F. D. R. (State Park) 03-27-13

We stayed a short 3 days in Franklin Delano Roosevelt State Park, but we kept busy the whole time we were there.  My original idea was to spend our 3 days hiking- every single day, just because there are plenty of trails there, and we haven’t had a chance to do much hiking.  As it turns out, we really need to get back into shape!

Once again it was brought home to us that we went too far north too fast.  Temperatures here at night are in the 20s- and they stay pretty much in the high 40s-low 50s during the day.  That wrecked our plans for hiking the first day, so we decided to tour F.D.R’s little White House instead. 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the man

Franklin D. Roosevelt was diagnosed with Polio as a young man.  At that time,Polio could affect anyone, at any age, and had varied symptoms, usually in the form of some type of paralysis. In Franklin’s case, his legs were the most affected and he struggled to walk, using canes, braces and a wheel chair for most of his life. 

It’s a sign of the times that the general public, even after he was elected as President, either wasn’t aware of the fact that he used a wheel chair, or didn’t feel it was important, and there are actually very few pictures of him sitting in a wheel chair.  As a wealthy man, he had his wheelchairs and braces custom built for him, and even designed the special steering system for his car, so he could drive himself.

 
Elected as President in 1933, in the midst of the depression, FDR implemented an amazing amount of programs and strategies for getting the U.S. back to work.  He called it “The New Deal”- a comprehensive plan to alleviate unemployment and restructure the economy.  Of course, we can’t say that every program was successful, but my eyes were bulging out of my head when I read the list of things he accomplished as President.  Here are some of them:

• F.D.I.C. Insurance program for banks
• C.C.C.- Civilian Conservation  Corp- a program for putting young men to work building infrastructure in our national/state parks. Their work is still standing.
• Public Works Administration
• F.A.A. – Federal Alcohol Administration
• F.C.C.- Federal Communications Commission
• F.E.R.A.- Federal Emergency Relief Administration
• S.S.A- Social Security Administration and Unemployment Insurance
• R.E.A. Rural Electrification Administration (more on this later)

He also started the March of Dimes, and although it isn’t a government program, it is still in place to this day.
In addition to all that, he was President when World War II broke out and guided the United States towards a victory.  Sadly, he died suddenly just months before the war ended.

Warm Springs, Georgia

The history of Warm Springs Georgia can be divided into two eras- pre-FDR and post-FDR.  Before FDR found out about the warm springs in this town, it was a high end resort where the rich came to play.

Then Roosevelt heard that bathing in the spring water is very beneficial for those with Polio. He came here, and felt that although the water wasn’t a miracle, his muscles felt stronger, and it could be an important therapeutic tool to combat Polio.

He was instrumental in opening a treatment center here, where thousands of kids and adults came for relief from Polio.  Once a vaccination was developed in 1955, Polio became a thing of the past and the treatment center was used for other illnesses.

 
There are still treatment centers in the area, but the original one for Polio has been turned into a museum.  You can walk into the pools as part of the tour.








On the same grounds as the museum, is FDR’s little White House, a cottage he bought and stayed in as frequently as he could, while visiting the springs.

Its a very small cottage, really cozy.  FDR was here, working while having his portrait painted, when he died. 

The portrait was never finished, but the artist used it to complete a second portrait- so now there are two.

 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  When FDR saw his electric bill for the cottage one time, he was shocked to see that it was 4 times the bill for his large house in New York. He did some investigating and discovered that in rural sections of the country, the people who had electricity, paid outrageous prices for it, so many farmers went without it. That’s why he started the Rural Electrification Administration.

Columbus, Georgia

One of the things we love is when we talk to other travelers and hear the words….”oh, have you seen this yet?”  Especially when we had no idea that “this” was even in the area, so no, we hadn’t seen it yet.  That was the case with Columbus, GA.  A woman we met at the campground suggested that we make a day trip there to see the sights.  

We drove the 40 miles to get there, parked the truck and walked to the banks of the…..Chattahoochee River!

I, of course, immediately started humming Alan Jackson songs.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you don’t listen to country music!  I will say, I guess I am not surprised to see that the river looked quite muddy.

Muddy or not, though, there was plenty of wildlife, especially turtles!
We ate lunch at a local diner, and walked a little of the 15 mile river walk.







Our other stop that day was at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus.  Yes, another Civil War Museum.  In one sense, I have seen plenty of war museums, but on the other hand, by not trying to take in everything in the museum, I can focus on the parts that interest me, and that helps fill in the blanks in my history knowledge, while not overloading my brain.

Being a naval museum, there was a lot of focus on the Ironclads of the Civil War. This is the remains of an Ironclad boat that was pulled out of the river.  The metal framing outlines the parts of the boat that are missing.

Nearby there was an example of the thickness of the hull on the ironclad ships.

Here’s a model of what an Ironclad would have looked like before it sank.  The “small” holes in the sides have cannons sticking out of them.

There were many artifact displays as well.  This one caught my eye. This tool is called a Battle Rattle.  It is used on ships to sound an alarm because it’s rattle could be heard over the sounds aboard ship.  It looks to me  like a beefed up New Year’s Eve noise maker!

As I read through the timeline display of the Civil War, I was amazed at just how many battle sites we have visited in our travels over the last 4 years.

  One of the displays gave the history of the USS Constitution, a ship I am familiar with because I grew up in Boston, where “old Ironsides” still resides (although nicknamed “ironsides”- she is not an ironclad).  Built in 1797, she is the oldest commissioned warship still floating. I was living in Boston in 1997 when she sailed under her own power for the first time since 1881.  It was an awesome thing to see.





By the time the Civil War came about, The Constitution had seen all the active duty she was going to, and was used by the Union side as a training vessel.

On our last day at this campground, the weather finally warmed up and stopped raining long enough for us to hike.  We chose the Wolf Den trail because it is about 7 miles long and features a waterfall.  Points of interest along hiking trails are tough to come by in some areas, so we love it when we can find a trail with something to see.