Atlanta Spring Break, Road trip

Bad Weather but Good Day

5 Comments

Sunday March 26, 2023

Road video and map

I was awoken by thunder around 5 AM today and, when I got up some three hours later, discovered that not only was there torrential rain and thunder but we were under a tornado watch and a flash flood warning from the National Weather Service. The main reason I had come to Macon was to visit Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park which is the site of the largest archaeological dig in US history and which tells the story of 17,000 years of human occupation of the area. Since the main activity is walking the trails to the various burial mounds I waited until check-out time to see if the weather improved but with no luck. The showers and storms continued as I drove toward my other planned visit but, just 6 miles short, it stopped raining for several hours and I was able to thoroughly enjoy the Little White House Historical Site in Warm Springs, GA.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) found the hot springs in this little town gave him great comfort from the aches and pain of polio and came here for treatment first in 1924 while governor of New York. He would return for several weeks at a time regularly over the rest of his life, including 16 visits while he was president. He built a small cottage to use while he was here and, during his four presidential terms from 1933 to 1945, it was his Little White House.

The house is preserved as it was on April 12, 1945 when he died here due to a massive stroke. At the time of his death he was posing for a portrait which is on display here, called the “Unfinished Portrait”.

Roosevelt was sitting at this card table posing for the portrait when the stroke hit. He was carried to the bedroom for treatment but died about 2 hours later.
The unfinished portrait that was being worked on by portrait artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff at the time of his stroke.

There is a museum full of artifacts he used while at Warm Springs and it was because of his frequent visits here that he made many friends in the local population that were poor, particularly after the great depression. It was these friendships that made him realize the need for the New Deal. These acts helped the US recover from the depression and provided social safety nets for farmers, the elderly, youth and the unemployed.

He would drive this hand controlled car while on visits to Warm Springs as he was paralyzed from the waist down.
He was an enthusiastic sailor, even after afflicted with polio, and was sent this small model of The Mayflower, made with wood from the real ship, by Winston Churchill. Only three such models are known to exist.

I visited FDR’s family home in Hyde Park, NY back in 2018 (blogged here) and greatly enjoyed that visit. If anything, today’s visit was even more personal, revealing and enjoyable.

I then drove on to LaGrange, GA which is just a 45 minute drive from Atlanta airport where I will meet my friends tomorrow.

5 thoughts on “Bad Weather but Good Day”

  1. What a nice bit of history. Thank you, dear Steve, and enjoy your friends; it will be loads of fun!

    1. I’m sure I will have fun in Atlanta but more severe thunderstorms tonight and a tornado causing damage to more than 100 structures touched down a few miles away from where I am now this morning. Hopefully, time in Atlanta will be calm.

      1. I missed this one but am glad you are safe and I know you had fun in Atlanta!!

  2. Wishing you better weather and a successful reunion. Despite the shorter journey, so far, you , as always, packed in so much of interest.

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