Soul of the South~4

We visited Stone Mountain back in the 1980’s and we decided to see it again since we were going to be in the vicinity.  The mountain lies just outside Atlanta, which is where we needed to be in order to catch an early morning flight the next morning back to Minnesota.

The End

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But first we had to leave Charleston, South Carolina.  On the way to Atlanta we went past Augusta and I thought of Tom Abts, the Deer Run Golf Pro in Victoria.  Tom would know all about Bobby Jones.

We stopped in the city of Madison for lunch.  Madison had a pretty fancy City Hall.  Allan knows about hanging out in City Halls, especially in the City of Wayzata, Minnesota.

We caught a glimpse of Stone Mountain as we entered the Park.

In the parking lot at the Stone Mountain Park, we were reminded that we were in the South, where cherry blossoms were abundant and the weather was warm, but it was still winter in Minnesota.

We were among the first in line in this early spring season, but there was still an hour long wait to get tickets and get on the ride.

When the wait was over, the first thing they did was take our picture.  Yes, we bought another one.

As we rode to the top, the scenery was fantastic, and just off to the west of the Skyride was the big sculpting on the north face of Stone Mountain.  The sculpted men of the Confederate States of America included Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis

Completed in 1991, it was an exciting cable ride to the top where people looked like ants walking around on a giant cookie.

The top of Stone Mountain also reminded me of what the moon surface may look like close up and personal, sans water puddles of course since there’s no water on the moon.

I wouldn’t really call it the Moon Walk but we were certainly high above Atlanta, Georgia.

How high?  The mostly barren granite rock rises 1,686 feet at its highest point and is more than five miles in circumference.

A bit windy, but not cold and we certainly weren’t complaining under the blue sky and bright sun.

After we saw everything there was to see, we hopped on board the Skyride and descended to the bottom.

Look at the side slopes of that mountain!

Compared to the mountain, the sculpting seems rather small.  The front horse, which sort of spans the length of the figures, is 140 feet from head to tail

We learned in other readings that the Klu Klux Klan used to hold meetings on top of Stone Mountain.  We were not surprised that there were no black citizens touring this place or doing the Skyride.  It is rather strange to be visiting a monument that honors the Confederacy.

We heard the carillon making music off in the distance and so we went to find it.  We found it — a huge structure of bells and bellows and whatever else it takes to create a carillon.

The carillon music was filling the air like we were in a Cathedral of Pines.

I couldn’t capture the music from any angle.

From the carillon we had the best view of Stone Mountain.  A museum told us that the stone didn’t rise out of the earth, but that the earth gradually wore away and revealed the stone.

In addition to the bell music and the lake and the trees and Stone Mountain, there were blooming bushes and trees here and there.  Fun to see it all.

The next morning came early, but we had time to eat a good breakfast at the Drury Inn where we were staying.  Quite a place.  The overnight includes not only the best breakfast (eggs, bacon, sweet rolls, etc.) but a substantial evening happy hour of food and drink that easily counts as supper.

The Atlanta International Airport is daunting.  This picture I took from our plane, as we were taking off, captures about a tenth of the terminals.  It’s the world’s busiest airport.  There are miles and miles of walking trams and trains and you have to be good at following directions to get in and out of there.

The earth was mostly dark and green as we took off that early morning in Atlanta, Georgia.  It had been a good week away from the Deep Freeze.

It’s always interesting to see the earth from a plane window.

I could tell when we arrived over Minnesota. 

Gosh, where does the time go.