Meandering Magees: Plains, Georgia

When we are driving from Florida back home to Michigan, we usually have tunnel vision. We get on I-75 heading north and don’t stop until we get there. But with the weather in Michigan still so cold/wet/dreary, we weren’t in a big hurry and decided to take a week to get back.

Visiting Plain, Georgia was not our main reason for spending several days in south-central Georgia. We initially chose to camp in Albany to visit Sherwood Baptist Church, which produces the Christian-themed movies “Flywheel”, “Facing The Giants” (my personal favorite), “Fireproof” and “Courageous”. When I went to the church (Mike was back at the RV on conference calls with work), I got to the front doors at the same time an older woman was entering. She was there to help prepare their weekly community dinner. Linda was extremely friendly, treating me like a VIP and gave me a personal tour of the entire church complex, introducing me to everyone in the kitchen and bookstore.

Later, looking at the map, we realized Plains was about an hour away. After doing a little online research, we knew Jimmy Carter’s hometown was not where his presidential library is located (it is in Atlanta) but thought there might be other things to see or do in Plains that would make the drive worthwhile. We can’t say we are big Jimmy Carter fans, as we both voted for Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election, but we enjoy history, and Carter is part of our country’s history.

We often say things are “in the middle of nowhere” but, literally, Plains is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farms (peanut and other products). The downtown area consists of one block of businesses. Not even a stoplight. We had lunch at one of those businesses, The Buffalo Café, named for the school mascot. The walls of the café were lined with team photos (old) and memorabilia (also old). We each ordered the $2.99 cheeseburger. (it was delicious). $2.99 for a cheeseburger? You can’t even buy the bun for $2.99 at most restaurants! No wonder Jimmy and Rosalynn returned to Plains after their four years in the White House and continue to live there.

We drove by their house, but a gate and gatehouse keep the public from entering the driveway. They built the house in 1961, and except for the years of being governor of Georgia and President, this is the home the Carter’s have lived in since.

For such a small town, there were several places to visit, each one jogging our memory of the Carter years. Plains High School closed in 1979 when the county went to a consolidated school district. The building now houses the Jimmy Carter Visitor Center, run by the National Park Service. We were told a movie on Carter’s life had just started so we could walk around the halls and exhibits until it started again. An orientation film! That must-see staple of our western adventure. I knew then the drive to Plains was indeed going to be worthwhile!

Miss Julia Coleman, one of Jimmy and Rosalynn’s teachers, had a profound influence on the future president. Quotes from her line the hallways of the visitor center. President Carter used one in his inaugural address: “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”

The orientation film, as always, was very informative. Carter entered the Naval Academy at 19, intending to make the Navy his career. While home on leave, he had a date with his sister’s friend, Rosalynn Smith and they were married several years later in 1946. In the film, she tells the following story:

“When Jimmy’s Dad died in 1953, we came back to Plains for the funeral. So many people told Jimmy how his dad had helped them, how he made a difference in their lives. Jimmy came to the conclusion that he could have more of an influence right here in Plains than climbing the ranks in the Navy. We had seen the world in the Navy and I didn’t want to settle in Plains. I only pouted about returning here for about a year.”

We also learned that when Carter was running for president, so many media people were coming to Plains to try to learn more about him, that the businesses were spending more time answering their questions than helping their local customers. The empty train depot was selected to be Campaign Headquarters. The choice was not hard – it was the only place with a bathroom!

350 Plains residents pooled their money and rented a train to take them to Washington for Carter’s inauguration. It was dubbed “The Peanut Special”. Women from the Plains Garden Club filled the White House with their floral creations. And all were on the grounds after the parade for a BBQ picnic.

Whenever Jimmy is in town, which is often, he still teaches Sunday School at the Maranatha Baptist Church. There was a schedule in the visitor center of which Sundays in April and May that he would be teaching. The church (likes ours) does not have a paid janitor. The cleaning of the inside and upkeep of the outside is done by parishioners who volunteer their time. In keeping with his common man persona, Jimmy and Rosalynn take their turn cleaning toilets and mowing the lawn every other month. The couple is a fixture at the Saturday night town square dance and at the two eateries in Plains.

All of these were reminders to us of Carter’s platform – he was a peanut farmer with small town values that resonated with the public after the Nixon Watergate scandal.

There is a replica of his Nobel Peace Prize in the visitor center. A major highlight of the Carter Presidency was the Camp David Accords, the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.

We left the visitor center and drove several miles outside of town to Carter’s boyhood home and the cemetery where his parents and siblings are buried. Then back into town to Billy Carter’s gas station, the train depot and to get a bag of peanuts and a scoop of peanut butter ice cream.

Traveling to, and leaving the rural Georgia area, got us off the expressway and we enjoyed the rolling countryside and other small towns. Surprising to me, once you cross out of Florida, the palm trees disappear and the landscape is like home – pine trees and farm land.

So much to see and do when we take the time!