Kristanne and I are both pretty much unabashed fans of Jimmy Carter. Throw away that whole gas crisis thing, and you've got yourself one of the leading lights of the 20th century, a moral beacon pointing us to the higher ground. While most ex-presidents are content to play golf, ride horses, watch their sons govern Texas and/or Florida into bankruptcy, ole Jimmy is different. It's nothing for him to oversee democratic elections in Haiti on a Monday, consult on a hostage crisis on a Tuesday, raise some funds for the Habitat for Humanity on Wednesday, and then close the week by teaching Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church back in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Critics will snipe that Jimmy is a much better ex-President than he ever was a President, but they will ignore the many successes of his four years in office. Recall the times -- a country disillusioned with the criminal malfeasance of Richard Nixon and his turbulent administration looks for someone they can believe in. Someone they can trust. Who better to restore our faith and our dignity than an honest, upright peanut farmer from Georgia? I mean, besides Meatloaf?
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That's why we've created this special Jimmy Carter Tribute Edition. We just thought it was time we gave something back to a man who has given so much of himself to this nation. Did you know he was an accomplished woodworker? A skilled flyfisherman? A cunning birdhunter and an able sailor (crazed rabbits notwithstanding)? I knew all this because I read his book, "An Outdoor Journal," while in college. And, yes, I absolutely did take a whole truckload of guff about it from my friends, but did it bother me? No. 'Cuz I was doing it for Jimmy. Things are just better when you're doing them for Jimmy. Just ask Walter Mondale -- he'll tell you. |
| Truth be told, we were not expecting a whole heck of a lot from Plains. Maybe just a quiet sign acknowledging that Jimmy Carter had in fact grown up there, a placard, something understated in the town square. Boy, were we ever wrong. Starting with the old Plains High School, which has been turned into the Jimmy Carter Visitor Center, pretty much everything in Plains has some Jimmy-angle or another. It's not tough considering that the population of Plains numbers around 800 on a hot day. We saw pictures of his entire family, dating back three generations in Plains. Pictures of Miss Lillian, his mother. Pictures of Rosalynn. Pictures of Amy. The gas station Billy used to own. The peanut warehouse Jimmy used to own. Jimmy's father Earl's old antique store. Jimmy's boyhood home, in the process of being restored into a national historical site. The cemetery where Miss Lillian and Billy are buried. The railroad depot from which Jimmy ran his entire presidential campaign. We were amazed to learn that Jimmy still lives in Plains. His compound was off-limits (and guarded by the Secret Service), but Jimmy is apparently still quite active in the community, even teaching Sunday School once or twice a month, when he's not off preserving democracy, fighting cholera, or righting injustices around the globe. Everyone needs a hobby. |  |
| Unfortunately, though, there was no Billy Beer. Disappointed, I instead opted for the "Jimmy!" t-shirt you see above, which got me more than a few curious looks throughout the day, I assure you. | |
| We thought long and hard about staying around Plains for a few days to hear Jimmy teach on Sunday, but decided that if we didn't have the time to go to Key West to go fishing, we darn sure couldn't hang around Plains waiting to hear Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School. Hey, you deal with your moral order, I'll deal with my own, 'kay? | |
| Leaving Plains, bound for Atlanta, we stopped by the Andersonville National Historic Site. Andersonville was the largest Confederate Prison during the American Civil War, housing as many as 50,000 prisoners. At least 11,000 of those died and are buried there. To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about the Civil War. Being from the West coast, it just never seemed all that relevant. It happened back there, you know? In the east, where those other people live. Needless to say, something like this site really brings home the weight and import of the conflict. You start to get a feel for the scope of the thing, feel a little bit of its heft. Unfortunately, we arrived at the site a mere five minutes before closing (we didn't know we had passed into Eastern Standard Time), so we only got to drive through briefly. We'll be visiting some more Civil War sites, though, starting with the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Historic Site tomorrow. Watch as I become deeper and more well thought-out before your very eyes. Kristanne was already pretty well thought-out, so you might not be able to notice as much with her. |  |
We close today with a picture of the most cool lamp in the world. We found this in a hotel in Atlanta. You can only see the base here, but do you notice those two little plugs? That's right -- a power socket and a data port. Everything you need for a little laptop FTP action. Incidentally, I ran into some salespeople who work for my company in this same hotel, sharing a drink in the bar. Needless to say, they were a little bit interested in just how the heck I was able to be working for the company out in Menlo Park when I was pretty clearly in this hotel in Atlanta. It's all in the van, man. That, and cool lamps like this one are all we need.
Total Miles for 7/11 = 419