Stone Mountain

My boys just had to be boys and climb into a hollowed out tree. We were enjoying one of the many trails at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia. The park encompasses 3200 acres in Stone Mountain just East of Atlanta. There have been many things to see and explore, the grist mill, the covered bridge, and the 732 bell Carillon that was originally exhibited at the 1964 World's Fair. All the Spring flowering trees are in bloom and just beautiful.

Stone Mountain is a granite dome , 1686 feet in elevation and more than 5 miles in circumference. A scenic road, bike path, walking path and train go around the entire base of the mountain.

Carved on it's granite face is the largest relief sculpture in the world. The Confederate Memorial carving depicts three Confederate leaders of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis, Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and their favorite horses, Blackjack, Traveler and Little Sorrel.

The entire carved surface measures three acres and it took more than 50 years to complete.

Realizing we would be in the Atlanta area for the beginning of baseball season, Austin and I decided to get tickets for opening day at Turner Field. We have been to 11 major league parks and thought we'd add another in our quest to visit them all. Imagine getting lower box seats along the first base line just 3 weeks ago.

I can't take credit for this picture, it's from Reuter Pictures, but we were there. I would have taken the picture had I been expecting it. I swear, if the landing gear had been down they would have wiped out the signs. From our vantage point they appeared a lot closer than this photo depicts. This sight overwhelmed me and brought tears to my eyes. I have seen flyovers before but never this low, awesome!

The jets were from Vance AFB in Oklahoma.

The Atlanta Braves fans were incredibly loud and boisterous. The game, for us, didn't last long. Thunder, lightening and hail moved in during the third inning and the game went into a 2 hour rain delay. But it was a fun 3 innings, singing, clapping and experiencing the "tomahawk chop". Even during the delay there was the Braves walking band entertaining in the concourse.

Not knowing how long the delay would last, we left around 10pm. The game restarted and ended at 1:30am with the Braves winning in the 10th , 6-5.