Atlanta & Stone Mountain, Georgia

Visited Nov. 23-29, 2020

By Janell

Note:  This is an "after the fact" post as we work our way backwards to catch you up on our previous destinations.

So, you want to go to Atlanta, and you want to sleep in your motorhome?

The only decent RV park that I could find anywhere near Atlanta was Stone Mountain Campground in Stone Mountain Park. It’s a very large park and a very popular place for families to hang out. I called three months in advance and got the very last spot (that would fit the Beast), but that spot didn't have "full hook-ups". "I'll take it", I said. But I continued to call back every couple of weeks to see if they'd had any cancellations. 

Full hook-ups (FHU) means water, sewer and electric. This particular site did not have a sewer connection. We were staying here for a week, so to stay without a sewer connection meant that we would need to pack up and go to the dump station (within the park) a couple of times during that week. (Showers, laundry, dishes, etc.) We could do it, but if we didn't have to . . .

Finally one week before we were due to arrive, I got lucky! They had one cancellation, and I got it! Yahoo! 

 

Stone Mountain - you can see why they call it that - it's just one big rock

We hiked the appropriately named "Walk Up Trail" one mile to the top of Stone Mountain

You can see downtown Atlanta from the top

Oh sure, now you tell me there's an easier way

One of the things we had wanted to do while in Atlanta was to visit Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. Unlike most national parks this one is in an urban setting and includes several buildings.

 Unfortunately, due to Covid, not a bit of it was open. We still walked around to see what we could see.

 

MLK took inspiration from Gandhi. He wrote that "India's Gandhi was the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change".

MLK's birth home

We enjoyed the Ponce City Market in Atlanta. It's housed in an old Sears building -- it used to be retail, warehouse and a regional office for Sears.

 

Ponce City Market has shops and eateries inside and outside

 

 

  Ever on the look out for good breweries, we found one we really liked.

Their artwork and decor were very cool also!

 We were in the Stone Mountain Campground for Thanksgiving week (could have something to do with why they were so booked up). We have an oven in the Beast, but it's not a very big one or a very good one, so there was no way I was going to cook a turkey in it! Nonetheless we enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal.

Acorn squash stuffed with a medley of sausage, vegetables and rice then topped with mozzarella

We bicycled two different trails while in the Atlanta area.

We pedaled 20 miles on the Arabia Mountain Path (aka the AMP), just east of Atlanta.

 It had lots of ups and downs and gave us a good workout!

We also pedaled a few miles on the BeltLine Trail and around Piedmont Park in Atlanta. These are all sights along the trail.

What a clever paint job!

On our last day in the Atlanta area we spent a few hours at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. It was well worth our time! 

One of the exhibits they have there is very unique: a simulated lunch counter. You're given disposable ear buds and told to have a seat at the lunch counter and to close your eyes. Via the ear buds you experience a simulation of what the 1960's sit-in participants would have experienced. You will flinch. You may shudder. You may have tears in your eyes by the time you're done; I did. and this was just a simulated experience, so we could only imagine the real life sit-ins and how those students must have felt.

(Due to Covid only one family group may sit at the lunch counter at a time, and they sanitized everything in between groups.)

You can see a bit of the museum's unique exterior on the left side of this photo. Notice that Atlanta's high-rises are lost in the fog.

Outside the National Center for Civil and Human Rights

Charleston, South Carolina

Visited November 17 - 22, 2020

By Marty

Note:  This is an "after the fact" post as we work our way backwards to catch you up on our previous destinations.

We are asked from time to time "of all the places you have visited what one did you like best?"  We don't have a stock answer to that question as of yet. We usually mention a few particularly memorable places that, if the opportunity presents, we would love to visit again.  Charleston is, without a doubt, one of those places.

As you will see from the photos Charleston is a beautiful and remarkably well preserved historic city. 

 

Charleston's history is a rich one, but it has a dark side as well. Charleston was the pivotal city of the southern colonies. It was the fourth largest city in colonial America, after Philadelphia, Boston, and New York and it was the wealthiest. The city's wealth resulted from the success of the Southern plantation economy and the export of rice and, later, sea island cotton. The plantation economy, in turn, was built on slavery. Charleston was a major slave trading port: 40% of the enslaved Africans brought into this country passed through Charleston harbor, many to be sold around the South to supply the plantation industry.

The piazza of a Charleston "single house". The single house was only one room wide from front to back and oriented to catch cross breezes for relief from the oppressive summer heat and humidity. 

Beyond this wall is a new home under construction in the historic district. Architectural style is strictly governed within the historic district. Notice the brick wall modified to curve under the large tree limb.

The worst American defeat of the revolution occurred at Charleston in 1780 with the surrender of 3,000 Patriots after a six week siege by the British.

Queen Victoria was a monarch ahead of her time...

From the web:  "On July 1, 1856 the city of Charleston outlawed the sale of slaves on the streets, where many auctions were held. Locals found the practice distracting, perhaps even distasteful, and had complained to city officials. That same day, Ryan's Mart - now the city's Old Slave Mart Museum opened."

This is the Old Slave Mart Museum. Very enlightening and sobering.

McLeod Plantation

We toured the Nathanial Russell House, constructed in 1808

Above is the famous Charleston "Rainbow Row".  I wasn't able to get a good photo from across the street because of late afternoon shadows and vehicles parked in the street. 

On Janell's chest below you get a better idea of what it looks like...

Sunset from the Battery

 The Civil War began in Charleston's harbor when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.

Fried green tomatoes (i.e., not yet ripe tomatoes.) We ordered them for the first and only time while in the South. They tasted pretty decent; confirmation that pretty much anything will taste good if battered, fried in oil, and served with peach chutney.

Collard greens on the other hand....   But the fried chicken was delicious!

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, North America's fourth longest cable stay bridge.

 

We pedaled across the 2.7 mile span on a bike/pedestrian path

 

 It's always wise to carry a spare tire, but this is over the top.

This guy passed us on his way to the port of Charleston. Michelin's North America headquarters is in Greenville, SC. It has nine plants in the state and employs 8,000 people. These Earthmover tires stand 13' tall and weigh up to 5.5 tons.

 

South Carolina is also home to BMW, Boeing, GE, and Volvo manufacturing plants. The BMW plants employs 11,000 people and produces more vehicles than any other BMW plant in the world. This photo shows new BMW's waiting to be loaded for shipment.

A fellow camper at our RV park near Charleston.  Food for thought as we contemplate our next adventure...