Over the years I have heard much about the beauty and artistry of the memorial carved on the side of Stone Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia. It really is an amazing sight and worth a visit. But sadly it is combined with a hillbilly style amusement park. It is just my opinion, but having this impressive memorial to the Confederate heroes stuck next to hee-haw silliness makes as much sense as a merry-go-round in a cemetery.
The day we were there the park was packed and the roads were filled bumper-to-bumper with people coming and going. There is a cartoon laser light show focused against the mountain every evening that tends to attract hundreds, possibly thousands, of viewers a night. So bring the kids, cousins, aunts and grannys. Have fun, eat some barbecue, but take time to remember why that sculpture is there.
This is the largest high-relief sculpture in the world. The carved surface covers more area than a football field. The sculpture depicts three heroes of the War Between the States; Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
The monument was began in 1924 by Gutzon Borglum who later was responsible for Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. Borglum worked with pneumatic drills and dynamite as did the second sculptor, Augustus Lukeman, who took over from Borglum in 1925. The monument was finally finished in 1970 by Walter Hancock who used thermo-jet torches which allowed the removal of tons of stone a day. That is amazing progress, in less than 50 years, both in machinery and technique. The monument is much larger than it appears from viewing it from the park. Workers could stand inside the horse's mouth. The deepest point of the carving is Lee's elbow which is cut 12 foot back into the mountain surface.
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I would love to hear tales of your travels and suggestions as to places to see.