Atlanta, GA: Stone Mountain

Let's go way back to the beginning of April, when we went down to Atlanta for the Final Four. I last left off when we went through Chapel Hill to go to our favorite brewery there. We got to Atlanta that night just in time to pick up our dads from the airport (thanks, crazy traffic). Since the basketball games weren't until the evening on Saturday, we decided to do something fun in the morning. So we went to hike Stone Mountain.

Stone Mountain is a mountain just outside Atlanta. There is also an amusement park around the base, which we didn't want to go to (it was super expensive and nothing was there), but we did want to walk up it and see the view from the top. We had the perfect weather - not too hot, sunny, clear skies. (We actually lucked out and had that weather the entire time we were in Atlanta.) The view was fantastic. Getting up there was another story.

You'll remember we had our dads with us. The hike up to the top is a little less than a mile and a half, and the elevation increases around 800 ft. It's also on stone (granite), which is slippery when wet and doesn't give much traction even when dry. It's also quite steep.

For Eric and me this wasn't much of a problem, but it was rather slow-going with the dads. We weren't in a rush, so it was mostly just nice to spend time with them and walk up at a slow pace. But I would definitely be aware of the climb if you're doing it (we saw everyone from babies to grandparents making it, though). And bring water. We failed to do that and really could have used some.

The top is great. There's some part of Atlanta below. There's also a visitor center with food and water and some exhibits. You can also ride a cable trolley down or up the mountain here. We wanted to hike so we chose not to, but if you are tired (or if you want to ride up/hike down) it's a good option.

Stone Mountain is known primarily because of this giant carving of Confederate leaders on its side. It's basically the Confederate Mount Rushmore, with Lee, Jackson, and Jefferson Davis displayed. It is huge, but hard to gauge the real size of it. For reference, a man carving this could hide in an ear to stay out of the rain.

To actually see the carving, you have to either go into the amusement park or glimpse it through the trees from somewhere in the parking lot. I don't think it's worth the crazy admission price, but it was a kind of random thing to go see in Georgia.