4th of July @ Stone Mountain National Park

July 3^rd is treated like July 4^th in the sense that they have the same laser light show and fireworks as they do on the 4^th. I thought it would be a great way for us to celebrate since we would be driving home on the 4^th. Plus it would most likely not be as crowded as it would on the fourth. We heard that they run out of parking and so we got there semi early.

We arrived at about 10:30am and had the best spot – it was on the first row. We knew that we would not move our vehicle all day long. I had pre-purchased our adventure pass online ($63.90/two adults). After much debate we decided it would be best to go ahead and purchase the dinner bbq buffet/VIP terrace seating for the show ($51.20/two adults). I figured we wouldn’t have to worry about reserving a spot on the lawn and we would need to eat dinner anyhow. That was one of the best choices we made, I’ll explain later.

Even though we pre-bought all of our stuff we still had to wait in line to get to a sales person. I thought that was kind of silly since we pre-bought everything. Also, by purchasing online we didn’t save any money and actually had service fees of a total of $6. I was worried they would sell out and wanted to be sure we had no problems. I do think that if you purchase in advance that you should get some sort of discount.

We did however decide in line to go ahead and add on the Ride the Duckies tour for an additional $18 for the both of us. I thought it was a little amusement ride, but it wasn’t. It was where you go on a vehicle that goes on land and water. It is a tour that lasts for 30 minutes. A lot of people add it on and you know who did because you receive a duck call noise blower thing and we heard people blowing on them ALL DAY LONG!!!

When we got into the park and Omar saw Stone Mountain for the first time he was like, “Kate – look at that – there is a carving on the mountain!” I just laughed because he was serious!

The park is SO different than when I went as a little kid. We walked around a little bit and there are all sorts of shops, restaurants, drink stations, etc. We sat for a second while this older gentleman shared camp fire stories for the kids called Adventure Tales. It was cute and actually pretty humorous.

We decided to go and do the Sky Hike which is sort of like a ropes course thing. It is the Nation’s largest family adventure course. The whole thing took about 2 hours (including waiting in line to  get geared up) – partially due to the amount of people in the park. The thing to know about the course is you CANNOT have one single loose item on your person. They of course rent lockers but we decided to stick our stuff in the car. 

We got in line and were talking with all the people near us about how silly it is that you can’t have a hat or anything on your person but you can wear sunglasses. Then one of the workers walked by and said to Omar – what do you have in your cargo pocket. He said, “My wallet.” He responded, “You need to get rid of it to go on the ride. “ We thought that was crazy – his cargo pocket was buttoned closed. He had to leave the line again and go back to the car. In general there is no way to not have anything on your person because you will have your car keys and if you didn’t have your car keys you would at least have a locker key! It was just silly.

We had a good time on Sky Hike and then did the rock climbing wall which was another one of Omar’s firsts.

We then decided to eat since it was about 1pm. We knew we would have fried chicken and bbq pulled pork for dinner and so decided to eat pizza for lunch. When we went to the Marketplace it cost $5 for a slice of pizza! We saw that you could buy a whole pizza for $20 so we did that. It came with 8 slices – it was definitely the way to go. They also had the soda cup like at 6 Flags but here it was only $9 and then for each refill you pay $1. We didn’t buy one, and just stuck with water.

After lunch one of the workers was announcing the Parrots of Rio: a Carnival of Performing Parrots show would start in a few minutes. So we went to that especially since it was air conditioned. It was a cute show watching the tricks of the birds. One of the birds actually sings like a human (pretty much) and is the only parrot that has ever performed for the Queen herself.

So cute - the parrots played basketball, pushed shopping cart, roller skated and other things

Following that we decided to go to the Yogi Bear 4-D Adventure. It was cute and you get pretty wet . Speaking of wet, we didn’t do the Geyser Towers which actually looked pretty fun. I talked with a lady whose 6 year old did it and said that her kid got soaked and that they learned you should bring a towel and change of clothes for your kid if they want to do it. The thing is you actually have to wear closed toed shoes, so a change of shoes would be important too.

Other things we didn’t get a chance to do was go to the Antebellum Plantation & Farmyard, The Great Barn (we did walk inside though and adults can participate in the games there too), Great Locomotive Chase Adventure Golf, Camp Highland Outpost (it is actually for little tiny kids who can’t do the Sky Hike), Little Quarry Discovery Zone (again for little tiny kids).

