Monday, August 6
After
getting a good night's sleep in a red roof inn in Decatur, we drove into Atlanta
to see the Jimmy Carter museum. I have always liked Carter and this visit
reaffirmed that. He is a great humanitarian and still works to bring peace
to the world. His Carter center not only has the museum but a place where
leaders can come to neutral ground to resolve their conflicts. I really enjoyed
learning about him. The museum also had one kiosk that featured two of those
"campy 70's throwbacks that appeal to generation X-ers" (as Lisa Simpson puts
it), Schoolhouse Rock cartoons. Andy and I really loved those when we were
kids, so seeing them again in this context was a real kick. One was about
how a bill becomes a law. The other was about energy conservation. I think
Vienna was embarrassed for us. Of course, this meant we had to play the Simpson's
parody which is on the CD that we brought - how an amendment comes into being.
"But if you change the constitution. Then you can make all sorts of crazy
laws!"
After Carter, we got on the road to Polk's museum in Pineville, NC, right outside Charlotte. On the way, Vienna memorized the names and faces of all the presidents. This took her about 45 minutes. Trust me, she will retain it, too. Andy and I were pretty amazed - we couldn't do that. Again, we arrived at the next museum shortly before closing, only this time we had about an hour to learn about James K. Polk. We saw the goofiest presidential film ever made. Its use of cheesy effects really over-dramatized Polk's life. For example, when young Polk had severe abdominal pains, the narrator almost yelled and the picture got blurry and shook around to look like Polk was falling down, before the image faded to black. Andy was entranced and desperately wanted the video. The photo below shows a desk in the cabin where Polk grew up.
We
did learn a lot, though, like that Polk was the first president to push the
"Manifest Destiny" concept. Also, he declared war on Mexico after they allegedly
attacked us in California, starting the Mexican/American war. We found our
third presidential miniature. We decided to put Polk next to Hoover on the
dashboard using another piece of gum. Unfortunately, Hoover is only a bust,
whereas Polk is a full standing figure so he towers over poor little Hoover.
They look like an odd couple and Andy later made the comment about "Polk and
his little Yoda" followed by his impression of Yoda encouraging Polk, "Defend
the Constitution, you must!"
We are now on our way to Charles City, VA, and it is only now at 8:00 PM cool enough to turn off the AC and open a window. We are quizzing each other on the presidents we have been to already. By the end of the trip, we will know all the presidents in order and something interesting about each one.