Jimmy Carter & Andersonville NHS

Wednesday morning, we continued traveling northwest until we reached the small town of Plains, Georgia, hometown of President Carter. The visitor center for his national historic site is located in the former high school where he and his wife attended. Unfortunately, they were out of their Junior Ranger program and badges, so they promised to mail it to us.

We walked around the visitor center and watched a film about President Carter. The site also included his boyhood home. We drove by his current residence, but couldn't see it from the road.

Our next stop was Andersonville National Historic Site. Andersonville was the site of the main confederate prison. Around 45,000 Union soldiers were imprisoned there, and almost a third of them died due to the poor conditions. It also contains a national cemetery, and a Prisoner of War museum.

The museum was closed for refurbishment, but we were able to drive around the former prison grounds as well as inside the cemetery, and both were pretty interesting. After the kids earned their Jr Ranger badges, we continued west, stopping outside Montgomery, Alabama for the night.