Georgia Visit #2

I really enjoyed my trip to Georgia this last week. Not only did I get to spend time with my youngest kiddo but as a history buff I got to see some places I had not seen before. On Thursday we went to Andersonville. If you are a student of history you will know that Andersonville was one of the prisoner of war camps that the Confederacy used to hold Union prisoners. It was also called Camp Sumter. In 14 months more than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined here and almost 13,000 died. As you look over the 26 1/2 acres of rolling hills with a few trees it is almost incomprehensible to believe what happened on this ground. There are markers that give you information about the area you are looking at and guidelines to where buildings were located. Even so it is an experience that is hard to put into words. Many years ago I saw the movie "Andersonville" so I had an idea of some of the area but when you actually stand in the place that the story happened and think of the men who were here, well it is a very emotional feeling. We drove up the road to the Andersonville National Cemetery. I have been to many historical cemeteries but here the graves are so close together. This is when I think about the fact that all these men were someone's son, husband, father, brother, friend. They all had people who loved them. Ok, I am getting "out there" but they were real people. Also on the site is the National Prisoner of War Museum. This is a very interesting museum. It discusses the POW experience through out our Nation's history. There is so much information and so many exhibits it is well worth visiting.

After we left Andersonville we headed south. Time for lunch. We stopped in Americus and ate at Gladys' Kitchen. Unfortunately I did not get a picture. Their business card says,"Best Home Cooked Meal in Town." Oh my goodness that is no lie. We had fried chicken, broccoli casserole, green beans, cornbread pancake, peach cobbler and sweet tea. Now, a comment on sweet tea. I like tea sweet and unsweet but if I am going to have sweet tea it has to be made right. Let me say this, Georgia makes sweet tea right. Everywhere we went I got sweet tea. I believe that the secret is sweetening your tea while it is warm. That sugar just goes into the tea not sitting in the bottom of your glass. I told Joseph after we ate that I was going to have to be rolled out in a wheel barrow. If you are ever in Americus, Georgia be sure you eat at Gladys' Kitchen it is 5 star eating.

After lunch we headed to Plains. I figure if you are that close to the hometown of a President you have to stop by. Now let me tell you, Plains is little. It reminds me of the town where my grandma lived in Missouri. It was farming land too. We went to the President Jimmy Carter Museum. It was very interesting and they had many displays about his life from before and after his presidency. The lady at the entry desk had the perfect Georgia accent. She told us all about the tour of the town and also mentioned that President Carter still teaches a Sunday School class at his church. After we left the museum we drove down the road to take a look at the Carter's present home. Well, we drove right past it. Plains is a tiny town and the house is very ordinary. The only thing that makes it look different is there is a small white house for the Secret Service and a very unobvious gate before the driveway. We turned around and went back and I took a picture. The reason I did was to show that the house seems to be a place for them to go to rest and feel normal. Actually the picture makes it look like you are further from the house than you really are. By the way, they have owned the same house since 1960 when they bought the land and had this house built. I just thought that was kind of neat. After this we headed back to Ft. Benning. We ate leftover lasagna that I had made the day before for supper. It always is better the second day. By the way the only knitting I did while there was a little bit on some socks I am making. When you are in the middle of history your knitting sometimes just has to wait.