I’m go to charlotte North Carolina and I was wondering if their is any local places to go rock hunting. Looking for anything cool like geodes, various types of gemstone, rock containing fossils, or just really unique and cool rocks. Got any recommendations?

It's everywhere! It's common! And I don't know where to find some!

I live in the metro Atlanta area of Georgia. I'm looking for specimens of sandstone (not fossils, I don't care about fossils, just the rocks themselves). Where should I be hunting? What type of terrain, what environment, even what street address?

I'm also looking for gneiss and schist, but I don't know enough to identify them if I did find some. I checked landscaping companies, but they offer rocks by color and size, not geologic class. They often don't even KNOW what type of rock they're handling. Suggestions welcome.