Page 14h
Our trip to Naples, Florida
- Mason City, IA to Paducah, KY
- Paducah, KY to Valdosta, GA
- Valdosta, GA to Bonita Springs, FL
- Bonita Springs, FL to Naples, FL
- An day in Naples, FL
- Naples, FL to Sarasota, FL
- Sarasota, FL to Americus, GA
No trip to Georgia would be complete without a visit to Plains, Georgia, the birthplace and current home of former President Jimmy Carter. Plains, a small southwestern Georgia town of about 700 residents, has changed very little over the years, even with one of its favorite sons becoming the 39th President of the United States. This old Plains High School where Mr. Carter went to school, is now the Jimmy Carter National Park visitors center. It contains many exhibits about the life and presidency of Mr. Carter.
After visiting the welcome center we drove downtown to see this block long stretch of old business places that became so familiar in the nightly news back in the 1970’s. As we drove around town we found very little to indicate that there is anything new for businesses other than a Dollar General store.
The old depot was the only empty building in town during his campaign so it was pressed into service as a campaign headquarters. It remains as park of the historic site and is open to the public.
The interior of the depot, unfinished and looking very much like a typical railroad freight depot building, sports many of the large banners and campaign signs for Mr. Carter’s campaign.
Still standing, but closed and in disrepair is the old filling station that Mr. Carter’s brother Billy made so famous. This building is opposite the main street buildings and across the highway and railroad tracks.
Among the other buildings in the business section is Plain Peanuts, a business located in the former Carter Warehouse Office building. It is full of Carter souvenirs and of course plenty of varieties of peanuts and peanut products.
Jimmy Carter grew up outside of Plains Georgia on a small farm in the unincorporated town of Archery, Georgia. The home is larger than it looks with three bedrooms.
Jimmy’s father owned a small store, also called a commissary, which was used by local farm workers for their supplies. An audio tape playing in the store has Jimmy telling how the store was operated on weekends and during meal times, the only time when farm hands were not out in the field working.
Following our visit to Plains we drove to Providence Canyon, a short distance away, and enjoyed the view of what locals call the Grand Canyon of Georgia. The very prominent red Georgia clay is layered between white soil to produce a very vivid picture.
We were here late in the afternoon so did not have the best opportunity for photographs as the sun was in the wrong position to highlight the colors. As the sun began to set we did get a little better show around the rim of the canyon.
We had to leave this state park by 6:00 PM so we waited until the last moment so we could capture this sunset over the rim of the canyon.
