On Friday, July 2, 2010, I was at it again. I left work about an hour early and headed home, where Heidi and her kids met me as I attempted to pay some last minute bills. By 6pm, we were on our way to the Dayton International Airport where she would drop me off and I would be catching my 15th plane of the year. I had arranged for Ashleigh’s friend Jamey to feed the cats and get the mail, since Ash was embarking on a long road trip of he own – to West Virginia, Maine, Niagara Falls, and up into Canada (without a passport). I on the other hand had loftier goals in mind. I had to get to Disney World.
My flight left at 7:29 and arrived in Atlanta at 9:12. When I got to this living hell of an airport, I found that my next flight has been delayed and the boards said that the next flight to Charleston wasn’t until 8:30 in the morning. Fortunately, that was incorrect and it looked like my 10:46 flight was delayed until 12:30am. Also fortunate was that I hightailed it to the Delta ticket counter and was able to get onto an earlier flight that left at 11pm. I was worried that I was going to be so late that Erin might fall asleep and miss picking me up, but she came through thankfully.
I arrived in Charleston near midnight, where Erin picked me up at the airport and took me back to her tastefully decorated home in Summerville. I got to meet her cat Kidder and dog Jack, who officially became my all-time favorite dog in the world. Tiny, mangy, and sweet – this dog had plenty of cat in its blood.
The next morning, we got ready, Erin packed her last minute things and we took Jack to the boarder (even though this was nearly a disaster when the last-minute realization that the boarder wasn’t open on Sunday nearly stymied our departure time). We picked up Nate and Chloe from their father’s house, went back for the cooler packing and final car loading, and were on the road about 11:00. Although Erin had been having serious air conditioner issues with the fan not working, we kept the air a bit warmer and the fan a bit slower and I managed to stay comfortable in the blazing southern heat.
We stopped off at what was apparently the world’s busiest McDonalds in Yemassee, South Carolina a little after noon and the drove straight thorugh to Americus, Georgia – playing iPod “name that tune” along the way – where we arrived a little after 5pm. I wanted to show Erin and the kids this neat town where I had stayed three times before, particularly the majestic Windsor hotel, built in 1892. I had last stayed here in 2006 and had had a nice dinner here that same year on a different occasion.
Patiently waiting for their McDonalds
A welcome return to the Windsor Hotel in Americus
Knowing that Mom’s Kitchen and the other restaurant in Plains were closed this weekend, we decided to eat in Americus. The dining room didn’t open until 6:00 so we explored the hotel for a bit – then learned that the bar Floyd’s was already open and we could eat there and get the same food. We had a nice dinner there and I enjoyed the grouper sandwich and we got some great friend green tomato and fried pickle appetizers. They boasted the best grouper in town – which considering the size in the small town wasn’t saying a lot – but nevertheless, it was good stuff.
A great southern meal in the Windsor bar Floyd’s
We arrived at our destination for the night in Plains, Georgia – birthplace, boyhood town, and current residence of our 39th President Jimmy Carter. This was my sixth visit to this charming little town and I was anxious to show it off to Erin and the kids. Unfortunately, President Carter was out of town this weekend so wasn’t teaching at the Plains Maranatha Baptist Church – as I had seen him do four times before. On the plus side, this meant that the town was all-but-deserted for the 4th of July holiday, so we were able to get a room in the Plains Historic Inn with no problem.
You might recall from the 2006 posting that this was the bed-and-breakfast that had been partially built by Jimmy Carter and decorated by his wife Rosalyn. It contained seven rooms, each decorated in the motif of a decade from the 1920′s to the 1980′s. Ashleigh and I stayed in the 1980 room, while Bob stayed in 1970 - the Presidential Suite.
After I booked the 1940 room, I became concerned that it might not sleep four, so I called back and spoke to my old friend Jan, and she invited us to take an extra room for the kids at no extra charge. So the kids stayed in 1940 and Erin and I stayed in 1950. All of the un-occupied rooms were open for us to explore so we saw them all that night except for 1930 and 1970. The guests in 1970 left the next morning for us, so we got to check out the Presidential bed.
Nate and Chloe seem quite comfortable in the 1940′s
Fun with phones in the Plains Historic Inn
On the balcony of the Inn, surveying the sleepy, peaceful city of Plains
Although it was getting dark by 9pm, we all walked around the area for a bit, exploring Billy Carter’s service station, the former train depot and Presidential campaign headquarters, and the main strip of shops on Main Street. Back in our room, whilst listening to some 1920s music on my iPod, we played a couple of games of color and shape Bingo (that we had borrowed from the inn) and a game of Farkle, which I remarkably won. That night we had an eerie visit from the toothpaste ghost.
In front of the Main Street shops
On the wrong side of the tracks in Plains
Chloe vs. the Coke machine – Round 1
Sunday was Independence Day. We slept until a respectable hour, had some of the provided food in the B&B kitchen (four mini sausage biscuits and a fruit cup for me), and then roamed the town some more. The major souvenir store and political memorabilia shop was open and we browsed there for a bit. Chloe bought a kite that she and Erin attempted to fly on Main Street. We checked out the inside of the Presidential Campaign headquarters (where I was very disappointed that the great Jimmy Carter video wasn’t working), and Billy Carter’s gas station again (where Chloe had a fight with the Coke machine and lost a dollar).
Erin gets Presidential in the 1970′s suite
A couple from the 1950′s
Outside the former train depot and Presidential Campaign Headquarters
Erin hitchiking in front of Billy Carter’s former service station
On the streets of Plains. The Plains Historic Inn is directly behind me.
Sleepy holiday Sunday on Main Street
Waiting for the antique shop to open
A beautiful day for kite flying in Plains
At noon, they opened up the antique store operated by the Plains Historic Inn owners almost exclusively for us and the other two guests. I always have fun looking around at the various antique booths, but seldom buy anything. This time was no exception.
With some familiar cutouts in the Plains Historic Inn & Antiques shop
We then wrapped up our stay in Plains with about an hour and fifteen minutes of rapid-fire Presidential site visiting – looking around inside the Carters’ high school, taking a look at the Plains Baptist Church where the Carters were married, posing with the giant peanut (which had been moved from the entrance to town to Highway 45, driving by the Maranatha Baptist Church where the Carters attend and the President teaches Sunday School, checking out the hospital where Jimmy Carter was born, driving by the Carters’ current home, visiting the cemetery where his parents and brother are buried, his boyhood home, and the ‘haunted house’ where the Carters stayed for a bit when he was a boy. There are a few photos below of these locations, but the rest can be seen in the posting highlighting President Carter.
Face front please – in the high school classroom where both of the Carters attended
With the giant peanut that has been relocated in the last couple of years
Nate in the outhouse at Jimmy Carter’s boyhood home
Even more fun with phones in Jimmy Carter’s boyhood home
Chloe, Nate, and Erin on the front porch of the boyhood home
Erin does some impromptu gardening at the boyhood home
Since Nate dared me so many times to eat a cayenne pepper out of the garden, I obliged. I could taste that bad boy all day.
We left Plains a bit before 2pm. My GPS took me on a wild loop that ended us up right back in Plains as if it were a celestial magnet. Finally, we got out of there and headed toward Destin, Florida.
The trip will continue there…
Bypass the trip and continue with 2010…
See the official Jimmy Carter posting here…
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