Lake Park, GA

Bob and I have spent a quiet few days in south Georgia, not very far from the Florida border. Our campsite  was on a pretty pond with ducks and geese. Here is the view from my chair.

Alligators and poisonous snakes, too, if the sign was correct; however we saw none of those. There were also goats on the premises as well and we could hear them calling to each other in the evening.

The ducks were Muscovy Ducks, a type we don’t see in NJ.

We didn’t go out much while we were here; a visit to a thrift shop, a trip to Old Navy where Bob got some clothes that fit him better since he has lost some weight.

Today we are getting a valve changed on our air brake system at a nearby Peterbilt before heading to Bushnell, FL for three nights.

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum

We traveled on Wednesday from just south of Montgomery, AL to just south of Atlanta and are staying in a small county park until Monday. The weather has been cool and a bit rainy, but on Friday we had a lovely day and decided to visit the Carter Library in Atlanta. Ordinarily we try to avoid Atlanta, which is why we have left this Presidential library to be one of our last ones (#10 out of 12.) We were looking forward to it, nevertheless.

My memory of Carter’s one-term presidency (back when I paid little attention to politics) consist of him turning down the air conditioner in the White House, resulting in a triggering of the heating system kicking on which ultimately used more energy. While this event was noted in one of the displays, there was obviously much more to President Carter and I was happy to learn about him.

The setting for the Library and Museum is stunning and features a pool in front of the entrance.

There is also the Jimmy Carter Center which is a nongovernmental organization the helps to improve lives by resolving conflicts, advancing democracy, and preventing diseases.

The Museum displays information on Carter’s early life and his introduction to politics.

He made the stamping out of racial discrimination the foundation of his runs for state senator and for governor, saying “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over. The rest of a government is not how popular it is with the powerful and privileged few, but how honestly and fairly it deals with the many who must depend upon it.” When he ran for president, he was at first a relatively unknown candidate.

The Museum displays on Carter’s inauguration were inspiring.

We visited the mock up of the Oval Office.

Some of my favorite displays found in most of the Presidential Museums we have visited have been gifts given to the Carters.

Ebony elephant given to the Carter’s’ daughter Amy on behalf of the children of Sri Lanka. She also received an Asian elephant named Shanthi, who spent her days at the National Zoo in Washington. The silver and pearl ring was given to Amy by Mrs. Blanca Peréz of Venezuela, wife of President Carlos Andrés Peréz.

Ostrich egg, decorated with rhinestones and lace. It shows President Carter’s cabinet. Musical base plays “Hail to the Chief.” A gift from its maker, Barbara A. Frye.

In 1978, Christopher Wagner of West Germany gave this nutcracker, carved in the likeness of Jimmy Carter

Handwoven wool tapestry of George Washington, a gift from Shah Mohammad Rena Pahlavi and Empress Farrah Diba of Iran in 1977

The notable achievements of President Carter during his presidency include:

• Established the Department of Energy
• Made human rights the foundation of foreign policy
• Protected national security and interests peacefully and avoids wars
• More women, African American and Hispanics appointed as federal judges than all previous administrations combined
• Presidential Commission on Mental Health
  
• Camp David Accords
  
• Deregulation of trucking, railroads, airlines, banks, finance, television & radio
• Panama Canal treaties
• Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaties
  
• Salt-II Treaty signed
• Diplomatic relations with China normalized
• Mental Health systems Act signed and funded
• Alaska Lands Legislations enacted
• Comprehensive energy legislation enacted
• Superfund Legislation enacted to control toxic wastes
• All American hostages in Iran safely returned to freedom 
• Legislation: the Congessional Quarterly reported in 2008 that since 1953 Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and John Kennedy were the top three presidents in gaining support for their legislative proposals

Rosalynn Carter’s achievements in the area of mental health were also described. The Carter Center has spearheaded the near eradication (down to 15 cases) of GuineaWorm, and if you’ve not heard of this dreadful parasite you may thank the Carters! In addition to GuineaWorm, the Center is working hard to eradicate Lymphatic Filariasis, River Blindness, Trachoma, and Schistosomiasis.

It always impresses me when a US President puts others first, something that I actually used to take for granted before Trump got into office. Jimmy Carter has spent his whole life serving others and America is fortunate to have had him as President. The world is a better place because of Jimmy Carter.

Wetumpka, AL

If you are a Home Town fan girl, as I am, you’ll recognize Wetumpka, Alabama as the location of Ben and Erin Napier’s Home Town Takeover show. A contest was held by the Napiers to choose a small, struggling town to be made over and given a boost, and to serve as an example of what can be done by ordinary people to improve a town. Wetumpka was selected and was the focus of that TV show. And when I realized that we would only be forty minutes south of Wetumpka, well we just had to pay a visit.

Wetumpka is very pretty, and the images I’ll post here will look very familiar to fans of the show. Here’s what we saw. Coach’s Corner restaurant was spiffed up inside and out.

We didn’t go inside (having brought our lunch to eat in the car) but we did sit across the street from it while we ate. The Big Fish House is right in town, much closer to the main drag than I pictured it.

