July 6, 2012
Our third day began with breakfast with Chad and Holly. Jay and Chad were roommates their freshman and sophomore years at Liberty. Chad was a running back from Chattanooga and played on the LU football team with Jay. Chad became one of Jay's closest friends during their time together. We have been privileged to stay in touch with him and have seen him a few time over the past years. We ate a delicious breakfast and caught up on each other's lives. It is so wonderful to visit with old friends. We pray to keep them in our lives for a long time.
After breakfast we headed out for our day at Stone Mtn Park. The history of the park includes a ginormous stone carving of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and President Jefferson Davis. They were each military leaders of the Confederacy. The size of the carving surpasses the size of South Dakota's Mount Rushmore carvings. One of our tour guides said that you can park 2 school buses on the back of the Robert E Lee' horse. Other fun facts we learned about the carving was that part of the limestone was used to make the Lincoln Memorial and one of the carvers went on to carve Mt. Rushmore. So, what did we do with a 2 and 6 year old at a monument park. Lol! So much that we did not get it all in . . . we have to go back!
Of course we rode the cable car to the top of the limestone rock. The rock is 5 miles across on the base and touched multiple states. The view was spectacular! It shocked me because just like the Grand Canyon, there was very little in protection from falling. You are truly on your own to be careful. We also did the Camp Highland Post. It had lots of ropes to climb, zip lines, and a rock wall. Max was excited to be bale to do it all by himself.
Jay and Max then conquered the Sky Hike. Here they fastened them into harnesses that were attached to a runner above them. Then they climbed through all the obstacles and worked their way up four stories in height. Jay said Max didn't get nervous once and wanted to do it again.
Conveniently, there was a stream running under the Sky Hike for Mary Kate and I to play. We had brought their swim suits for the wet zones so I changed her and she went nuts. She splashed and kicked and crawled all over the rocks and water. I kicked off my shoes and soaked my feet in the little stream and we watched Jay and Max climb above us. After several hours in this area, we headed out to see some side shows with the characters of the park. We also visited to candy store for giant licorice strips, fudge, and chocolate covered peanuts. Next we caught the Yogi Bear 4-D show. Jay and I decided it was by far the best show we have seen. It had the moving seats, spritzing water, air movers, and all kinds of effects. Max and Mary Kate thought it was a real treat.
Late in the afternoon we had purchased tickets to "Ride the Ducks." These "ducks" are from the 1940's Army era of land trucks that drive onto the water. This was probably my favorite part of the day. We each got quackers to blow on and wow it was loud. We were lucky to get the best Captain of all the Ducks. Captain Bob made the trip with lots of interesting facts about Stone Mountain. He also had crazy fun with the radio songs and getting the kids to participate. Max got to be Captain for a few minutes while he drove us around the lake. FUN! Once back from the ride we headed over to the water area. There was a giant play area made of ropes and tree houses for the kids to climb. Every so many minutes the geysers underneath would explode with water. The kids would get wet even in the tops of the play area. After cooling off we stopped in a Ms Katy's Kitchen for a fried chicken dinner and some sweet tea. Finally to close the night we got our blanket and played on the lawn beneath the carving. They did a fantastic laser show about the southern states and had lots of fireworks. It was late when we loaded up the car to head to our next destination.
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