Weather this year has been Crazy (with a capital “C”) and we’ve had to re-schedule 3 soccer games this season! When you have away games that are at least a 3 hour drive away, you pause and rejoice a moment when they are canceled…only to remember they will be re-scheduled later and not always as convenient. But we’ve been making the most of it and using these weekend getaways as mini-vacations. So, this weekend we turned our canceled Atlanta game into a trip to Stone Mountain and the Halloween festival.
Wearing their Converse and sassy boots my two youngest daughters and their friend made the 1.1 mile hike up, begged to ride the sky ride down, but made the 1.1 mile hike down as well. It was almost “free” since you had to pay $20 just to enter the park. Beautiful views of Atlanta along the way with some pretty cute girls as my hiking partners.
Climbing Stone Mountain has been a family tradition since I was a kid. We always stopped by when driving through Atlanta. My dad liked the all you can eat buffet at the Stone Mountain Inn. Climbing the mountain was just part of the deal. We like Stone Mountain so much that we celebrated my youngest daughter’s first birthday at the rock. Whether it was camping or a hotel stay, it was always a fun visit.
But we can’t talk about Stone Mountain without mentioning the engraving. Some people find it offensive to have military leaders that fought on the side of the Confederacy represented in the state park. My first sarcastic thought is “the laser light show would not be nearly as cool if the three horsemen didn’t ride away in the laser lights amongst the fireworks!” You have to experience the Stone Mountain laser light show at least once in your life! If you haven’t seen it, add it to your bucket list!
The engraving is part of Stone Mountain. And it’s part of our history. Yes, it was a difficult time in our country. Many men died on both sides. Sherman burnt down Atlanta for goodness sake! However… the war ended. We reconciled as a country and memorials were placed all over to remind us of the Americans that sacrificed so much. If you dig deep, you will see that Congress passed a law that all Soldiers, no matter what side they fought on, are to be honored as U.S. Veterans. Those are Americans riding horses on the side of Stone Mountain. And it’s an amazing sight to see!
Yes, we climbed Stone Mountain! Rode the train in the dark. The kids played on the attractions. We ate sweet potato fries and cheese-bacon French fries. Got our military discount for the attractions tickets! There went our nearly free experience. Saw pretty lights and pumpkins. Watched them make snow as they prepare the Snow Mountain on Memorial Lawn. Lots of people had a good time that day!
If you are ever in Atlanta, be sure to add Stone Mountain to your “to do list.” Lots of stuff to do and see, it’s beautiful year round, and you might just learn a little bit about U.S. history. Shhhh! Don’t tell the kids the trip was educational!
