Even further south

We left Atlanta thinking that we would see a couple of Whispering Giants on our way to Florida. But we stumbled on a couple of gems. Andersonville Georgia was the site of one of the largest of the Confederate war prisoner prisons. Of the more than 45,000 Union soldiers confined here, over ¼ of them died of disease and conditions. Andersonville National Historic Site commemorates those Union soldiers confined here during the Civil War, but is also a tribute to all prisoners of war, no matter where they were confined.

About 25 miles from Andersonville is Plains Georgia. Jimmy Carter was born and raised in Plains. We visited his boyhood home, which included the farm where his parents, Earl and Lillian Carter, eked out a living. James Earl Carter was born October 1, 1924 at the Wise Sanitarium (now the Lillian G Carter Nursing Center), which made him the first US president to actually be born in a hospital. We even got to see the room where he slept as a young child.

We visited Plains High School where Jimmy earned his high school degree. We visited many of the school rooms where Jimmy went for his high school education, and where is favorite teacher, Miss Julia, instilled in him the drive that eventually led him to the Oval Office. This classroom is one of Miss Julia’s classrooms where she helped shaped the future president.

Finally, we visited what ended up being the Jimmy Carter Campaign Office, the Plains Depot. Since the town of Plains only had a population of about 700 when Carter ran for office, the locals joke that the reason that the Depot was selected as Campaign Headquarters was that it was the only building in the town with a plumbed bathroom. He stumped much of his campaign by rail, attracting crowds wherever he went.

When Jimmy won the presidency, all the folks in town wanted to attend his inauguration in DC, so they rented the largest passenger train available – 18 passenger cars – and the whole town headed to DC. Because of the primary crop of the State of Georgia, this trek was fondly referred to as the Peanut Express.

Because our side trips took up so much time, we couldn’t actually fit in all the destinations we had planned with those we hadn’t. Luckily, the one time we hadn’t put down a nonrefundable deposit on a parking spot was tonight. So, we decided to spend the night in Dothan Alabama, but not before we visited Mus-Quioan, the 5^th Whispering Giant sculpted by Peter Wolf Toth. While it looks like it needs some TLC like we saw the artist delivering in Cherokee NC, it was still a blast to see.

Finally, before we got to Florida, we sought out the Whispering Giant in Colquitt Georgia. This had been the 4^th Whispering Giant carved by Peter Wolf Toth. But, as far too many of his wonderful sculptures have, it fell to the wrath of termites. It was later replaced by his 70^th Whispering Giant, lucky for us.

Talk to you soon.