Atlanta: Day 3
Today we went to Kennesaw Mountain, the location of a massive assault against the South, on the North’s way to Atlanta. I was surprised to see how busy the park was. There was a grassy area at the base of mountain where the battle began, a place where thousands of corpses littered the earth not 150 years ago, and today I saw dozens of families, kids, and elderly lounging in the grass. That is the kind of image that makes me realize how far this nation has come in the last 150 years. Wow. It is both a little funny and a little sad how little respect some people have for such areas. I have a picture in which a sign prohibiting ball playing and kite flying is clearly visible, and in the background there are people doing both. It reminds me a lot of historic underwater sites that so many people take for granted. This place was one of the most important battles in the course of the war, and I would think following some basic rules to maintain it would not be too much to ask of the public.
We walked a mile long trail to the top of the “mountain” and were able to see some of the original confederate dugouts used for the cannons and marksmen. These cannons are 1300 pounds, I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to move these monsters up a mile of steep slope, even with animals.
Sunday night we went to a day after wedding party that was open to family and close friends at the house of my friend’s friend’s friend. Surprisingly enough I felt quite welcome. I would have expected with 3 degrees of separation I would have been thrown out on my butt after about 10 minutes. I was promptly offered a Heineken, a burger, a swim in their pool, a game of billiards, and a massage by a professional masseuse. I didn’t make it to the pool or the masseuse, but played the best game of pool in my life. In my first turn, I cleaned the table of all but the 8 ball. Of course I had to play it cool and macho (I have to keep up the image you know), pretending it was nothing, but dang, I probably will never do that again.
After getting back to my friends condo we took a swim in the pool. Late night swims can never be beat.
We walked a mile long trail to the top of the “mountain” and were able to see some of the original confederate dugouts used for the cannons and marksmen. These cannons are 1300 pounds, I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to move these monsters up a mile of steep slope, even with animals.
Sunday night we went to a day after wedding party that was open to family and close friends at the house of my friend’s friend’s friend. Surprisingly enough I felt quite welcome. I would have expected with 3 degrees of separation I would have been thrown out on my butt after about 10 minutes. I was promptly offered a Heineken, a burger, a swim in their pool, a game of billiards, and a massage by a professional masseuse. I didn’t make it to the pool or the masseuse, but played the best game of pool in my life. In my first turn, I cleaned the table of all but the 8 ball. Of course I had to play it cool and macho (I have to keep up the image you know), pretending it was nothing, but dang, I probably will never do that again.
After getting back to my friends condo we took a swim in the pool. Late night swims can never be beat.
posted by david at Sunday, April 17, 2005
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