IT’S A LONG WAY FROM THE PLAINS OF THE SERENGETI to Plains, Georgia. Heck, it took 35 hours just to get to Atlanta! The RV was waiting for us at Carole’s farm, just as we left it, so after doing a couple of loads of laundry and treating Mark and Carole to dinner, we set off for Robins Air Force Base, home for a few days.
Plains — it ain't peanuts
Tiny Plains GA, in case you’ve forgotten, is home to former President and First Lady, Jimmy and Roselyn Carter. They are often seen around town and in church but, sadly, weren’t receiving today, so we had to be content with visits to the Carter National Historic Site and not-so-nearby Andersonville NHS. There isn’t anything left from the horrendous Civil War prison — it’s now a shrine to POWs from all our conflicts. Among the photos and stories was one of a friend of mine who was a “guest” at the Hanoi Hilton for 7 years.
Studying their heritage Fighting for Double Victory
We moved our base to Auburn AL, taking advantage of an “away weekend” for the Auburn Tigers. My father, a B-17 navigator in WW2 spoke highly of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen who often escorted the bombers, so I wanted to visit the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. A group of officer candidates from Maxwell AFB was learning a bit of Air Force history when we arrived. Neither my father or I — nor the candidates — realized that the all-Negro Tuskegee Airmen were fighting for Double V — two wars— one overseas and one for equality at home.
Tuskegee Institute
It took a second visit to Tuskegee to see the Tuskegee Institute founded by Booker T. Washington and his protege George Washington Carver was an alumnus. The Golden Tigers were playing at home the first time we tried and traffic was a mess.
Jekyll Island Club A Spot of Croquet?
Taking our time on route to Florida for the winter, we stopped outside of Savannah for a few days, then moved on to Brunswick GA. We’ve been to Savannah before but had never visited Jekyll Island and wanted to see how the super-rich lived back in the day when it was the Rockefellers, Vanderbuilts and Astors, not the Gates, Musks and Trumps who headed the list. Not ones to sit idly even on vacation, while on Jekyll Island in 1910, they “drafted” legislation for the US Central Bank which would presage the Federal Reserve.
