and marveling that trees could be growing up here.  These windswept marvels somehow found a place to grow roots, withstanding the elements, and doing just fine, thank you very much!

Here's another one of those trees, a perfectly place to sit in the shade up on top of the mountain.  Some were doing just that, while others explored and still others were flying kites.  That's a neat idea, isn't it?  Flying a kite on top of Stone Mountain might be on my "to do list."

But what goes up must come down, and that was us.  We boarded the gondola, and soon enough were heading back downward.  You can see the shadow of the gondola below, along with the interesting textures of this ginormous Stone Mountain.

And here's a shot of the sculpture once more, along with the reflecting pool in front.  Fun Fact:  the pool is the same exact size as the sculpted area.  We got to the bottom, and again, it's not very crowded here.  We got into our car which was right there nearby, and drove a block down to the other parking lot where the other things to do are, including a trail into something like a Jurassic Park.

Please stay behind the ropes.  Seriously.

This short walk had eighteen life-sized dinosaurs along the trail, each one somewhat animated in that it moved its head and tail back and forth, growling occasionally.  Although this stegosaurus above seems to be whispering something to Madison here.  We asked her what it was, but she said it was a secret.  No matter, we were soon running for our lives!

Yes, that's right, a T-Rex showed up, and that sort of diverted us off the beaten path a bit.  His vision is based on movement, so we were staying really still amongst the trees, and despite his roars and heavy breathing, his prey completely disappeared from his line of sight.  He stomped off in another direction, disappointed.  He probably went to the market place food center there at Stone Mountain, which has amazingly bad food at ridiculously high prices.  This alone explains why dinosaurs roar so much.  Fortunately, this guy below eats mostly leaves from the trees.

This brachiosaurus we saw walking through the woods.  He seems to be quite content here at Stone Mountain.  Now, we're not entirely sure why there were dinosaurs here - it's a curious mix of Confederate history... and prehistoric reptiles.  Although this would be an amazing genre if you think of it.  Confederate Dinosaurs!  'Pickett's Charge' might have turned out entirely differently if there were raptors involved.

"Dino droppings?"  Yes, Ian Malcolm, dinosaurs need to go too.  This would be a best-selling potty-training book, wouldn't it?  "Dinosaurs Need To Go Too."  We'll get right on that.   But for now, let's just say that Madison's not going to pull an Ellie Sadler here, and go through the Dino doo-doo.

After the walk with dinosaurs, we walked over to the 4-D movie, which of course was about dinosaurs.

Here's Mommy and Madison, chillin' before the show.  The movie was a visit to Isla Sorna, or perhaps even Isla Nublar.  There's no explanation as to why there are dinosaurs alive on this island, but two characters find themselves there, exploring - and we're along for the adventure.  It's a fun short movie, one the three of us enjoyed.  We also enjoyed the air conditioning!

Afterwards, it was time for some mini-golf.  Here's Daddy and Madison at the last part of the course. The theme of this golf course was the Great Locomotive Chase, a true event that happened during the Civil War involving a stolen train.  Very few people realize that the Union volunteers overpowered the train workers and stole their train using nothing but very small golf clubs.

After a great round of 18 holes of golf, Madison could say she was well trained.  Yes, terrible joke.  But after that, we were out to the "Laser Lawn," which is just a great name for a lawn.  

And look who we ran into here!  Our friend Chris, from KidPak!  In fact, a lot of others were there from KidPak, and we didn't even know it.  There were plans for several families to meet at Stone Mountain, and so it happened that we were there for the same night too, completely as a coincidence!  We even ran into another family on top of the mountain itself!

So here the three of us are, in front of the three of them:  Davis, Lee, and Jackson.  We had reserved terrace seating up front - way up front at the Georgia Terrace.  It was crazy close, so much so that the heat from the flames shooting upwards was pretty intense. 

But it was a great show.  Madison has not seen this before - it's been going on since 1983, and we haven't taken Madison yet.  So it was good to go and see.  Madison was quite happy at the terrace, versus sitting with others, because it was there that we all had free drinks, free ice cream, and unlimited popcorn.  Easy sell there!

But the laser show itself was nice too.  Some of these images we saw were the same ones from years ago, and there was indeed a bit of retro in this whole thing.  The "American Trilogy" by Elvis is such a great thing to see up there, where the riders on the mountain ride off the side there, and a story is told of the Civil War.  There's a version of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" that is pretty fun, and then there's a lot of other imagery put up on the stone, all with lasers of various colors.  As you can see, the fireworks were fantastic too, as were these flame throwers that launched up massive columns of fire at the right points in various songs.  It sort of reminded us of the chamber from "The Wizard of Oz," with all the fire.  Oh, and there were drones too, each one coordinated and choreographed with the music and lasers on the mountain.  It was all set to music from Star Wars, and told somewhat of a story from "The Last Jedi," or at least part of it with "The Spirit Awakens."  

After the finale, it was time for everyone to return to their cars.  We parked in such a place that it was easy to get in, and get out of the parking lot.  And the best part of all was that all we had to do was go across the street when we were done.  There wasn't a long drive home tonight, because all we had to do was go across the street to our hotel room.

It was a fun, full day, and we were all quite tired.  Mommy brought her teapot with her, and we were able to enjoy some tea tonight before bed.  But the rooms here are huge, and very nice really.  The beds were decent, and we were ready to give them a try.