Stone Mountain Christmas

We actually stayed at Stone Mountain twice in December. It was our very first stop with our camper. That being the case, we didn't want to be far away from my parents, Wal-mart and a camper place. (You never know, right?) We nearly hit a tree, we were able to mostly level the camper, and it was really cold...so we learned we needed a space heater. All in all, we did ok I think.

About a week after our first stay, we came back. This time it was much warmer, we did not almost hit a tree and we were able to completely level it, despite being in a very unlevel spot. What a difference a week makes. (It was also the first time we had to dump the camper...that was it's own experience.)

This time we did the Christmas package, which allows you to do almost everything in Stone Mountain Park for one price. We did EVERYTHING. We took the skyride up to the top of the mountain, we toured the plantation, we went to the Christmas Village and played and ate and bought candy at the old fashioned candy store. You'd think the train or the 4D theater would have been the favorites, but no, not my kids. They preferred the plantation. In particular, the barnyard on the plantation. They got to tour the antebellum homes, do some antebellum era holiday crafts, pet the animals in the working farm, see the garden (still growing, thanks to Georgia and it's warm winters).

The only thing we skipped was Snow Mountain, which is where they turn the big grassy slope from the summer laser show into a sledding course. The cost was not worth it. The reviews were AWFUL. Look it up online, it's a wonder it's even in business still! But everything else was great, and we had a blast, and we went on a Friday avoiding most of the crowds that came on Saturday. And boy did they come...the front gate was 20-30 cars deep all day long.

At night you can go back to the Christmas Village and see the thousands of lights, including Snowflake Lane that you can drive through. It really was lovely. The campground was ok, thankfully we went at an off time. If it was busy, I can't even imagine how crammed in you would feel. But we were right on the lake, and it was quiet and peaceful.