Stone Mountain

When I was a kid, growing up outside of Atlanta, I loved Stone Mountain. It's the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. Essentially, it's a big grey rock. There's now a theme park of sorts that surrounds the mountain. There's a train that circles the mountain, a gondola to the top, and plenty of old fiddlers hacking into spitoons.

Back in the early 1900's the Daughters of the Confederacy, namely June Plane, wanted to show their appreciation to the Confederate soldiers their husbands were riding with and so commissioned a carving on the mountain. It took over 60 years to complete with many starts and stops in between. It was finished in 1972 and depicts General Robert E. Lee riding horseback along with Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson.



Stone Mountain is where I experienced my first laser-light-show. That experience, with Pink Floyd in the background would grease the wheels for many a light-show in my day. I think back to those innocent times with longing. My biggest worry was whether or not my penny on the railroad track would get flattened by the little train. I haven't been back to Georgia since I was a Freshman in high school. That was 12 years ago. I wonder what things are like there now.