The next day we decided to drive 1 hour to Plains Georgia to learn more about the history of where Jimmy Carter (the 39^th President of the US) grew up. The first stop was his Boyhood Farm which was a few miles west of Plains. Here’s what we learned at the farm:

• Jimmy was 4 years old in 1928 when his parents purchased the farm in Archery Georgia just a few miles from Plains. The Carters lived on the farm until 1949 when they sold it. It was privately held until 1994 when the National Park service purchased it and began restoration. It was opened to the public in 2000.
• Most of the community living in Archer at the time were African American tenant farmers who worked for Jimmy’s dad Earl Carter. Earl believed that everything on the farm had to pay its own way, so Jimmy grew up with these values. His mother Lillian helped in the community with her nursing skills.
• Before Jimmy Carter started 1^st grade, he would walk along the railroad tracks to Plains and sell boiled peanuts to the people in Plains and he could earn about $1 per day. This was where he got his first exposure to commerce, education, and religion.
• The yard around the home was swept white sand, weeded clean to keep the snakes and bugs away from the home. The home was actually quite large as you will see from the inside photos.
• Heating for the home was accomplished by fireplaces and woodstoves. There was no running water or electricity until 1938.
• Earl and Lillian Carter had 4 children, Jimmy, Gloria, Ruth, and Billy. Much of their food was produced on the farm and Lillian believed in eating well to stay healthy.
• After we went through the house we went outside and saw the tennis court, the general store that Earl ran, the windmill that brought running water, the vegetable garden, the blacksmith shop, the milking barn, the harness shed, the farm bell, and some of the farm animals.
• Lastly, we saw the neighbours house which was Jack and Rachel Clark. Jack managed the barn, mules and horses for Earl. Rachel was very special in helping Jimmy form his values. She was a highly skilled field worker who could outdo all the men. Jimmy would stay with her if his parents were busy. She taught him how to fish and all about the habits of animals and how not get lost in the woods and swamps. Due to this exposure Jimmy felt very much at home in the black community.

Next, we drove into plains and our first stop was the Plains High School where Jimmy went to school and where he met his future bride Rosalynn. The school was opened in 1921 and it closed its doors in 1979 and then became the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.

• We first visited the Principal’s Office (I told the ranger I’d done that too many times in the past😉). Miss Julia Coleman, one of the principal’s was also very influential in Jimmy’s life.
• The exhibit room explained how the education system was segregated at that time and again how that formed Jimmy’s beliefs that this should be changed. Later he joined the school board to help influence the changes needed.
• Next was an example classroom and some of the things taught at the time.
• We went across the hall to the auditorium, which was bringing back memories of high school, and watched a video about Jimmy and Rosalynn. The Carters were married in 1946 and had 4 children, Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy. In 2019 they became the longest-married couple in presidential history.
• The last room had display boards covering all aspects of Jimmy’s political life, his humanitarian causes and winning the Nobel Peace prize.

Since we had a good parking place for the RV at the high school, we decided to walk over to the town area to see a few more things. You really know this is a peanut farmer town😉 We saw the peanut processing factory and even saw some farmers bringing in huge wagons full of peanuts. There were also several peanut statues to take photos of throughout the town.

The train station, called “the depot”, had been converted into Jimmy’s campaign headquarters when he was running for President. Local community volunteers made their phone calls from the building. It was chosen as it was the only available building that had running water and a toilet😉Jimmy was relatively unknown when he ran, so often times the callers would get “Jimmy Who?” as a question. Naturally after all the sightings of peanuts we had to stop in the local shop to get homemade peanut butter soft ice cream. We also saw Billy Carters gas station and then drove to the really big peanut statue. We enjoyed visiting Plains and learning all about Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Jimmy is still alive but in hospice care in their home compound in Plains. All former Presidents, their spouses, and children 16 and under get secret service protection. We could see the secret service buildings but not the actual home as we drove out of town. 

