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During your Atlanta vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Georgia's Stone Mountain Park
A monolithic gray granite outcropping (the world's largest) carved with a massive monument to the Confederacy, Stone Mountain is a distinctive landmark on Atlanta's horizon and the focal point of its major recreation area, which includes 3,200 acres of lakes and beautiful wooded parkland. It's Georgia's number-one tourist attraction, and one of the ten most-visited paid attractions in the United States.Stone Mountain itself was formed about 300 million years ago, when intense heat and pressure caused molten material just below the earth's surface to push upward. That material cooled slowly (it took 100 million years) and formed compact, uniform crystals. Initially, a 2-mile-thick overlay of the earth's surface covered the hardened granite, but over the next 200 million years, that layer eroded, exposing the mountain we see today. The dome-shaped rock rises 1,683 feet above sea level and covers 583 acres. Half of Georgia and part of North Carolina rest on the mountain's base.Although the best view of the mountain is from below, the vistas from the top are spectacular. Visitors who are part mountain goat can take the walking trail up and down its moss-covered slopes, especially lovely in spring when they're blanketed in wildflowers. The trial is 1.3 miles each way. Or you can ride the Skylift cable car to the top, where you'll find an incredible view of Atlanta and the Appalachian Mountains. The best approach is to take the cable car up, and then walk back down. For a different perspective, check out the park from onboard a World War II amphibious vehicle-the park's new Ride the Ducks Adventure is a 40-minute tour that moves from the land into the waters of Stone Mountain Lake. Tours run from 11am daily. Tickets are $9 ages 3 and up for individual tickets, and $6 ages 3 and up when added to the One-Day All-Attraction Pass. Duck Tours are included on the One-Day Pass on "Limited Attraction Days" (Mon-Thurs in the fall) at no additional charge.A highlight at Stone Mountain is the Lasershow Spectacular, an astonishing display of laser lights and fireworks with animation and music. The brilliant laser beams are projected on the mountain's north face, a natural one million-square-foot screen. Shows are presented Saturdays at 8:30pm from March 1 to Memorial Day and from the day after Labor Day through October. From Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day, shows takes place each night at 9:30pm. Bring a picnic supper and arrive early to get a good spot on the lawn at the base of the mountain. Shows are free with park admission.It's a good idea to make your first stop the Discovering Stone Mountain Museum to get some perspective on the mountain's history. Exhibits take you through an intriguing chronological journey from the area's past into its present.Other major park attractions include the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, an open-air train that chugs around the 5-mile base of Stone Mountain. The ride takes 40 minutes and includes a live "train robbery" skit. Trains depart from Railroad Depot, an old-fashioned train station, where there's a restaurant with all the fixings for a fried chicken picnic, just in case you forgot to bring your own.The Scarlett O'Hara, a paddlewheel riverboat, cruises the 363-acre Stone Mountain Lake.The Antique Car and Treasure Museum is a jumble of old radios, jukeboxes, working nickelodeons, pianos, Lionel trains, carousel horses, and clocks, along with classic cars.Visitors can now travel back in time thanks to a new $30 million attraction at the park called Crossroads. At Crossroads, you can explore an 1870s rural Southern town, complete with a cast of authentically costumed characters who sing, play instruments, tell stories, and demonstrate crafts such as glass blowing, candle-making and blacksmithing. In addition to the town's quirky and talented characters, other special treats include a gristmill and bakery, and a general store with candy and ice cream production facilities. A boarding-house restaurant offers up tasty Southern cuisine, from chicken and dumplings to fried catfish. If you plan to eat, you might want to stop by and add your name to the list before you explore the town, as there is often a wait.Another part of the Crossroads attraction is The Great Barn, a hit with children and adults. Join in the fun as you help "harvest" fruits and vegetables throughout this multi-level foam factory to rack up points for your team. Just added to Crossroads is the Treehouse Challenge, a one-of-a-kind outdoor adventure that pits boys against girls to control balls on a large track that links the two treehouses (sort of a life-size pinball game). The town's centerpiece is the Tall Tales of the South theater, where visitors use special glasses to view a 3-D film with 4-D (yes, 4) special effects. The frog's tongue, which stretches into the movie audience from its perch on a swamp log, is just one of the surprises the experience offers. Small children might not enjoy the film, as some of the effects are a bit unnerving.The 19-building Antebellum Plantation offers self-guided tours assisted by hosts in period dress at each structure. Highlights include an authentic 1830s country store; the 1845 Kingston House (it represents a typical overseer's house); the clapboard slave cabins; the 1790s Thornton House, elegant home of a large landowner; the smokehouse and well; a doctor's office; a barn, a coach house, and crop-storage cribs; a privy; a cook house; and the 1850 neoclassical Tara-like Dickey House. The grounds also contain formal gardens and a kitchen garden. It takes at least an hour to tour the entire complex. Often (especially in summer), there are Civil War re-enactments, craft and cooking demonstrations, storytellers, and balladeers on the premises. Children will enjoy getting up close and personal with the critters at Grandpa's Farm at The Plantation, featuring domesticated farm animals including pigs and goats.Additional activities: golf (on top-rated courses designed by Robert Trent Jones and John LaFoy), miniature golf, 15 tennis courts, a sizable stretch of sandy lakefront beach with 4 water slides, carillon concerts, rowboats and paddleboats, bicycle rental, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and more.Stone Mountain is one of the most beautiful parks in the nation. Consider spending a few days of your trip here; it's a great place for a romantic getaway or a family vacation. On-site accommodations are detailed in chapter 5. If you can only spare a day, it's an easy drive (about 30 min.) from downtown.The Face of a Mountain--Over half a century in the making, Stone Mountain's neoclassic carving -- 90 feet high and 190 feet wide -- is the world's largest bas-relief sculpture. Originally conceived by Gutzon Borglum, it depicts Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson galloping on horseback throughout eternity. Borglum started work on the mountain sculpture in 1923 but abandoned it after 10 years due to insurmountable technical problems and rifts with its sponsors. (He went on to South Dakota, where he gained fame carving Mount Rushmore.) No sign of his work remains at Stone Mountain, but it was his vision that inspired the project. Augustus Lukeman took over in 1925, but 3 years later, the work still far from complete, the family that owned the mountain lost patience and reclaimed the property. It wasn't until 1963, after the state purchased the mountain and surrounding property for a park, that work resumed under Walter Kirtland Hancock and Roy Faulkner. It was completed in 1970.
