ULTIMATE

DESTINATIONS / ATLANTA
and shared his admiration and appreciation
of Mrs. Fuqua’s commitment to botanic
conservation.
IF YOU DON’T MIND A SHORT DRIVE,
visit Stone Mountain Park in DeKalb County,
just east of Atlanta. It features the largest basrelief
sculpture in the world. Carved into the
side of the mountain are effigies of southern
Civil War legends Jefferson David, Robert E.
Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. The sculpture
measures 90 x 190 feet and is recessed 42
feet into the mountain, approximately 400
feet up from the base of the rock. There
is a misconception that Stone Mountain
is a solid granite rock, when it is actually
igneous in origin and is made up mostly of
quartz menzonite. It rises 825 feet above the
surrounding area and was formed by magma
boiling up miles below the surface eons ago.
There is some controversy about the
sculpture being a monument to those that
attempted to secede from the Union, but
there can be no doubt that it is an amazing
work of art. The park also includes 15 miles of
hiking trails and the most popular is the onemile
trail leading to the top of the mountain.
Don’t worry though. It does not involve
scaling the mountain but is rather a gradual
climb up the shallowest slope. The way down
is much quicker and far easier, as long as you
are not squeamish about heights. This way is
via the Swiss-built Skyride, an enclosed cable
gondola that swings you out blindly over the
face of the cliff before slowly returning you to
solid ground over 800 feet below.
ABOVE: Stone Mountain Park in DeKalb County, just east of Atlanta features the largest bas-relief
sculpture in the world (top); The Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and Library includes interactive
exhibits (middle) and an exact replica of the Oval Office (bottom).
ATLANTA PAYS TRIBUTE TO THEIR
two most famous sons, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. and President Jimmy Carter. The
Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site features
a tour of key locations in the great civil rights
leader’s life. Included will be his birth home
and the Ebenezer Baptist Church where
he stood beside his father as minister. The
church was also the site of Dr. King’s funeral
after he was assassinated in 1968. The tour
includes a stop at the World Peace Rose
Garden and a visit to the Behold Monument,
a sculpture located outside Ebenezer Church
that commemorates the principles, goals, and
moral issues that guided Dr. King’s life.
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum
and Library houses photographs and historical
26 ULTIMATE / MARCH-APRIL 2017