Stone Mountain Park Campground Memorial Day Weekend 2009
I always honor in my heart and mind those that have served our country in time of war and peace. This year I took my family to Stone Mountain Park in Metro-Atlanta for the Memorial Day Weekend so that our children could watch the special observance that Stone Mountain Park and the State of Georgia produced this year for this weekend. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall Stone Mountain puts on a corny, but nostalgic laser show that pays homage to both the country and to the heroes of the Civil War. No matter what your position on the Civil War, that is what the carving on the side of the mountain is about and it is part of the central theme of the laser show.
Unfortunately, we have had more than a month of rain on an almost daily basis and this weekend was no different. With Stone Mountain Park’s campground being so popular, you have to plan months in advance to get a spot for a holiday weekend like Memorial Day Weekend. In fact, I called in early March and got the absolute last camp site for this weekend! Not even the Weather Channel can predict the weather that far in advance.
We left Friday afternoon for the 45 minute drive from our house to Stone Mountain and had camp set up shortly after night fall. Saturday morning was the last of Jonathan’s soccer games so he and I returned to Fayetteville for him to play his last game of the season. It rained on us about half way to the game and again just before the game started. But, the game was played under gray, but dry skies. Jonathan and his team played very well against a team of larger boys and, not that they keep score at his level, his team made more goals.
After returning to the camp site, we ate lunch and I set up the satellite dish, the free standing awning, and grill. By nightfall it had begun to rain so we stayed in and watched TV and movies during the heavy rains that came that night. Sully loves to camp and meet new people and new dogs. I don’t know if he could tell there were other dogs nearby or not, but he kept asking out and kept taking his time finding “a spot”. So I became very familiar with the wet side of the campground. We had planned to drive around our the campground in our golf cart to get the lay of the land so to speak to find out where we might to like to stay next time. Unfortunately, the rain pretty much made it a waste to have brought the golf cart with us. But then again, with a special of $159 to rent a Stone Mountain Campground golf cart for the weekend, we did save a good bit of money that would have been wasted had we reserved one of theirs.
The Boys in Front of Stone Mountain
We were fortunate that the rains held off most of the afternoon on Sunday. We had purchased “Adventure Passes” for each member of the family which entitled us to most of the pay per activities at the village. Before we toured the village, we toured the original attractions at Stone Mountain. We road the aerial tram (included in the Adventure Pass) to the top of Stone Mountain and I took tons of photos. From the top of Stone Mountain, you can get a panoramic view of North Georgia literally as far as the eye can see. On a clearer day than we had, you can easily see the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that is more than 10 miles away and see individual aircraft land, even during the day. You can also see Kennesaw Mountain that is at least as far away, if not further. You also have a spectacular view of all of the attractions at Stone Mountain from the plantation house and other buildings that were relocated to the Park as part of the outdoor museum, the golf course, the lake with its paddle wheeler, and if you look closely you can even pick out the camp ground among the tall Georgia pines. After eating lunch at the bistro next to the indoor museum, we viewed the 15 minute video history of Stone Mountain and proceeded out to the village to the Sky Hike. This is another of the attraction/activities that are included in the Adventure Pass. I wasn’t interested in doing this attraction, but was interested in the zip-line. After we stood in line for 45 minutes and put on the harnesses I found out that the zip-line was a children’s zip-line approximately 8 feet off the ground. I was disappointed, but Becki and the boys spent an hour and a half going through the Sky Hike. I was quite impressed that Jordan, who is afraid of heights, was willing to complete the second level and wanted to continue to the third level, but day light was burning and he decided to save it for another time. I think the key is that you are strapped into a harness that is physically linked to the structure of the Sky Hike so he was able to face his fears. We also went to the 4-D theater to watch the abridged version of “Journey to the Center of the Earth“. Again, this was part of the Adventure Pass. We also took the boys to “The Barn” to play in the four story vertical play room, also included in the Adventure Pass. We headed over to the miniature golf course to play a round of golf, but just as we got our clubs and golf balls the bottom fell out of the clouds and we had to give it up and pass on the round of mini-golf. Again, this was included in the Adventure Pass, so we weren’t out any specific money, but we were out of the opportunity to play something that was included in our single day Pass. Admission to the park entitles you to walk around the village and eat in the restaurant and tour the museums, but if you want to enjoy the attractions you can either pay for them individually, or you can purchase a one or multi-day/annual pass. The attractions are operated by Silver Dollar City through a lease they have with the State of Georgia. If the name Silver Dollar City sounds familiar, it could be because they are the partners with Dolly Parten in Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN.
While the laser shows were rained out for us (they still were shown, but Becki and I didn’t want to sit in the rain for three hours for a 30 minute show) all three nights of the Memorial Weekend, those parts of the weekend that we weren’t rained out were nice enough. We plan to return to Stone Mountain some time over the summer to ride the Duck Boats and pack a picnic supper to enjoy while waiting for the laser show to begin. But next time, we’ll plan our visit with the weather forecast as a tool in that planning process.
Jonathan on the Sky Hike
Jordan on the Sky Hike
