Saturday at Stone Mountain

I'm sure my super-liberal, ultra-northern professors would cringe if they knew were I spent my Saturday...Stone Mountain, only the most pro-Confederate, Southern celebratory, Robert E. Lee loving location there is.

After a two hour car ride in the pouring rain (complete with my mom's embarrassing car dancing), our

The Family at our "Campsite"

family of five, plus Dalton, paid our entrance into the park and drove down Robert E. Lee Boulevard.  We set up "camp" and spent about an hour roaming the tiny town, Crossroads.  After looking at mountain memorabilia and watching a glass blowing demonstration, Joseph and I decided the funnel cake stand was a must-see and sample attraction.  Then, we walked back to our picnicing place to eat our dinner of cracked pepper turkey sandwiches (or cheese and tomato for me), popcorn, salad, and brownies.  Not too shabby of a meal for coming out of two coolers and a basket.

With a few hours left until the main attraction, Becky and Dalton walked the grounds, while the rest of us cards until the wind blew a few away.  The children "camped" beside us danced to the music blaring over the load speaker and threw a few frisbees.

When 9:30 hit, it was finally dark enough for the Stone Mountain Lasershow Spectacular to begin.  In a matter of moments, thousands of people lounging on the lawn were silenced.  Complete with fireworks and mountainvision images , from start to finish the 45 minute show honored the Georgia way of life.  While music swelled with  "Sweet Southern Comfort," brightly colored images showed good ol' country boys in pickup trucks and belles bellow the Mason-Dixon line drinking Coca-Cola.  Although the show was updated this year for the first time since its opening in 1983, fan favorites like "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," and "Georgia on my Mind" are still included.  I'd say the only downfall to the day was the long line of cars after the show ended (we were stuck in traffic for quite some time) and not getting home until well after midnight.

Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, andJefferson Davis in Laser Form

As I sat beside my mom during the show, she said, "If this doesn't make you proud to be Southern, I don't know what is."  Since I've been back in Middle-Georgia, I've noticed a few more aspects of my mom's life that just exude Southern charm:
1) She never leaves the house unless her clothes are freshly ironed, including when we were going to Stone Mountain to sit outside for seven hours
2) Every room in our house is covered with floral wallpaper (minus Joseph's room)
3) She's forced to abide by the rule "you can put on as much jewelry as you want, but you must take off two pieces before going to work"
4) She uses fancy, decorative napkins every morning for her cup of coffee
5) Her new favorite hobby is making homemade ice-cream every Sunday afternoon, using Paula Deen's recipe of course