The Little
White House
Near Warm Springs, Georgia, FDR built a home away from
home. He came at first for hydrotherapy in the warm (not hot) waters
nearby. The temperature of the spring water is 88 degrees year round and
FDR felt his leg muscles strengthen from exercise in the pool.
The Little White House itself is small and unpretentious, despite its
name. A park ranger told us Eleanor Roosevelt seldom accompanied FDR to
Georgia. "She was raised in New York City and found the rural way of
life a bit too rustic and boring." FDR was friends with Cason
Calloway. Rumor has it they played poker in the Little White House and
would send an aide to a nearby village for moonshine during Prohibition.
"There was tighter security around the moonshine stills than there ever was
around FDR," the ranger said.
On April 12, 1945 FDR was having his portrait painted by Elizabeth Shoumatoff
when he told her he was experiencing a terrific headache. He died of a
cerebral hemorrhage almost immediately. Ms. Shoumatoff left the canvas as
it was that day but the following year painted a new portrait which hangs in the
museum located a hundred yards from the Little White House.
Among other interesting items in the museum are dozens of walking canes, gifts
to FDR from people all around the world. Ironically, FDR's polio left him
with no capability of walking, with or without a cane, so those gifts were never
put to use.
We drove from Warm Springs to Atlanta, enjoying en route, a sack full of
delicious peaches. They don't call Georgia the Peach State for
nothing. This fruit was so juicy we needed bibs to eat them.
Yum! And speaking of good food, when we got to Atlanta, our friend Patrick
and his main squeeze, B, took us to a fabulous Thai restaurant for dinner.
Not only was the cuisine hot and spicy, the way I like it, but the service
was excellent. Our waitress was interested to learn that we would be
hosting a 15-year-old young woman from Thailand during the upcoming school
year. She wondered how long it would take to fly from Atlanta to Bismarck
and if it was cold there. North Dakota -- cold? Never. The
items on the tray above are the artistic creations of the chef at the
restaurant. I was particularly impressed with the carrot butterflies,
though the cucumber flower is pretty clever also. It was a most pleasant
evening.
In the morning, we drove north to the mountains. We
stopped at a roadside stand and bought some boiled peanuts and Dixie chow chow,
a spicy relish.
We drove through several miles of winding highway to one of
the summits where we found this rest stop, the southern tip of the Appalachian
Trail which stretches 2,100 miles northeast to Maine.
The view was wonderful. We were amazed at the number of
bicyclists tackling the steep inclines and curvy roads. A bit dangerous,
IMHO. Since we had an early flight, we turned in early and packed our
bags. Someday, if you're interested, I'll tell you about the
"weapon" in our carry-on luggage which nearly caused us to miss our
flight. Notwithstanding the airport fiasco, it was a great vacation.
The Little White House itself is small and unpretentious, despite its
name. A park ranger told us Eleanor Roosevelt seldom accompanied FDR to
Georgia. "She was raised in New York City and found the rural way of
life a bit too rustic and boring." FDR was friends with Cason
Calloway. Rumor has it they played poker in the Little White House and
would send an aide to a nearby village for moonshine during Prohibition.
"There was tighter security around the moonshine stills than there ever was
around FDR," the ranger said.
