In any other context, being surrounded by civil war would be an unfortunate circumstance. But at Atlanta’s Cyclorama, where you’re planted on a revolving platform in the middle of a 15,000 square foot painting of The Battle of Atlanta, it’s just plain cool. At the risk of revealing too much of my dorky side, I’ve always been fascinated by America’s Civil War and – historians stop reading here – probably even more interested in reading the romantic historical fiction novels about the period. My less than literary interests aside, the Civil War is obviously one of the biggest events in American history and at the Cyclorama, you’re as close as possible to the action of one hundred and fifty years ago.
While I probably could have done without the hokey music accompanying the Cyclorama exhibit, it’s such an incredible painting that I easily lost myself in the meticulously detailed scenes. Apparently painted by German artists, the Cyclorama is the largest painting in the world—there’s so much to look at that it’s difficult to take it all in. You can even find a Clark Gable lookalike mannequin…coincidence that he was cast as Rhett Butler?
Along with the painting, admission gets you into a Civil War Museum with a big ol’ train called The Texas. I’m not really into machinery, but the hyperactive little boys at the museum seemed to enjoy it. Hint to babysitters or desperate parents who are trying to find some way to entertain their children when school ends, take them here…plus it’s right next to the Atlanta Zoo so if they aren’t interested in intellectual stimulation, they can eat ice cream and feed stinky animals.
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