Wholesale Observations: Atlanta, Georgia – Bryan County News

Atlanta, Georgia is a huge city with all sorts of interesting places to see. My wife and I have been to the famous High Museum and the Fernbank Science Museum many times. She has also been to the wonderful Fox Theatre, another of Atlanta’s crown jewels, while I have not yet had the chance. I would love to do so.

We also both went to the Atlanta Aquarium, but she got the full tour once, while I was only there for a special event and didn’t get to enjoy the full facilities. I’ll have to go back and do it another day.

I had the opportunity several years ago to visit two other Atlanta gems, the Tellus Science Museum and the Booth Western Art Museum, located on opposite sides of an exit just north of Cartersville, about 45 minutes north of Atlanta off I-75.

My wife worked for the Cartersville Herald-Tribune, so I was familiar with the area, but I had never had the opportunity to visit either museum before. I wrote about that visit in a previous column.

These were both incredible places, and I am so glad I finally got to see them! It was because of a weekend trip I took about ten years ago when I was asked to take three international students from Armstrong State University to a Rotary-sponsored weekend event in Clayton County, which left me with two days of free time in between. I took them on a Thursday morning and brought them back to Savannah on Sunday afternoon. (That’s another story.)

The Booth Museum of Western Art, just north of Cartersville, was of particular interest to me. I had never visited a museum that specialized in American Western art before; it was really something! The guy who collected these works (paintings, photos, and statues, from small to large) did a wonderful job; I was absolutely fascinated by the entire collection. I was so glad I decided to go that day.

The same goes for the Tellus Science Museum across the street. Another marvel! I highly recommend a visit to both museums. They are underrated treasures.

One of the most interesting places we visited in Atlanta was the Grant Park Zoo and its Civil War diorama. I have always been interested in history and have made several trips to Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park – an impressive place in its own right – and to Andersonville Park near Americus. But the Civil War diorama in Grant Park is a totally different experience.

It’s been several years since we’ve visited Grant Park and the Diorama has been closed for a few years for repairs and renovations. But the sight we saw that day simply blew me away.

The diorama itself is a huge circular painting, with the audience mounted on a rotating stage. The show itself is a 3D retelling of the Battle of Atlanta, in the final months of the American Civil War. The seating area rotates as the battle progresses, and different sections of the diorama are highlighted, and a narrator describes the scenes and actions.

You can almost smell the smoke from the gunshots and cannons, you can hear the screams of the wounded and the neighing of fallen horses. It was the most realistic depiction of the smoke and screams of a real battle I have ever witnessed. I came away from the two-hour spectacle very moved.

It was about telling the story live, and that’s what happened. I’ve seen films of the Yankee chase of the General locomotive in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and videos of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, north of Atlanta. But I’ve never seen anything as moving as this Civil War diorama show in Grant Park.

You don’t have to be a “history buff” like me to appreciate a spectacle like this. This show was put on long before the advent of those huge movie screens that show 3D movies. It served its purpose, and I highly encourage you to visit this park to see it for yourself. I guarantee you’ll come away with a much deeper appreciation for the Battle of Atlanta that took place some 160 years ago.

Rafe Semmes is a proud graduate of Savannah High School (“the original”) and the University of Georgia. He and his wife live in eastern Liberty County and are longtime Rotarians.