We get to be tourists again today. My husband K got up at 7:45 and I got up at 8. It was cloudy and cooler than yesterday.
When we went down to breakfast at 8:28, we found the usual good Hampton Inn spread. I was happy to find a banana, too. They are so expensive these days, that I always try to get one at breakfast when traveling.
When we had loaded up the car and checked out, we headed off at 9:55 with the odometer on my car reading 56,246. I didn't start doing any needlework, because I had to be navigator. Finding the state capitol building wasn't hard, but finding a parking spot was a bit tricky. Finally, at 10:19 (56262), k pulled into space 322 on Central. We paid $3.50 at the machine to give us until 12:07 and then we walked up the hill to the Capitol.
We had some nice views along the way. City Hall was quite ornate, complete with carved stone that seemed Gothic. Then, there was a park with a statue of Thomas E. Watson, who was a driving force behind Rural Free Delivery, although, sadly, he expressed some nativist views later in life. Eventually, we had a nice clear view of the Capitol with its dome of Dahlonega gold. Really very striking. The statue in front of it in this view is of Joseph Emerson Brown, who was governor during the Civil War and later a US Senator from Georgia.
As we went around to the front steps, we noticed a cannon sitting there. The front door was a really nice old one, but on the other side was the very modern metal detector. It was 10:35, when we went in
I got my state capitols passport stamped at the desk and was surprised to learn there was no gift shop in the capitol or nearby. The lovely lady at the desk was quite helpful. She made sure to let me know where the ladies' room was.
We had actually entered on the second floor. The first contained a Hall of Valor and a snack bar, according to the map. Here on the second, we encountered paintings of the governors. One was of the infamous Lester Maddox, who had the Georgia state seal altered in his portrait to show him with a bike. We also found former governor and former US President, Jimmy Carter.
The lady had told us to look for some of the original doorknobs, which we'd recognize by the state seal on them. We did see sat least one. The staircase just seemed so southern. Old gas lamps had been retrofitted to be electric, but still looked cool.
We stepped into the rotunda, and looked up, but the view wasn't exciting. The marble busts around it were interesting, though and part of the Georgia Hall of Fame, which continues upstairs. It gave me great pleasure to find Button Gwinnett for some reason. Maybe, it was because I expected to find him there. Above the statues were paintings that were hard to photograph, bu they were Franklin, Jefferson, etc.
What surprised me was that the founder of the colony of Georgia, James Oglethorpe, was not part of the busts. He did get a painting however.
We found the other staircase and it was being set up for some speech.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's portrait was outside of the rotunda. He was Georgia's first Nobel Peace Prize recipient. They included signs of Civil Rights history.
We took the elevator up to the third floor, so that we could enter the chambers. We started with the House of Representatives on the east side. They had a great ceiling. This chamber, like the senate, has been restored to its original look. I liked it.
As we made our way over to the Senate side, we found more of the Hall of Fame. Some folks were in paintings, some in busts like the ones on the second floor, and some were just plane busts. They tended to be Georgians, but Robert E. Lee certainly was not. The lady in the green dress was Ellen Wilson, of Rome, Georgia, who was Woodrow Wilson's wife until her death in 1914, making her First Lady for a year. I was very happy to find the bust of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, even if her bust didn't match the others. And there was Margaret Mitchell, whom my 10th grade English teacher, Mrs.Burns, just adored.
Well, it turned out the Senate was locked. So, we headed up to the fourth floor. This floor was designated a temporary museum in 1895. It's not so temporary any more and is officially called the Georgia Capitol Museum. What a terrific idea for all those long expanses of hallway and the nooks and crannies. There were exhibits on the state symbols, which are always interesting, as well as one on the native peoples of Georgia. The photo below is of a statue of a Mississippian chief, which surprised me, because I didn't expect there to be a tribe of that name, let alone in Georgia.
Happily, we discovered that the Senate Gallery was open. So, we were able to get a look in there afterall.
There was a terrific exhibit on the dome and the figure at the top of it. Years ago, we went panning for gold in Dahlonega and learned that the gold from there was used on the dome. It was cool to see a box used to haul the gold here years ago. It was also good to be able to see the figure at the top of the dome, because she's really hard to see from the ground.
We made our way back down to the second floor and thanked the lady at the desk again for her help. She was happy to hear that I'd found one of the original doorknobs.
Back outside at 10:48, we saw the judicial building on our way back to the car and this sign. It was warmer and there was some sun, which made the walk nice.
It started spitting right after we got back to the car at 11:54. We'd been given some lunch suggestions, but they would involve finding a parking space and were not convenient to our next stop. And, since it was supposed to have food, we just programmed the GPS for it and set off.
When we were planning this trip, the capitol was the only place we'd intended to visit. But, shortly after we left home, K brought up the Carter library. I figured that it was in his hometown of Plains, but I checked and it was here in Atlanta. We are both trying to get to all of them and before this trip,we've been to 6. Not knowing when we'd be in Atlanta again, we had to add it to our itinerary. At 12:07 (56265), we parked at the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum. It was a pleasant walk from the lot to the front, whose view was only marred by construction on the fountain, which was not noticeable at first. It was a trick to figure out the correct path to the front door though.