We walked over to take the Summit Skyride to the top of Stone Mountain. Due to the high traffic they were not providing the normal shuttle to the starting point of hiking the mountain. We could drive to the trailhead or walk to it, but we would lose our parking spot or it would have taken even more time to walk to the trailhead and it was SOOOO hot!

View from Sky ride

You can see Atlanta skyline sort of through the haze

They really pack you into the Skyride to the top and if there is lightning within 15 miles they close it down and have everyone taken from the top. We spent about 45 minutes on top and then went back down. I would really have liked to hike it. I think next time I will have to go earlier in the morning when it isn’t so hot.

When we got back down we went to the museum and looked at everything for about 45 minutes. We skipped the 2 movies they have playing non-stop due to time. We then walked over to the train and got right on. Right next to the train was also the golf which we had forgotten about. The train ride is about 25 minutes. It was nice to go around the whole mountain. We then had to run to our reservation with Ride the Duckies.

part of the train ride is through a fictitious town and this building used to really be a jail

View of the Mansion and lawn from the train ride

The lady recommended going when the sun is going down. We had the 6pm ride since we had to be at dinner at 7pm. We got there and as they were boarding us a storm started rolling in causing them to put everything on hold. We waited until 6:45 until we decided to get a refund and go to dinner.  It was too bad we weren’t able to do it.

Dinner there were 2 different places to sit and the ideal place was at the Mansion terrace so we asked if we could share a table with 2 other people. It was a better move for us. The storm was not so great because it had the whole area slammed with people trying to get some sort of shelter from the rain. The lawn was getting cleared out from all the people that had put their blankets and chairs set out. When you walked through to go to the bathroom you had jump over all sorts of people – it looked a like a hurricane refugee camp.

They finally fed us and we were just so lucky to not be as crowded as all the other people and to have shelter. I brought playing cards, we played cards with the couple (or mom/son couple – we aren’t sure what they were) at our table.  We then moved our chairs to get a better look at the upcoming show that would happen in 45 minutes starting at 9:30 PM. We saw lightning a lot and it caused the laser light show to get cancelled and for them to only do the fireworks. At least we were able to see something.

The couple we were with were unsure of how they were going to get back because they took a shuttle and then a water taxi from their Marriot hotel that we later found out was INSIDE the park. We offered to give them a ride back. We put it in the GPS and the GPS took us to a completely different exit and then U-turned us through this little neighborhood and then back to the entrance of Stone Mountain. Then they were like we were wondering where you were going because the hotel is in the park?! It was just funny how they didn’t mention that before. Ah well.

It was a good day – there was still plenty of things we could have done so Stone Mountain is a full day’s worth of adventure.

Flip Burger Boutique and HD1 Restaurant

After 6 Flags we decided to go eat dinner since we really didn't eat any food while we were there. With all that food around the park it seemed to be completely unappealing to us. We wanted to try out Richard Blais's burger joint and heard they have great liquid nitrogen shakes.

Richard's style definetly is family style type seating. This place did not dissappoint. I absolutely fell in love with my burger. I got a beef burger called "Butchers Cut". It had crumbled bleu cheese, caramelized onions, soy truffle vinaigrette, frisee, pickeled shallots, red wine jam. I asked to have mine on a lettuce wrap which I think made it even more perfect. It was incredible!!! It was so incredible I didn't even offer Omar a bite. I told him I didn't think he would like it. OOPS! I am so mean.

 Omar ordered the "Carnitas" - Pork Patty, cilantro-lime mayo, braised pork cheek, shredded cabbage, salsa verde. He loved his too. He ordered the fries that are cooked in  beef tallow. I ordered the sweet potato tots that are spiced with a bbq spice. Omar ordered a strawberry shortcake milkshake and I ordered a turtle and caramel foam milkshake. So delicious.

We both thought we should just round out our Blais experience and head to his other restaurant HD1 which is not a burger joint - it is a hot dog joint! It is near the neighborhood that I would like to spend some time in next time we come to Atlanta - Little 5 Points. It seems like a cool place to visit.

HD1- I ordered "South of Chi-Town" which was chow-chow, fried green tomato, sweet pickle, bbq, farm peppers. Omar ordered the "Eastbound and Down" - Carolina pulled pork, country slaw, mop sauce.

