Thompson Family-Life

Fairyland Caverns: Rock City, GA

I just realized I put "Tennessee" in the above image.. it's technically Georgia, but it crosses over 2 borders, so whatev, right? ; )

So here's Fairyland Caverns! I'm actually really surprised at how decent these photos came out now that I've pulled them up on my computer. It was really, really tough even capturing a decent exposure in the darkness of the caverns. I shot at my highest ISO (for me 1600) and with my 50mm lens at 1.4. I actually had to use manual focus a few times (gasp!), so it's a miracle some of these came out as sharp as they did. I only have this one lens to my name, my other wide angle lens died. I really could've used a wide angle lens to capture more in my frame, but my 50mm really came through for me in extremely low light.

When you enter, you see the original scenes that were created in the 40's. These gnomes greet you at the beginning (I'm wondering if they were the ones that Frieda Carter imported from Germany?)

This sign on the left is the entrance to the Caverns...

This is where you see more of the original fairy tale scenes that were created in the 40's. These are pretty small compared to the larger sculptures that were created for Mother Goose Village that was completed in the 60's.

Here you see the children reading the stories. Can match a Fairy Tale with the images below?

The scenes above were tucked into tiny nooks as you walk through the cavern. Then you walk into a large room where a huge installation is set up in the middle - Mother Goose Village. Then you walk all the way around to see everything. My photos fail in capturing how huge the installation is, again, I could've used that wide angle lens, but hopefully you get a good feel for it. It's so completely whimsical, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and maybe even a little bit creepy, but it's quite a unique and unforgettable experience to be sure. 

The black light experience is so weird and definitely adds to the strangeness of it all. I remembered that the Peter Pan ride at Disneyworld is black lit, too and it made me miss Disney so much. We're going again in November this year with Ethan's Grandmother like we did two years ago. Can't wait.

If you ever have the chance to visit Rock City, you must. It's super fun for the whole family and Chattanooga is only 10-15 minutes away. There's an INCREDIBLE Children's museum (post to come), Aquarium and many other fun things we have yet to do. 

Here are some other fantastic photos I found of Fairyland Caverns taken by another photographer.

See more travel posts here.

Rock City, Georgia: a Southern Kitsch Destination

Look, I have a non-European travel blog post for you! Still travel oriented, but U.S. based nonetheless. I took the boys on a little trip to Rock City, Georgia & Chattanooga, Tennessee yesterday and we got home today. Don't let the two states fool you, Rock City and Chattanooga are only about 10-15 minutes apart. You actually drive into Tennessee first but when you drive into Rock City (which is on top of Lookout Mountain), you travel right over the border, back into Georgia again.. if only for a few minutes.

The last time we went to Rock City was for Cooper's 4th birthday and Campbell was a baby and I didn't remember much about it, and I knew they wouldn't remember much of it obviously. The only thing I remembered was Fairyland Caverns, of which I'll tell you more about.

Rock City & Chattanooga are only about an hour and a half drive from Atlanta so it's totally doable, even as a daytrip. We stayed overnight so we could spend some more time there (Chattanooga in itself is such an amazing city, with SO much to do with kiddos).

Rock City has a pretty charming history...

Founder Garnet Carter had tried and succeeded at a number of business ventures before hitting on the idea of developing a residential neighborhood on the top of Lookout Mountain (from where you can see seven states). Launched in 1924, the new community was to be known as Fairyland, named so because of his wife Frieda’s long-time interest in European folklore. One of the enticing features of Fairyland was to be a golf course, but construction took considerably longer than was planned. In order to appease those who were clamoring to play golf, Carter responded by fashioning what is now recognized to be the nation’s first miniature golf course.

Meanwhile, Frieda Carter had begun a project of her own. The 700 acres of Fairyland also encompassed the legendary Rock City, and Frieda set out to develop this property into a rock garden to end all rock gardens. Frieda had taken string and marked a trail that wound its way around the giant rock formations, ending at the giant outcropping known as Lover’s Leap.

Frieda’s gardening was supplemented by imported German statues of gnomes and famous fairytale characters, which were stationed at points along the trail. Entrepreneur that he was, Garnet realized his wife had something there that lots of other people might be willing to pay to see. The rest, as they say, is history. 

"Umbrella Rock" at Rock City Gardens

Rock City officially opened as a public attraction on May 21, 1932. Each year, more than half a million people visit the attraction from all over the world to enjoy the many natural splendors that abound. Over the years, several features have been added to the original attraction, including the popular Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village.

I think the last time we went, I wasn't knee deep in my love for all things Kitsch, and what I did see and love, I wasn't able to take many good photos due to the very DARK nature of the caverns you walk through to see all of Fairyland. After doing some reading on the website, I found out that the beginning of Fairyland Caverns was complete and open to the public in 1947 with the grand finale of Mother Goose Village open in 1964.

Seeing is believing with Fairyland! Needless to say, one shouldn't be on any sort of drugs while walking through this place (or maybe you should?). It's quite trippy! To think that they created these little scenes in the 40s, 50s & 60s, I think is pretty impressive. To see all of our favorite Fairy Tale stories and characters lit in black light, is both surreal and giddy-inducing (for both kids and adults alike!) I was so thrilled that that boys enjoyed it so much. They really, really loved it.

This time I was able to actually get some pretty decent photos, so I'll share those with you Friday.

It was really cool to visit a place so near to my home that was really worth the visit. Sometimes you feel like everything's "greener" on the other side and having lived here for sooo long, you start to feel like you've been-there-done-that with what's to see in the Southeast. But we're starting to find NEW places (through the power of Google and THIS website!!) and revisiting places as well. I have to say, we have some pretty great places to visit in our corner of the States.

The new destinations on our list? Paradise Gardens, the world's largest Micro-car Museum, Vintage Lunchbox Museum (!!) and a city full of weathered vintage roadside signage - Cherokee, NC. We have some major Southern travelin' to do.

You just never know what might be right around the corner from you.

See some of our other travels here.

Sources: postcards, 2, 3, 4, 5, brochure