Where can you climb 786 feet to the top of the world’s largest piece of exposed granite? Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta, Georgia, has this huge granite dome and many more attractions, including a campground. We are now members of the Stone Mountain Climbers Club!
On Wednesday, Feb 13th we drove northwest on I-16 and I-75 to the Atlanta area. It was a smooth drive along interstate the whole way….until we reached traffic around the metro area. Luckily the delays didn’t last too long, and we were soon at Stone Mountain campground. The campground is within the grounds of Stone Mountain Park which also has many other attractions.
Since we were here in the off-season, we hiked the 2-mile round trip path up the mountain and visited the museum. During warmer months they also offer laser light shows, skyride, scenic railroad, 4-D theater, and many other family-friendly activities.
We took a tour of Atlanta with ATL-Cruzers, an electric car tour company. The cars only hold 6 people, so we had a very personalized, 90-minute tour of this historic city which was named after the terminus of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Some of the sights we saw include historic homes and neighborhoods, the Martin Luther King, Jr Center, Olympic Park, CNN Center, and the World of Coke. We enjoyed sampling bison chili and burgers at Ted Turner’s Montana Grill Restaurant. The city is very green-oriented with impressive sustainability efforts in energy, mobility, recycling, and building. We saw one example of this with Uber’s electric e-scooter and e-bike rental program throughout the city.
Georgia is nicknamed the Peach State and many streets in Atlanta have the word Peachtree in them. How many streets, you might ask? In fact, 71 streets have some form of the word Peachtree in their name! Interestingly, the name doesn’t come from peaches though. Historians believe the name came from an incorrect translation of the Cherokee Indian name for the pitch tree. Pitch trees are pine trees, known for their sticky resin or pitch.
We went to see Bodies: The Exhibition, which is a fascinating look at the muscles, bones, and organ systems inside the human body. The exhibits are real human bodies which have been permanently preserved, preventing the decaying process. It was not gruesome at all though. I thought seeing the circulatory system was particularly amazing, as we were able to see all the way to individual capillaries. No cell in the body is more than two cells away from a capillary! There were so many interesting facts—I wish they allowed pictures inside. As a former science teacher, I thought this exhibit was very cool.
Atlanta is also home to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum— our first presidential museum visit. One of the things I learned is that visitors mainly see the museum and special exhibits, while the library part is used for research. Since I was in junior high school when Carter was president, it was interesting reviewing the historical displays and artifacts from an older perspective. We got our first stamp in our Presidential Libraries passport. I didn’t know about the passports, but now that we have one, hopefully we will get stamps at the other 12 presidential libraries as we travel.
We couldn’t come to Atlanta without catching up with friends Bob and Lynn Pahl. Bob was one of our favorite commanders when we were in the Air Force and stationed at RAF Lakenheath England. We had a great lunch at the OK Cafe and enjoyed reminiscing old times. One of the great benefits of traveling is being able to reconnect with friends and family along the way! We also added Georgia to our state travel map.
Our secret reason for coming to Atlanta will be revealed in the next post…….stay tuned!
I never knew that Atlanta was so rich in culture and unique attractions like this. Thanks for sharing!
It’s amazing how many activities and attractions each place you’ve visited has. I am curious when you put your initials on that rock😀.