We visited the Jimmy Carter NHP during our stay at the cabins at Georgia Veteran’s State Park in Cordele with Sarah, Kellan and Evelyn. This was our first visit to Carter’s boyhood home and farm. We enjoyed a peaceful stroll on a beautiful fall day through the cotton field with a scarecrow, barnyard with chickens and goats, store maintained for country folk in the area, home restored to a pre-electricity and pre-running water era, horse barn, milking barn, etc. Six-year-old Kellan ran around like he did not have a care in the world. This was a stark contrast to the Carters’ farm life depicted there where the wake up bell rings at 4 AM, cows are milked twice a day, and six-year-old Jimmy Carter walked three miles to Plains to sell boiled peanuts to earn a dollar a day.
The visitor’s center at the Plain’s High School was not open so sadly we could not get our passport book stamped or buy the obligatory NPS souvenirs. But we enjoyed the Train Depot (Carter’s Campaign Headquarters) and the short walk through the one block of stores in downtown Plains. The highlight for Kellan was chocolate ice cream – he would not even try the famous homemade peanut butter ice cream. All in all, we agreed our visit was delightful and there was no more perfect way to spend that day.
Must Sees: The big smile on the 15 feet tall Jimmy Carter Peanut just north of town is sure to make you smile. The peanut butter ice cream downtown is a classic. The Carter Store next to the boyhood home – still furnished with old-fashioned goods on the shelves – demonstrates the everyday life of neighbors who bought on credit based on next year’s crop. The windmill that powers the farm’s water pump highlights harsh realities of life prior to rural electricity.