>Hi George,
>
>>Cartersville, about 25 miles north of Marietta. Off I-75, exit 124.
>
>Is that where they have a place called something like the "Gem and Rock Museum"? I remember taking my kids there more than a coupla times when they were younger (Boy Scouts field trips). I thought it was Cartersville ... I remember it being just off of I-75 somewhere north. Anyway, it's a cool place for kids ... mine loved it.

If you mean the Weinman Mineral Museum, yes. Currently, they're featuring an exhibition of moon rocks. Astronaut John Young (who, I believe is from the area) was here to open the exhibit.

If it's been a few years, you might not recognize Cartersville any more. More like Marietta every day. Traffic has gotten terrible.

>We spent many weekends up in the Helen/Clarksville area doing "gem-grubbing" ... semi-precious gems like amethyst, garnet, quartz. You buy a bucket of rocks for $3, dump the rocks a little at a time in a pan and swish in the water (kinda like panning for gold ... they have that there too) ... of course these places tended to "salt" the gems so that you could find them ... they were actually in the jewelry business and hoped you would decide to get your gem cut/polished/mounted etc... that's where they made their money. But it was fun and I loved it as much as my kids .... I still have a bag of gems lying around here someplace.

Yep, been up to Helen several times. However, are you referring to Dalonega (sp?)? That's were you can pan for gold, etc. You might be able to in Helen, I've just never seen any signs that you can.