Inside, I realized that I didn't have my presidential libraries passport. (Yes, there is one.) The guy would not let me stamp paper to take home to tape into mine, because you get some sort of gift after you've gotten all of them stamped. He told me to mail my passport and my ticket with a SASE to him at the gift shop and he'd stamp it and send it back. I said that I had to think about trusting it to the mail, but I'll probably do it. It means I'll need to contact the Reagan and Nixon libraries, too, although I bought it at the Reagan and they never said a thing about stamping it.
The tickets were a total of $20 and, after paying, we went back across the entrance lobby to the cafeteria for lunch. I must say that this was the most disappointing museum food that I've ever had, which is particularly sad, because I love museum food. Here it was not long after 12 and so little was left to choose from. We wound up with 2 pre-made sandwiches, 2 sides, 2 desserts and 2 drinks for $17.42. The cashier was quite bent, when she realized that people were using the soup containers for the sides, but there weren't any other bowls. Oh, and the dessert? Cookies.There weren't many seats inside, so we went outside, where it was quite pleasant to sit and eat. At a nearby table were some young people who obviously worked for the Carter Center, which is also on the grounds. I couldn't figure out what was going on with the koi pond at first. Then, I realized that it had netting over it to keep birds away from the fish.
After lunch, we went into the Theatre to see the film and then into the museum proper. One really doesn't need the map to get around, as it has a really good flow. We learned about President Carter's early life and saw a model of the sub named for him, the only president to have served on a sub. Some of the exhibits were definitely geared to kids.
I was impressed by the treatment of Rosalyn Carter. She was shown to be a true partner to the president, whom she turned down at least once, when he'd proposed. Her contributions were valued and I don't remember her ever being attacked by the other side. It was a contrast to the way Hillary Clinton had been treated by the opposition. The president's family was also recognized for their help in the campaign of 1976.
I hadn't realized that the Bible he was sworn in on had been a gift from his mother, the famous Miss Lillian.
It was pretty cool to see the re-creation of Carter's Oval Office. I was particularly struck by the plaque on the desk with the sailor's prayer that had been a gift of his mentor, Admiral Hyman Rickover.
Not every presidential library says much about the vice president, the First Lady's agenda, or the president's kids.
I enjoyed the various pieces of memorabilia. Besides his official invitation to Obama's inauguration (a former president needs one?), I really liked this photo of the five living presidents that they'd autographed. I just can't imagine such a happy photo including the current incumbent.
It seems significant to me that a former military man is the one who pardoned those who dodged the draft for the Vietnam War.
There was the really interesting "A Day in the Life of the President", where you sit on one of the seats and look up at film and photos as you run through one of the days of his presidency. Oh, and there is a unisex bathroom, which is really cool of them to have.
There's a temporary exhibit space, which had a fantastic exhibit on television and film in Georgia, called punnily "Georgia on My Screen /Jimmy Carter and the Rise of the Film Industry". Evidently, when he was governor, he promoted filming in the state and the Georgia Film Board was established. I did not realize how much had been filmed here.
I texted my older daughter a photo of Captain America's outfit and shield and she demanded to know where we were.
Cool to see these costumes from
Hidden Figures,
Remember the Titans, and
First Man.
It is interesting to remember that back in the day, films were always filmed in Hollywood, no matter where they were supposed to take place.
Of course, sadly, Carter lost the election in 1978. He did accomplish things while he was president.
Plenty of people will say that President Carter is more popular and more effective as a past president. He and Rosalyn are still going strong. The following are some of the awards and honors one or both have them have received. I didn't photograph anything about his work with Habitat for Humanity, but it is just one of the causes he's worked on.
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| Jimmy and Rosalyn's Presidential Medals of Freedom from President Clinton |
I really like that he included her award.
Before we left, we looked out at the grounds and, of course, visited the gift shop.
We were on the road again at 3:35 and there was some sun, but also heat. We stopped at 5:16 (56336) for 12 minutes at rest area #34 in Gordon County on I-75, where we found this plaque.
At 6:08, we reached this sign.
It was now time to find dinner and we soon saw a sign for Cracker Barrel. We got off at exit 11 and were parked at 6:25 (56396). We ordered what we usually get at Cracker Barrel: Grilled Chicken Salad for $9.60 and iced tea for $2.69 for me; and Fried Catfish Platter for $7.99 and coffee for $2.49 for K. Both were good, as always. Of course, we checked out the store before we left an hour later.
At 8:32 (56472), after I-75 had joined I-40, we stopped at exit 369 at a TA for a pit stop and it was definitely cooler. We were back on the road in 7 minutes. This stretch of I-40 was so familiar for the first seven years of our marriage, when we drove from Arkansas to Maryland about twice a year. Oh, Tennessee is so long! Knoxville is where we'd stay at the end of the first day.
We took exit 388 into Knoxville now and followed the GPS to the Four Points Sheraton, which we reached at 9:01(56492). There was a very small parking lot and nowhere to park. So, I stayed in the car, while K went in to register. As we drove the car to the garage, whose entrance was around two corners from this entrance and below the hotel, I couldn't help noticing just how hilly Knoxville is. I'm really glad that I don't have to walk back up the hill we just drove down to get to the entrance, as there is an elevator in the garage.
We went up to room 612, which will be our home for almost a week. The bed, I discovered, is just too tall for me to get into comfortably, and the pillows are way too soft. However, the shower does have dispensers on the wall, so they do care about the environment a bit.
We've gone 246 miles today and changed states, but not time zones. K's conference starts tomorrow and I start to roam on my own.
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