Georgia -Forsyth (Mar 31 – Apr 4, 2020)

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On March 31, 2021, we finally left Florida. As mentioned in the last post, we became a member of Harvest Host where after membership you can stay the night at a winery, brewery or farm. We were glad to find this because for years we have had to find a Walmart to spend the night. Using Harvest Hosts, you can put in your start and end plans and wineries, breweries and/or farms will be displayed on your route. You then check out the recommended place – to make sure it can handle the size of your rig and reservation process. So our first winery was Horse Creek Winery in Sparks, GA Parking was easy just pull over next to the parking places. At the end of the night, there were a total of three RVs that stayed the night.

This duck was next to the pond. S/he was lucky because there was a house there that was all open to walk in and out.

After set up, we went in for a tasting. Their wines have won gold medals and have proven they can compete in Napa Valley. Their local wines are made from the muscadine grape that grow on sight. They are “very serious about producing award winning muscadine and vinifera wines.” “The Mansion at Horse Creek Winery is a very large facility, 6 acres of vineyard, and almost 10 acres of grass and trees”. 

During the $6 tasting, you can select five wines. Since they had ten “home made” muscadine wines, we selected all ten of them to taste to split between us. They were excellent. In addition to those wines, they offer peach and berry wine slushies. Needless to say, we left with two bottles and a quart of each of the wine slushies. We did laugh for two reasons – one if we keep stopping at these wineries we will need to make more room in the fridge for the wines and second, tasting all those wines knocked us out. We survived and spent the night and left early next morning to drive to Forsyth, Georgia.

On April 2, 2021, we arrived at the KOA Forsyth, in Forsyth, GA.

This was a great Forsyth mural. Not sure if the guy is running away from the gal or trying to catch the train. Nice details.

On Saturday, April 3, we visited the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Little White House Historic Site in Warm Springs, GA. It was an hour drive from the KOA but the drive was beautiful.

Another mural that we passed on the way to the Little White house. Certainly highlighting FDR.
Simple sign to enter the Little White House

“Franklin Delano Roosevelt built the Little White House in 1932 while governor of New York, prior to being inaugurated as president in 1933. He first came to Warm Springs in 1924 hoping to find a cure for the infantile paralysis (polio) that had struck him in 1921. Swimming in the 88-degree, buoyant spring waters brought him no miracle cure, but it did bring improvement. During FDR’s presidency and the Great Depression, he developed many New Deal Programs (such as the Rural Electrification Administration) based upon his experiences in this small town.”

As you enter the memorial, this is a 1940 Willys Roadster presented to President Roosevelt on his 58th birthday in 1940.
This portrait is in the hallway entering the building.

Several rooms are replicated throughout the site.

This is the bed the President died in.
“The unfinished portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt is a watercolor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States, by Elizabeth Shoumatoff. Shoumatoff was commissioned to paint a portrait of President Roosevelt and started her work around noon on April 12, 1945. At lunch, Roosevelt complained of a headache and subsequently collapsed. The president, who had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage (stroke), died later that day.” (He died in the bed above.)
Shoumatoff never finished the portrait, but she later painted a new, largely identical one, based on memory. The Unfinished Portrait hangs at Roosevelt’s retreat, the Little White House, in Warm Springs, Georgia, with its finished counterpart beside it. You can see changed the color of the tie in the final version.
This is the driving mechanism that the President designed himself in his car. Supposedly the Queen of England said she would never drive with him again because it was scary. lol
The replica of the braces the President wore. “These braces were also fabricated at the Warm Springs Foundation Brace Shop. Made of steel, they weigh about 8-10 lbs each. FDR painted the lower area of the steel uprights black to disguise the shiny metal. He did not want to draw any attention to the fact that he had to wear them.”
A bust in the memorial with a picture of the artist working on it.
Middle picture is of the President in the pool which helped his legs. Was told that other people staying at the lodge would not get in the water because they thought they would catch polio. The President played games with children in the pool and had a great time.
These were commemorative stamps approved by the President – many of which he personally suggested.

Our final picture was a 1935 calendar – Coca-Cola!

So overall, this memorial was a great way to understand the life the President had. He tried not to be in a wheelchair while a president and did many things so that he could show he was capable.

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