April 2008   View Previous Out and About Articles 

Ride the Ducks at Stone Mountain

My children stared at me, befuddled, when I told them we were going to “ride the ducks” at Stone Mountain. They asked my husband and me a battery of questions: Were we going to ride a boat shaped like a duck? Would we be going underwater? Would the boat make a quacking sound?

The mystery deepened during our 45-minute wait; rides take place on the hour. The friendly woman behind the Ride the Ducks counter gave us our wristbands and suggested we visit the Discover Stone Mountain Museum and the Antebellum Plantation House, both of which are a long walk from the Ride the Ducks attraction.

The fun really began as soon as we boarded our “DUCK,” which turned out to be a DUKW – an authentic, renovated World War II amphibious landing vehicle: part boat, part tour-bus. We received a warm welcome from the appropriately named Captain Donald, who handed out “quackers,” bright yellow duckbill-shaped whistles, to all of his passengers. We were instructed to blow the quackers loudly whenever we saw a pedestrian. The children blew their quackers with gusto! (Suffice it to say, you should never “ride the ducks” when you have a headache.)

Captain Donald took us on a land-and-water journey unlike any other, pointing out historical landmarks and sharing funny stories that both the adults and kids enjoyed.

Audience participation played a big role in the fun. By the time he drove our “duck” into Stone Mountain Lake with a splash, Captain Donald had convinced a handful of children to try their hands at driving the “duck.” Little boys and girls had the chance to play at captain for a few minutes during the lake tour. While we were still waterbound, our captain even persuaded me to get behind the wheel.

Before the tour was over, Captain Donald had us singing popular songs like “Who Let the Dogs Out” and “Bad Boys,” complete with hand motions. It had been a long time since I’d allowed myself to feel so silly. The kids loved it.

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