Jimmy

President Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, GA, went to school in Plains, GA, met his wife in Plains, GA, built his first and only house in Plains, GA, and when he lost his bid for reelection, moved back to the same house where he and Rosalynn still live in Plains, GA.

Plains High School, where Jimmy and Rosalynn attended both grammar and high school, is now the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.

 

To be honest, the collection in the museum is not that interesting. It traces Jimmy’s life from a boy in Plains, to his work as a peanut farmer, his entry into politics and then the presidency.

There’s a replica of his White House Desk (that’s not the president sitting there) which is the same one used by JFK (the original, not the replica).  The Carter Library is in Atlanta. (Whenever I think about presidential libraries I can’t help but wonder if the shelves of the George W. Bush Presidential Library are empty.)

We were told that the president and Rosalynn stop by every once in a while, so when we turned a corner in the hall, we got excited.

But it was just a photograph. Billy’s gas station is just around the corner from the high school, but I didn’t get a picture of it because there was nowhere to park and the Plains police station is right next door. The Carter’s compound is a few blocks down the road, but, aside from the Secret Service guard house and a fence, there’s nothing there to be seen.

A couple of miles from the presidential residence is Jimmy Carter’s boyhood farm. James Earl Carter, Sr., and his family moved to this farm in 1928. President Carter said living here during the depression was like living a farm life 2000 years ago.

 

 

They initially had no running water and electricity wasn’t put in until 1938. The house is now part of the National Historic Site.

 

 

 

I’m sure it was quite a relief when indoor plumbing was added.

 

 

This was Jimmy’s bedroom. The original furniture is long-gone, but everything in the house is true to the period during which he lived there.

 

 

 

And yes, that’s a pair of muddy jeans standing next to the dresser. There was no explanation given.

 

 

 

The NPS caretaker at the farm told us that the Carters come by frequently to pick vegetables in the garden and get some eggs from the chickens on the farm. We didn’t see them while we were there, but the caretaker, with whom we had a very nice chat, gave us a half-dozen eggs laid that day. Sorry Jimmy.