Once the tournament started on Thursday, our focus shifted to needing to be in a spot where coverage was guaranteed so we could plant ourselves in front of the set every afternoon to watch the telecasts of the Masters.
So several months ago I began a search for a campground to move to after our Tuesday bucket list day that was either a) not wooded or b) had cable hookups. From our visit to Mt. Rushmore in 2013, I remembered that we learned that Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of the president's faces had also done a Confederate carving at Stone Mountain, Georgia. Enjoying all things related to the Civil War, we had talked the last few years of stopping to see the carving on our way to or from Florida. This turned out to be the perfect opportunity to do so because Stone Mountain has a campground! I checked online, and confirmed by telephone when making our reservation that the campground did, indeed, have cable hookups at every RV site.
As a side note - we were completely surprised when we arrived at the Corps campground and there was a slight gap between two trees that allowed our satellite to lock in and when we cranked up the antenna, we got local channels! You have to be thankful for the little things . . .
The two of us (we said good-bye to Matt and Josh on Wednesday) left Petersburg campground on Thursday morning, planning our departure time to allow us the 2 hour drive east to Stone Mountain, get checked-in and set up before the 3:00 start time for televised coverage.
Little did we know that we were not just going to a campground, but to a destination park for families in the middle of spring break week! We trading scampering squirrels for kids riding bikes and chirping birds for little ones squealing with laughter. Stone Mountain Park is so much more than just the carving on the mountain. Yes, there is the commercial aspect - a sky ride, scenic railroad high ropes course, mini-golf, duck boat tours - basically an amusement park without roller coasters. (where were the grandkids when we needed them?) But the land surrounding the granite was also home to walking, jogging, hiking and biking trails, along with scenic and plentiful picnic areas, all of which were getting lots of use. I went to the night laser show that was quite entertaining (free) via a shuttle (free) that ran between the attraction area and our campground. They shine the lights right on the carving area. Of course the light show was accompanied by music. One of my favorite parts was a soulful, moving rendition by Elvis of a medley consisting of Dixie, All My Trials, and The Battle Hymn of the Republic, while Civil War pictures flashed on the mountain. (Is there anyone who can sing "Glory, glory hallelujah, His truth is marching on" like Elvis?)
Mike just looked at me and said, "How can you have so much to say about a rock?" And I haven't even started describing the relief carving itself! So here goes:
Through the always informative video in the visitor's center, I learned that Stone Mountain was created by a volcano over 300 million years ago. It was entirely underground, but rain and erosion gradually revealed the rock at the rate of an inch every 1,000 years. (Honestly, how do they figure these things out?) It is 1,686 ft. high and dome shaped. Granite from the quarry operation at the mountain can be found in the Lincoln Memorial, the Panama Canal and Fort Knox. In 1915, the United Daughters of the Confederacy hired Gutzon Borglum to carve a memorial on the face of Stone Mountain. World War I delayed the work and carving didn't begin until 1923. Borglum's original design called for over 10 figures and their horses, with Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson as the central figures. Lee's head was unveiled to the public in 1924, but a a month later Borglum was fired. (he moved on to Mt. Rushmore) Sculptor Augustus Lukeman took over the project and shrunk the design to only have the 3 central figures. Lee's head was blasted off and carving started over. Work was stopped in 1928 over a dispute and didn't begin again until the mountain was purchased by the state of Georgia in 1958. Walter Hancock was announced as the new sculptor in 1963. He followed Lukeman's design, adding his touch of having the legs of the horses fade into the mountain. The finished product is the largest relief carving in the world, made possible through the hard work of the stone quarry tradesmen. The entire carved surface is almost the size of two football fields, with the figures measuring 90 ft. tall and 190 ft. wide.
The only cost to view the carving or enjoy the natural areas of the park is a $15 per vehicle park admission fee or $40 annual pass.
Murphy's Law appeared with our campground stay. Our site did indeed have cable, but ESPN wasn't part of their line-up and that was the network that covered the first 2 days of the Masters!
I saw these shrubs cut back all over Georgia. Most did not have any buds yet and looked like dead stumps. Finally asked a clerk what they were. Crepe Myrtle.
They are severely pruned in the fall and will flower in the summer.
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