Part 5: Florida and Georgia

I picked Trish up in Florida a week ago! 

I'm muchly behind in my trip documentation. I've been wanting to connect to WiFi but have been thwarted at every turn, so here I am very very late in chronicling the continuing saga!

I made it to Dunedin finally on Thursday March 20 and got a couple days RnR.

I was happy to reunite with Punk.

We hit the road mid-day Saturday and traveled to Paulk Vineyard, a Harvest Host, in Wray, Georgia. We made it just in time to partake in a wine tasting.

They make wine out of the Muscadine grape, a grape that is indigenous to the South.

The wine is sweet. 

It's shitty.

OK, maybe I'm being unfair. I'm a California girl, surrounded by fine wine makers and wine snobs. I don't drink a lot of wine, but I like hearty, complex, dry wines. 

Muscadine wine was none of that.

But they kindly let us spend the night on their grounds. Thank you, Paulk Vineyard!

It was a comfortable, quiet night, except for the good ol' boys in their pickup, horn blasting "Dixie" and yelling "'Murca, fuck yeah!" on their way past. 

The next day, we went north through Georgia, stopping at the place where Jefferson Davis was captured. The story is that he tried to disguise himself as a woman and was captured in women's clothing. The truth is more nuanced, and if you are interested you can read about it elsewhere. 

During the scuffle, two Union soldiers were killed in friendly fire. 

We next made our way to FDR's "Little White House" in Warm Springs, Georgia. He loved it there! He took the warm spring waters to treat his polio, and he built a house there, which acted as his "Little White House." 

He loved children, and he invited children stricken with polio to swim and play with him in the warm spring waters as well. They called him "Rosey."

Who knew? I didn't.

He spent a lot of time in Warm Springs, Georgia, and it is where he died.

I came away with a lot more knowledge and respect – if that was even possible – for the great man who led our country from 1933 - 1945.

Photos!

One of FDR's cars

Some of his mobility equipment. He tried to hide his polio-induced mobility difficulties from the public, most of whom didn't know or pretended not to know about his physical difficulties.

The last car he drove, with hand controls (below) that he designed himself.

FDR also traveled by stagecoach

And when he walked, he used a cane. These are some that were sent to him from the public. 

The Little White House

The famous unfinished portrait. He was in the process of sitting for it when he died. 

FDR died in this bed

We made our way to this nice mini-farm home in Ringgold, Georgia, where we had a quiet night with the chickens. I slept well with drip-drops of rain throughout the night. I awoke well-rested, despite my fretting about finding new tires the next day (to be continued...)!