For our last day at Florence Marina SP, we asked the Rangers if they could open the Kirbo Interpretative Centre for us so we could look at the exhibits. It had only been open for a short time when some of the water pipes in the attic (no basement) burst due to freezing temperatures, so they had to close it and fix it up. The renovations had been done but they hadn’t setup regular hours of operation yet. The exhibits explained the history of the town of Florence along the Chattahoochee River and how it was a booming area in the 1800’s due to the trade that could be done along the river (it eventually flows out to the Gulf of Mexico). Similarly Native Americans 5000 years ago travelled with dugout canoes and used the river for trade purposes. In the peak of Florence there was a large cotton processing plant and steamboats were used to transport goods. As roads were built, the steamboat era died off and the town of Florence was no longer a commercial centre. After the centre we did another 7 km hike around the grounds to see our alligators all in their similar spots.

Our last destination for this portion of our Georgia stops was Seminole SP but, on the way, we decided to stop for Mexican food in Donalsonville at the Rodeo Cantina and Grill. One of the reviews said there was lots of parking for RV’s but when we got there at 12:30 it was packed and nowhere to park. We decided to go and buy our groceries at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store (which had great prices) and then return for lunch at 1:30 and then there was no problem parking. We had another great lunch with Sharon having the medium sized Margarita (can’t imagine a large one😉) while I had a Negra Modelo beer with really good tortilla chips and homemade salsa, and then Sharon had the Shrimp Fajitas while I had the Quesadilla Del Mar with Shrimp and Crab.

Seminole SP is a 604-acre park on the shores of Lake Seminole in the extreme southwest corner of Georgia. It’s extreme because you have to go south to the very bottom of Georgia but because there is water all around the only way back out is to return north on the same road. This park had been closed due to hurricane damage and was partially opening back up the day we arrived on February 23^rd. We had a premium site right on the lake in the half of the campground that had been rebuilt. They were going to close the park at the end of May so they could finish fixing the other half of the campground. As we drove into the park, we were struck by how new the cottages were and also by how full they were. We found out later from the volunteers that there was a fishing derby on the Saturday, so they had all come for it. Several of the cottages had 3 trucks with 3 bass boats and trailers! On the day we arrived we did a 4 km hike on the newly reopened boardwalk nature trail, and it even had brand new wildlife signs. A controlled burn had recently been done so we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife, just the signs. The walk was in the Longleaf Pine and wiregrass ecosystem, the wiregrass is fuel for doing the prescribed burns, longleaf pine have very thick bark that doesn’t burn but their pinecones need the fires to germinate. 

The following day we did a 6 km hike on the same trail but also around the far side of the lake. One section of the trail had a story walk for kids that was hosted by a regional library so young kids could walk and read the story. We could see why they selected this park to have the fishing derby as you could launch 6 boats simultaneously from the boat ramps! This park had a miniature golf course as well and the holes even had water hazards (no water in them yet).

Almost 3 months to the day of leaving home, our next stop was in Florida.  In Georgia the state park check-in/check-out times were 11am/1pm, however in Florida state parks it was 1pm checkout and 3pm check in.  We were also going to be going into the Central time zone so losing an hour.  So, to make sure we didn’t arrive too early we went out for lunch (a good excuse we thought).  Sharon found a gem of a restaurant called Pop’s Dockside Grill at Trail’s End Marina and Lodge. It has been in business for over 60 years but was purchased and renovated in 2006. It was at the end of the road as you headed west from Seminole, and we had to back track when we left it as well. It was right along the water and tons of locals knew about this place. You could even pull your boat up to a marina slip and go for lunch. Sharon had grilled shrimp with cheesy grits (she decided to gamble based on the waitress’s recommendation), hush puppies, and sweet potato fries, and I had the blackened grouper with nicely spiced green beans. It was definitely worth going out of the way to this place.

That will conclude this round of our stay in Georgia, but we will be returning to other Georgia State Parks on our way home.