Atlanta History Center: Civil War Exhibit

It should be obvious by the number of posts dedicated to the Atlanta History Center that there is quite a bit to see and that it should potentially be considered an all day activity. As we headed over to the museum section of the history center we were starting to wind down a little, so we made one last stop at the Civil War exhibit.

Atlanta History Center: The Swan House

There was so much to see at the Atlanta History Center that it had to take up two posts!

After looking at the farm and walking up the path we headed on over to The Swan House, a large immaculate home built in 1928 that once belonged to the Inman family, an old money family with a fortune from a cotton brokerage. The house's most recent claim to fame is that it was used as the presidential palace in the filming of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Atlanta History Center: Smith Family Farm

Since I had never been and neither had they my grandparents and I decided as part of their visit on their last day in town to make a trip over to the Atlanta History Center to check out what they had to offer. And actually they have quite a bit to offer.

The History Center is on a plot of land that consists of a nature trail, an historic farm, The Swan House and the History Museum itself and also includes the Margret Mitchell House (of Gone With the Wind fame) which is located at a separate location in Midtown, but you have 10 days to use your passes to visit.

Arabia Mountain: Climb to the Top

After having such a nice day in the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area the day before, we decided to return and do the mountain top trail this time. It's not a very far hike and consists of an interesting granite terrain marked by these rock cairns that lead you along the trail.

Arabia Mountain

This week my grandparents visited me as they were passing through Georgia on their way up to the mountains to get in a little fall color and scenery not easily found in Florida.

Eschewing the more tourist route of Stone Mountain, we decided to head about 30 minutes southwest of the city to the Arabia Mountain National Historic Area. The historic area consists of several natural and historical points of interest near Lithonia that include a Monastery, mill ruins, and more than a few historic farms, houses and homesteads, amongst other things, all connected by a series of Atlanta's PATH bike, skate and walking friendly trails.

We ended up at the Davidson-Arabia Nature Preserve and walked up the yellow trail to Arabia Lake.