This house was used in the movie “Big Fish” and now Bob and I will have to see that film. It’s a beautiful home. 

The main shopping district is on Company Street, which has received a much needed spiffing up.

The shops are very pretty. We went into an art gallery called the Kelly Fitzgerald Memorial Gallery and had a blast poking around.

There are some amazing artists in town. 

And look who we ran into!

On our way out of town we stopped into Wetumpka Flea Market and Antiques, a multi dealer antiques store that had lots of fun things to see.

We enjoyed our visit to Wetumpka and recommend stopping here if you find yourself anywhere nearby.

Montgomery, AL

Sunday was a sparkling spring day, and after online church Bob and I drove to the Montgomery Botanical Gardens. Rather an impressive name for this small gem in the heart of old Montgomery, but well worth the visit. The gardens, which are located near the entrance of historic Oak Park, are in Phase One of their development and plans have been made for further expansion. Bob and I had the whole place to ourselves while we were there.

Afterwards we drove to Court Square to pay our respects to Rosa Parks at the site of the bus stop.

Statue of Rosa Parks

Plaque recounting the event

Court Square Fountain

After stopping at the Montgomery Whole Foods, Bob and I headed back to our campsite for the evening. Monday we plan a relaxing day and Tuesday we’ll sightsee some more if weather permits.

Moving to Montgomery, AL

We had a very nice week in Gautier, MS. It rained pretty hard on Tuesday, and some areas north of us had tornados, but we were fine. I spent the day baking bread and cooking in preparation for the next few days. On Wednesday Bob and I drove to Walmart, then stopped briefly at a nice little quilt shop and an overpriced thrift store. I got a feeling the prices were not going to be great when I walked in to a huge, packed store with very few customers. Thrift shops are expected to have bargains, in my opinion. If I go to an antique store I expect to pay more than things at a thrift shop. Based on their inventory, I’m not the only person who feels this way. Anyway, it was fun browsing!

On Friday Bob went golfing and had a nice “guy day” while I puttered around the motorhome and did some sewing as well.

Today (Saturday) we packed up, said goodbye to the alligator in our backyard,

and headed north to the Montgomery, Alabama area. It was a good trip, and apart from strong wind gusts, was a nice travel day.

We are actually in a small town south of Montgomery, and we’ll be here for four nights. We have lots of sightseeing planned.

Gautier, MS and Gator Ranch

On Saturday we drove from Soso, MS to Gautier (“Go-Shay”,) MS, a little over two hours away. It was a lovely day and a pretty ride.

Bob and I relaxed on Sunday; I made some Bittman Bread whole wheat sourdough English muffins and sat outside reading for a bit. We are backed up to the bayou and it’s a pretty spot.

This is our view from the bedroom window.

On Monday we drove to Moss Point, MS to visit the Gulf Coast Gator Ranch & Tours. We had stopped there for an overnight through Harvest Hosts, but we’re unable to stay for a tour at that time due to a severe ant situation and wanted to return to take a tour. It did not disappoint. 

First we walked out back to see the alligators that were on the premises. They have over 75 in the Gator Ranch.

And then after that we went on an over-thirty-minute air boat ride through the bayou.

The guide stated at the outset that he was going to try and sink the boat and he sure tried his best. It was really fun, with lots of speed and noise. I’ve lost some more of my hearing, I think. It’s amazing how these boats can just keep going over land as well as water.

We will be extra careful with Auggie, taking him outside when the temperatures rise above the low 60s, as we have to assume there are alligators in the water a few feet from our motorhome. It’s cool in the wee hours so that’s not a problem but once the day warms up we are very vigilant.

Visiting Laurel, Mississippi

One of the places I have been looking forward to visiting is Laurel, the home town of Ben and Erin Napier who are television hosts of the show Home Town. The Napiers have made it their mission to support and help improve their town, having renovated over 70 homes in the area. Here’s the town a few years ago,

and today, thriving.

We started our visit to Laurel by stopping into Peddlers JUNKtion, a 50 dealer antiques mall where we had fun poking around.

I found a lovely Yellow Ware bowl that I had to have, so that was fun.

Next, we went to the Scotsman General Store (owned by the Napiers)…

…and while we didn’t purchase anything there, we were able to look through a large window to see Ben’s workshop where his shop scenes are filmed.

And at the end of the building is the iconic outside view of his shop.

We then drove over to the Scotsman Mercantile, which was the first store that the Napier’s owned.

I was looking for an oversized mug to purchase, but I still couldn’t find one, so we went to the town’s thrift shop, called NUTS (Neat Used Things for Sale.) There I found a mug that looked brand new, that had the message “Go Dawgs!” on it.

As the salesperson was wrapping it up for me I asked her who the Dawgs were. She looked at me a little funny and said, “MSU….you know, football?” So now I know. 

We drove around town a bit more and I recognized several of the homes from the TV show. Pretty cool. 

As we sat outside later, back at the campsite, I was struck by how perfect the evening was. There was no sound of traffic, other campers were far away and a duck was calling from across the water. Bliss.

Tomorrow we head for a week in Gautier, MS.