Château Élan Winery & Resort
Surrounded by verdant countryside, Château Élan is a hilltop winery that replicates a 16th-century French estate. Though its first wines were produced in 1985, the winery has already garnered more than 200 awards.Guided tours are given daily between 11am and 4pm (call ahead for exact times). On view are the crushing and pressing machines, oak barrels used to age and flavor the wines, the cask room, and the bottling area. The tours conclude with a wine tasting. Grapes ripen in July/August, so if you're here during harvesting in August and September, you'll actually see the winemaking procedure. More than 300 tons of grapes are harvested and processed each year. The interior of the château, a stage-set version of a Paris street, has a quarry-stone floor, wrought-iron fences, and street lamps. The building houses an art gallery offering monthly exhibits by regional and national artists, displays of antique European winemaking equipment, and a wine market.There are also three on-premises restaurants, so plan to eat lunch or dinner here. Café Élan, open daily from 11am to 10pm, features sandwiches, salads, and light entrees. It's a charming setting, with seating under a green awning. Paddy's Irish Pub, open Saturday at noon, Sunday at 12:30pm, and the rest of the week at 2pm (closing hours vary), serves traditional Irish fare and spirits. The fancier Le Clos, with pale pink walls, lace-curtained French doors, and tables covered with crisp white linen, is open for dinner only Wednesday through Saturday evenings, with seatings from 6:30 to 9:30pm. A seven- or eight-course prix-fixe meal beginning at $78 or $88 features haute-cuisine entrees; appropriate Château Élan wines are served with each course. Reservations are imperative. Men are required to wear a coat and tie.You might also consider an overnight or longer stay at the 277-room Inn at Château Élan, a luxurious resort where facilities include three golf courses (two 18-hole and one par-3, 9-hole) and seven tennis courts (offering pro shops and instruction), an equestrian center, a full-service European-style health spa and salon ("days of pampering" are an option), an outdoor Olympic-size pool, an indoor heated pool, and a fitness center. Room rates begin at $180 double; call the numbers below for details and to inquire about golf, tennis, spa, and other packages. There are also four restaurants at the adjoining Château Élan resort. If the lovely grounds beckon, you can order a gourmet picnic basket from the kitchen at the hotel.
Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University
Emory University began its antiquities collection in 1875, and this intriguing museum dates to 1919, when it was founded to display the art and artifacts collected by Emory faculty in Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Sicily, the Sea of Galilee, and the sites of ancient Babylon and Palestine. Today, the museum also maintains collections of ancient art and archaeology from Rome, Central and South America, the Near East, and Mesoamerica; works of the native cultures of North America; art of Asia and Oceania; and some 1,000 objects from sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, a sizable collection of works on paper encompasses illuminated manuscript pages, drawings, and prints from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the 20th century.The museum is housed partly in a 1916 beaux-arts building that is on the National Register of Historic Places; postmodernist architect Michael Graves redesigned the interior in 1985. The remainder of the collections occupy a 35,000-square-foot exhibition space (also designed by Graves). The first-floor galleries feature exhibits from the extensive permanent collection -- objects that were part of the daily life of people from five continents as early as the seventh millennium B.C. They include Bronze and Iron Age clay pots, jugs, loom weights, and oil lamps from Palestine; Egyptian mummies, pottery, cosmetic containers, and headrests; Greek and Cypriot pottery, flasks, and statuary; and Mesopotamian pottery, coins, tools, sculpture, and cuneiform tablets inscribed with ancient writing. Also on this level: the Thibadeau Pre-Columbian collection, comprising over 1,300 objects spanning 2,000 years of creativity -- gold jewelry, pottery, and statues, including many ceramic, volcanic stone, greenstone, and gold sculptures from ancient Costa Rica. Allow at least an hour to see the collections.The upper floor is used for changing exhibits ranging in subject matter from Pueblo Indian pottery to Impressionist art. Throughout the museum, 210 plaster casts of ancient architectural elements -- reliefs, friezes, column capitals, and decorative elements from temples and monuments -- adorn hallway and lobby walls.There are many interesting workshops, lectures, films, and gallery tours here; call to find out what's on during your stay. A nice museum shop tempts with a variety of educational books and gifts, as well as jewelry inspired by the collections. The museum's cafe, on the third floor, serves continental breakfast, lunch, coffee, and tea, and is open during regular museum hours.
Grand Hyatt Atlanta
Grand Hyatt Atlanta 3300 Peachtree Road Atlanta, GA 30305 In the heart of Buckhead, Atlanta's most prestigious and fashionable area, with convenient access to the city's finest shopping, dining and entertainment areas; 15 minutes to downtown with easy access to MARTA rapid transit; walking distance to Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square shopping areas; 18 miles to Hartsfield International ...
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