It was good but we both agreed Flip was much better. then we found out that Blais is the owner of the restaurant but it is not "his" restaurant - meaning menu and where he is the chef like Flip and the Spence.
Omar said, "I can tell this is not Richard's restaurant really because there is salt and pepper on the tables." Both Flip and The Spence had NO salt and pepper to be found. 

Six Flags over Atlanta

I bought our tickets online. If you buy the 3 day advance ticket they only cost $34.99/adult! I think that is a great deal and is actually the same price as if going to the Aquarium. Online we read that the park opened at 10:30 AM. We got there at about 10:20 and noticed that the rides were already going with people on them. The must be like Sea World Aquatica where when they see people standing outside to come in they just let everyone early.

As we were pulling up we saw that there was $15 parking to the right and we passed it thinking that it would be a longer walk to get to the entrance than what the park itself had to offer. I knew that they had 3 different parking options - $20 regular parking, $25 VIP parking, and $35 Valet parking. As we drove way past the entrance to get to the Six Flags official parking I thought. This is crazy to pay more for parking and have to walk even further. We drove back to the $15 parking and walked like 2 minutes to the entrance. It was awesome.

We braced ourselves for a blazing hot day at Six Flags over Atlanta. It was supposed to be in the 100's again. My only hope was that the heat would keep the crowds away during this "holiday" period. Or at least that most people would prefer Six Flags White Water Park. We were right - the park was SUPER empty.

Foolishly we stopped at the first right when you come into the park, the Georgia Scorcher. We had to buy a locker to put our camera and water bottle in because you can't bring anything onto the rides. It was actually neat becuase you pay $4 for the day and it lets you use the lockers unlimited at all the rides and includes an electronic wrist band.

We didn't move in line for like 15 minutes and finally found out it was because someone had pucked all over and they had to clean. We finally got out of that line and went to the other rides and never waited. We did that ride at the end of the day when we left the park. Let me just say it is a ball crusher - quite literally. Such uncomfortable "standing". I don't know what they were thinking.

We did all the major rides:

Goliath - LOVED! We did it twice
Batman - It was okay
Dare Devil - LOVED
Dahlonega Mine Train - really jerky wooden ride
Mind Bender - okay
Ninja - I think this ride should have been called Ninja's punching bag. I have never hit my head so much in my life. Literally our heads bounced back and forth being pounded by the seating. There was literally no line for this one - I know why now
Superman - I thought I would love this one - but I don't know if it was the speed but it jerked my neck so bad and I wasn't able to move it. Maybe we are just getting old!
Acrophobia - Liked it but it was so short
Monster Mansion - it was sort of like a Haunted Mansion/Briar Rabbit wannabe but the ending seemed out of place - it was cute
Log Jamboree - Nice little break - you don't get too wet
Peachtree Square Sky Buckets - Nice view and a way to save walking so much
Railroad Station - was also a nice little tour of the park and a chance to relax

Omar doesn't really like water rides or wooden rollercoasters becuase of how jerky they are. He endulged in a few of them. We did the show iLuminate which we both really enjoyed. We were in line 45 minutes before the show and we made it in but were still half way to the end of the line! Next time I think we will make our way to the top of the theater to sit. That show was really awesome though! It was the people that dance in light changing outfits.

I didn't seem to notice much entertainment, characters, or shows at the park. I thought I saw my first character walking around when I realized it was a little girl with the LARGEST stuffed animal covering her whole body it was so big.

cute props of Monster Mansion

What was plentiful was food, drink and carnival games. Literally every few feet was one of those things. There was more of that combined than a 1/4 of the rides at the park. I did think it was pretty cool that you could buy a cup for $15 and get free refills all day long. They even had a cup that cost $8 where you could free 7-11 Slurpee refills all day too! How cool is that? The soda one is much more popular and is what Omar got. I think we got our moneys worth - I think he got about 10 refills! I was happy the staff would refill my  little water bottle with no complaint.

I met Richard Blais!

While on our short trip to Atlanta I knew we had to go to one of Richard Blais's restaurants. Good news for me - he has 3 restaurants here and 1 of them opened about a month ago. It is called The Spence. It is contemporary american food and the atmosphere was really cool. Right when we walked in I saw Richard Blais! I was so happy with where we got seated because we had a great view of the kitchen which was where Richard was.

