Labor Day

For Labor Day Weekend, we headed to Atlanta to visit my parents. Our main reason for the trip was because Karen, my high school friend and Caroline's godmother, was in town with her husband, Jason. Karen's family lives in the Atlanta area. They had planned to go to Stone Mountain for the Laser Show, and they invited us to go with them. I hadn't been in several years. We planned to go up the mountain - hike up and ride down on the cable car - but we ended up not having enough time. The place was a ZOO!! It was packed for the holiday weekend - jacked up parking prices and people EVERYWHERE! We barely found a spot on the lawn for our blanket. I have never seen it so jam-packed before!

We set up our stuff and then went to walk around the food area - we had intended on sending one person back out to Subway or Mrs. Winner's, but the line to get into the parking lot, which was over a mile from the lawn, was too intimidating, so we decided to buy food in the park. And that took an hour - no joking. We waited a long time for our food. Caroline and one of Karen's nieces wanted cheeseburgers, but the wait there was over an hour, once I finally found a place with take-out cheeseburgers! So, they ended up with hot dogs instead. The rest of us ate chicken tenders from Colonel Adair's inside the train depot. Karen, Jason, and I braved the lines and brought the food back to our hungry crew just before it got dark. We had just enough time to eat, take a potty break, and then get back to our spot for the show.

Now, I have been coming to the Laser Show since I was tiny, and they have a few signature songs - Dixie/Battle Hymn of the Republic medley (the Elvis version), Georgia on my Mind (Ray Charles version), and God Bless the USA (Lee Greenwood version). Well, they have ALWAYS done these, and they have ALWAYS ended with the Elvis medley and then God Bless the USA. This time, they did the Elvis song at the beginning, which was weird... and then they only did part of GA on my Mind - they cut it off and went into a medley of songs about other states - I guess paying tribute to the fact that people from TN, AL, and the Carolinas come to the Laser Show as well. But that was very disappointing to me - the GA on my Mind segment is just a part of the Laser Show traditionally. And then, even worse - no God Bless the USA at all!!! i was really let down. The Laser Show had become somewhat sentimental to me. I am really hoping this was just done because it's the 25th Anniversary year show and that they will bring back the old classics in the future. For now, here are some links to youtube clips of these memorable parts of the old show:


And here's the Elvis American Trilogy, just for fun:


Can't find Georgia on my Mind footage :( Will keep looking.