For the summer of 2008, Stone Mountain has updated their night time family favorite, the Laser Show. This 45 minute event starts at full dark and is appropriate for all ages. After paying the $8 per car gate fee, this event is free.

As always, the laser show is held on the lawn in front of the mountain, with a wonderful view of the confederate carving. Attendees are welcome to bring blankets, camp chairs and picnic dinners for a relaxing evening on the lawn. If you don't have blankets or chairs, there are a fair amount of large rocks that can be used for seating. Show up early - the lawn gets full and (though there are no bad "seats") you'll want to choose your own spot. Concessions and glow toys are also sold in the hour leading up to the laser show.

Though the show itself has been updated this year, it is much as many may remember if they've seen it before: lasers are projected onto the face of the mountain and, along with music, tell a story that celebrates Atlanta, the South and current pop culture. There is a fireworks finale as well. In an effort to keep the show from becoming stale, Stone Mountain as shortened some of it's long time pieces and added new ones. There are songs from Star Wars and High School Musical, as well as a new digital projector that displays actual images on the mountain. (Hint: if you hate country music, be prepared to hate the music)

Overall, for those who have seen the show before, Stone Mountain has mixed it up to make it new and fun again. For those who've never seen the Laser Show, it will be a new and fun family experience.

Stone Mountain is a natural outcrop of granite suddenly rising up from an otherwise flat area. It is truly a unique sight. The park includes many theme restaurants, gift shops, and kid's activities. There were also beautiful gardens on the grounds. The historic plantation town is beautifully laid out and maintained, as well as staffed by intelligent and friendly (a word you use a lot to describe the people in Atlanta) people.

In April, I had the place almost to myself because it was not yet the peak season. The one drawback of this is the fact that many of the gift shops, restaurants, and activities were not open, but the admission price is not any lower. One restaurant that was open was Auntie Kate's. It featured great Southern food. While you wait for your meal, they come around to your table with an assortment of appetizers, such as sweet potato fries, fried zucchini, and fried pickles. I loved the sweet potatoes and was thrilled to try my first fried pickle! The homemade biscuits were absolutely to die for! I thoroughly enjoyed my cheeseburger and iced tea while listening to the live guitar player.

The ride up the side of the Stone Mountain is breathtaking and the view from the top is simply awesome. When you get into the cable car to go up, try to get near a window so that you can properly take in the view. There aren't the right words to describe it. Walking around the top of the mountain is like walking on some other planet's surface. At first you are just taken in by the view of the completely flat area out of which the mountain rises, and then you start to notice subtle things about the surface you are walking on. There are interesting veins of dark and light rock in the granite, not to mention small little flows that grow in the cracks. There is not much anyone could improve on at Stone Mountain Park. It is definitely not to be missed!

Their website at "www.stonemountainpark.com" describes all that is available. We enjoyed 7 hours here and I'm not sure we sampled everything.

A monolithic gray granite outcropping (the world's largest) carved with a massive monument to the Confederacy, Stone Mountain is a distinctive landmark on Atlanta's horizon and the focal point of its major recreation area. It's Georgia's number-one tourist Mecca and one of the 10 most visited paid attractions in the United States.

You can ride the Skylift to the top, where you have an incredible view of Atlanta and the Appalachian Mountains. Visitors who are part mountain goat can take a walking trail down its moss-covered slopes, especially lovely in spring when they're blanketed in wildflowers.

Our first stop was the Discovering Stone Mountain Museum to get some perspective on the mountain's history. Exhibits take you through an intriguing chronological journey from the area's past into its present.

The Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, an open-air train that chugs around the 5-mile base of Stone Mountain takes about 40 minutes. Trains depart from Railroad Depot, an old-fashioned train station.

We then stopped in to see the 4-D movie "Tall Tales" where frogs and snakes and bees and bats were right in our face and it felt like the frogs were jumping around our legs. A skunk even sprayed us with its perfume.

The Scarlett O'Hara, a paddlewheel riverboat, cruises the 363-acre Stone Mountain Lake.

The Antique Car and Treasure Museum is a jumble of old radios, jukeboxes, working nickelodeons, pianos, Lionel trains, carousel horses, and clocks along with classic cars.

The 19-building Antebellum Plantation offers self-guided tours assisted by hosts in period dress at each structure. Highlights include the 1790s Thornton House, elegant home of a large landowner; the smokehouse and well; a doctor's office; a barn, a coach house, and crop-storage cribs; a necessary and a cook house. The grounds also contain formal gardens and a kitchen garden. It takes at least an hour to tour the entire complex.

A drive on Robert E. Lee Drive found the quaint gristmill in a lovely natural setting of blooming trees and flowers. We parked to walk around the area and take some photos.

It's an easy drive (about 30 min.) from downtown Atlanta.