Welcome to Atlanta!

AFTER a crazy last month in Texas we moved to the Atlanta area for TJ's new job.  We wanted to see a few sites before he starts, so we got together with our good friends Tim and Charisse to check out the Oakland Cemetery and the Martin Luther King, Jr. historical sites.  It was a lovely, warm morning and it was refreshing to see the beautiful architecture and botany of the cemetery grounds.

There is a civil war confederate section with named and unnamed grave markers.  This monument is the Lion of the Confederacy or Lion of Atlanta.

This is the grave of Margaret Mitchell, the author of Gone with the Wind.  She used to love walking through this part of the city herself.

Huge mausoleums scattered the grounds.  Some of them were notable people, such as Atlanta's first mayor

Some of the mausoleums had interesting interiors with stained glass and other notable features.

Gorgeous shot of the Atlanta skyline and cemetery.

There were original and replica statues intermingled amongst the tombs.

The cemetery is also a botanical preserve that include huge magnolias, that are just starting to bloom, and ancient oaks.

This is one of the oldest gas lamps in the south, as one of the original 50 installed by the Atlanta Gas Light company in 1856.  It has some marks on it from the bombing of Atlanta in 1864.

NEXT we went to the Martin Luther King, Jr historical sites.  They included the museum, his childhood home, Ebenezer church where he preached and his funeral was held, and Dr. and Mrs. King's tomb.

History always seems more real when you are able to see the sites where they actually occurred.  It puts things into perspective.

We finished up our morning with going to The Varsity.  It reminded me of old times eating lunch between classes on campus.  What a fun day!