Although it would not have been my first choice of places to spend our last full day of the 15th International Sons of the Desert Convention, I did enjoy our day at the Stone Mountain amusement park in Atlanta, Georgia. We had nearly had our fill of long bus rides as we boarded yet another one to transport us from Augusta to Georgia. Also on the down side was the fact that Bob had to depart that afternoon for his trip to South Africa and the Wileys opted not to go on the trip since Jimmy was not feeling up to a day in the hot sun. He had braved most of the convention despite undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma, but understandably sat out this day, and avoided the hot sun.
This left just Dave, Ashleigh, and I to make the trip. Of course, we were travelling with the entire Sons group but it was genrally just the three of us that hung out together for the day. Although hot and humid, the park itself was a neat place – the central hub being a huge stone mountain (duh!) with a giant carving of Confederate heroes Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee on the side of it.
A couple of the attractions reminded me of a sort-of poor man’s Disney World, including the “4-D” film attraction Tall Tales of the South, a scenic train ride (as seen in the two photos below), and a giant outdoor playground, all of which we enjoyed seeing and playing on.
The three of us also took the skyride to the very top of Stone Mountain. From there we proceeded to explore and kept travelling down the gradually sloping side of it – until we soon found that we had to walk back up nearly half of the mountain. 
Fortunately, I had just lost quite a bit of weight over the past few months and had been walking for exercise almost daily. As a result, I nearly left Ashleigh in the dust, as she panted her way up the side trying to keep up with me.
After our mountaintop exploration adventure, we hiked to a shelter area where we had a nice fried-chicken lunch and enjoyed the company of other Sons members including the Duffs. Following the food-fest, Dave, Ashleigh, and I played a nice round of miniature golf in the blazing heat, but not before witnessing an elderly couple take part in a Rascal Race (seen at right). Finally, we boarding the bus for a multi-hour trip back to Augusta and the steak dinner that awaited – courtesy of Ashleigh’s prize for winning first place in the scavenger hunt.
Up next: Steak, ice-cream, and shoveling pie into our mouth in tribute to Lee McBeath…
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