Look how close we were to the kitchen - the guy in grey to the left of the table is Richard - the far right is the oven and it is the end of the kitchen - it was so small

He dressed just like he was on Top Chef still. I wonder if he only owns 1 pair of shorts....I think it is awesome!  The whole time I just watched him. One time he walked by and made eye contact with me and smiled. I'm sure he was probably really thinking, "What a weirdo - she keeps staring at me!" The kitchen was just like one stove top, this cool fire oven thing, 2 large work tables and that was pretty much it. I could see them working the liquid nitrogen and Richard sniffing the plated food. It was awesome!

General Tso's Sweet breads

Foie Gras slab with toast - I love his choice of plates - I would totally see myself with something like this at my own house.

We had for appetizers a block of foie graus with Japanese grapes. We learned that we didn't really like foie graus that much. We didn't even realize what it was - lamb liver. We also had General Tso Sweet Breads which was really yummy.

Fried Ribeye

Monkfish

Our main entrees was Fried Ribeye which had this really interesting gravy/sauce and then I got the Monkfish. It was really good.

Dessert Omar got the pineapple upside down cake with foie caramel  and I got the Yuzu Semifreddo, peach sorbet (made with liquid nitrogen) with chile ailoi. The menu changes daily depending on what they have on hand.

When our desert was brought it must have been the manager or something. We talked to her for a little while and she told us about how she knew richard and his wife while everything was happening with the first top chef and she was shocked when he lost. I asked if we could get a picture with him.

Us with Richard Blais!!!

She brought him over in the middle of one my bites. He was really nice and I told him that I felt like I knew him. He responded, "Thats because you do!" He asked what brought us to Atlanta from Jacksonville (the lady told him about us) and Omar told him that we came to see him. I was like, yeah - "I can check this off my bucket list now."  I couldn't believe how smitten I am with him. I had joked with Omar when we walked in how I would tell him, "I was a chef once, a chef on a train in Alaska." But I didn't, thank goodness. We took the picture and I felt so foolish. I asked him when he was going to come to Jacksonville and start a restaurant. He said, "whenever I get a check written for another restaurant."

I think we are going to check out his other 2 restaurants, they are lot less expensive. They are a burger joint that is really unique called FLIP and also has awesome liquid nitrogen milk shakes. the other place is a hot dog joint.

Downtown Atlanta

We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Downtown Atlanta for 2 nights. The drive was easy and took only 5 hours due to no traffic. We arrived at 3 pm and cooled off a little due to the over 100 degree temperature. We wondered what we were thinking leaving Florida which was not supposed to be as hot coming to the city with the highest expected temps in the south! 


We set off to walk to the Underground. It was only about a 10 minute walk - really everything downtown seems to be 10 minutes from where we were. I heard that the Underground was not really worth the trip, it was pretty accurate. I felt so sad at how that place looks like it was once a really neat, hoping place. All the stores were pretty ghetto and there just wasn't much there. We literally spent maybe 20 minutes and that was going through the whole thing. I was glad that we chose to walk rather than drive. I would have been upset paying $7 to park for that.  

I thought that this street one our way to the Underground was really pretty

It amazes me how everywhere you look in downtown there is stuff for Coke

Going down to the entrance of Underground

We then began walking and came across the Olympic Centennial Park. It was SO hot! The little water splash fountains were packed with people. We got an Italian Ice and stayed in the shade. We should have stuck around to watch one of the water shows where the water at the fountains light up with color and play to music for about a half hour. Omar didn't want to go back later that evening for one of the shows and so I thought we would go on Tuesday night. Too bad they closed it down for maintenance until after July 4. They have this whole website telling people things they should know about the park - I think that is something people would want to know who are planning a visit. 

The Splash Pad at the Olympic Park

I think that next time we come to Atlanta we will plan to get a City Pass. I knew if we were doing 6 Flags and only had one day it wouldn't be enough time to do all the stuff you get with a City Pass and a City Pass is the only way to make it worth it. It costs $69/adult but you get the Coke Factory, Aquarium, CNN Tour, and then either the High Museum of Art or Fernbank Musuem of Natural History along with the Atlanta Zoo or Atlanta History Center. All of that would take more than 1 day to do. I think I would also go spend time in Highland/Little 5 Points and see about going to do the Gone with the Wind Tour stuff.