Zoo Atlanta 2001

The morning after the Halloween Party, we were up and out fairly early. I wasn’t going to be here too long so Joe was trying to squeeze a lot of sightseeing into just a few days.

Today Joe and his friend Tim were taking me to see the Atlanta Zoo. Joe has known me many years and knows I love animals, all kinds of animals so he thought the Zoo would be a good place to visit. In fact, That’s probably why one of the things I try to include whenever I visit a new place is the zoo, if they have one.

One incident really stands out. We were at the gorilla enclosure and Tim made a noise. I forget now (9 years takes it’s toll on memory) what it was but I think he clapped his hands. Anyway, immediately after he did that one of the juveniles looked up and did the same thing back! I’ve never seen that happen except in trained animal shows. We were all really excited about it.

Zoo Atlanta was one of the few zoos with Pandas at that time so we had to see that exhibit. And Tim felt he had to wrestle the monitor Lizard outside the reptile exhibit. (A sculpture of course).

We saw it all, Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My, ending with the carousel.

What a great time!
　

Halloween Georgia 2001

In yesterday’s post I said we skipped the laser show and I couldn’t remember why. Well, I remember now. We had another commitment for that night. This being the end of October, there was a Halloween party that we were invited to attend. I scrambled around to get a costume and we headed off to celebrate Halloween, Georgia Style.

Some of the costumes were amazing! I think my favorite was the jelly fish costume. They took a wide brimmed hat (This is after all Georgia) and attached streamers of bubble wrap and some small battery operated strings of lights. She dressed in a silver dress and that was her costume. The only picture I have has her bubble wrap pulled aside so we can see her face but use your imagination. Very original Idea!

There was also a “baby” being carried by his mother in a back pack. This was really interesting because the person in the costume had the baby clothes on his top half and a rag doll for the mother in front but his bottom half was the bottom of the mother so it was 1 person but the illusion was of 2. Again, outstandingly original!

The evening ended with us sipping drinks on the back porch surrounded by pumpkins and fall harvest displays. A great night.

In case you are wondering, I was a bumble bee and the costume still gets used, even after 9 years !

Still  more Atlanta to come!

Stone Mountain State Park

The park in 2001 was not a theme park like Disney or 6 Flags. It had more emphasis on outdoor activities than theme rides. I do not know if that has changed since then but my reminisces are about the park in 2001, not 2010.

There were two main activities or rides if you will that we considered Must-do. One was the Stone Mountain Railroad and the other was the gondola to the top of Stone Mountain.We also took a scenic boat ride around the Stone Mountain Lake on the Scarlett O’Hara an authentic side-wheeler that was built right in the park

The train ride is 5 miles long with some narrations by the staff about the history and sights of the area.. The obligatory train robbery and show took place as expected. Don’t all train rides have these reenactments? But this one was done with a great sense of humor.

I loved the gondola ride to the top of Stone Mountain. The Gondola was quite full but it was worth it to see the views from the top plus it takes you right past the carving so you get an up close view of the main attraction. At the top, you will be gazing out over Atlanta and the Appalachian mountain range from a height of just under 1700 feet .



JR hangs from the stap on the Gondola



Top of Stone Mountain




We ended the day with the leisurely cruise on the Scarlett O’Hara. . That turned out to be a wonderfully , relaxing way to finish the day.

Stone Mountain over looks the lake

　

One of the big attractions today is the laser show. I think they were doing that when I was there in 2001 but if they were , we didn’t stay. I can’t remember now why we skipped it but that is one of the many things at Stone Mountain that I haven’t experienced. In checking the website for the park, it looks like they have added many more activities since I was there almost 10 years ago.

It is a beautiful park and it should be on any outdoor lover’s list of places to visit at least once.

　
　
www.stonemountainpark.com