My Summer Vacation Day 3

On the morning of Day 3 I woke up and got ready quickly before having a breakfast of hot oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and sausage patties(I loved this breakfast :D). I helped my Dad carry our luggage out to our van while the rest of my family had breakfast(my Dad had ate with me down in the breakfast area). 

We brought the last of the luggage to our car and drove to Plains, Georgia where President Carter and his wife Rosalynn live :D. We had planned to go to President Carter's church, and surprise my Grandpa ;) (we planned other things to, but you will see about that later. hehehehehe >:) ) 

Isn't the sign just so neat? It's a small town and they seem really proud that a President of the United States came from here :D. 

                                      After we arrived in Plains, we realized that we were earlier than expected, but we headed to to the Maranatha Baptist Church anyway. As we pulled into the driveway of the church, our van got checked by a marine(who was a girl! :D) and a bomb-sniffer dog. Then, as we continued on, we realized that the Carters and the Secret Service were right behind us!!! :D We walked up to the church to have my Mom's bag checked and for the Secret Service to hover metal detectors over us.
                    Taking our sears  in the church, I read the section of the Sunday School pamphlet that was for that day. After that, a lady told us the rules and how the lesson would play out. She told us a funny story about back when she was teaching 4th grade(she had Amy Carter in her class) and this one little boy would act up really bad during class. Since she couldn't get him to behave, she decided to ask one of the Secret Service to help her. At first he said "I don't think I should" and she told him "Do you want me to show the kids what you got on your math test?" (she'd had the Secret Service take tests along with the kids). Since she'd threatened him with that(it must have been bad XD), he went and sat down next to the boy, letting the gun under his jacket show, and said "It needs to stop." And after that, he never caused trouble again(he ended up being a successful business man in town).
                     

   
                               We had a quick prayer and when we looked up, there was Mr. Jimmy Carter(Rosalynn was sitting in a pew). Like the lady had told us, Mr. Carter asked where everyone was from one section of pews at a time(left, center, right) My Mom said which state we were from(we were the only people there from our state). Mr. Carter than got to teaching Sunday School which was completely fascinating. We could have listened to him all day. He talked about virtues, such as justice, wisdom, and that week's lesson on courage, peace, and the different things he's done in his life. It made me want to read his White House Diaries even more. :D
                           From listening to him, I got to know how much he really cared about Egyptian leader Sadat (he said that the second hardest time he'd cried in his life was when Sadat was killed :( ).
                 Another thing I like was that when he was talking about something, Rosalynn piped up from her spot and said "Tell them about(I can't remember what it was about, sadly)". I really like how well they work together, it's really sweet :).
                  Oh, and just so you all know, my Mom got to sit next to a Secret Service guy. :)

After Sunday School, we had the Church service which was very interesting since I've never been to a Baptist service before. I was surprised at the similarities between Baptist and Lutheran worship. The pastor of the church, while still young and not quite grasping of theology and Christianity, had a kind, friendly demeanor which I liked to see(though he did raise his voice in passion during his sermon which I'm not used to in the more reserved setting of my Lutheran church). There were also songs I recognized which I thought was pretty neat. 

                                Once church was over, we got up and got into line for picture taking! :D

                             When it was our turn, I stood by Missus Carter and my sister stood next to Mr. Carter; both put their arms around us. My little brother was nervous at first and didn't know where to stand and Jimmy Carter told him "You can stand wherever you like, son." My brother ended up standing in front of President Carter who put his hand on his shoulder for the pic. It was such an amazing experience! :D As we left, Mrs. Carter smiled at me and said "Come again" and as I passed Mr. Carter, he looked directly at me and said "Thank you for coming." SO COOL!!!! :D
                        We were very excited as we walked back to the car(we are Jimmy Carter fans, as you can tell. XD He's one of my favorite Presidents, in fact, which was really neat!). We then went to the Down Town area of Plains and my Mom took some pictures. After that, we went into a store and we got to try some peanut butter ice cream(which is very good) and roasted peanuts. We bought some peanuts as well some candy for my brother. We talked to the lady that owned the store for awhile(she thought my sister and I were twins *how many times is that now?*) before getting into our car and driving to Jimmy Carter's boyhood home. (we sent an image to my Grandpa saying "Guess who we saw today?"; my Grandpa, as you can tell, is a big fan or President Carter and he thought it was so cool that we got to meet him).
                       

                                    My Dad and I talked to the guard standing outside for a little bit and he seemed really nice(I know, random, but I like talking to nice people). Then, once everyone was ready, we headed over to the Carter's house as well as over homes nearby.

                                Outhouse

                           The Carter's house from the back.                              

                          My little brother standing in the hallway with his Power Rangers umbrella. For some reason, I could imagine him living here.

                     Mr. Carter's bed room as a child. Look at all the books on his book shelf.

                                                   The food all looked so good, even if it was fake.

                              The Carter's house from the front. They had a pretty nice house. :)

                                My little brother(I think it looks like he's going inside after a fun day of playing)

     
                                                           General store from the outside

                                                      General store from the inside.

       
                                      We have one of these at my Nana and Grandpa's house.

The house of some people who worked for Jimmy's father(the man who lived here pretty much ran the different things that went on). The family that lived here were among the most important in Jimmy's life and they had a great impact on his character.  

Garden

Secret Service's house.

After we left, we drove by the Carter's current home, which has fences and a place for the Secret Service to live. 

                                           Jimmy Carter's Presidential Campaign Headquarters! :D

                                         Peanut plants(I think)

                               We got lost yet again(or momentarily disoriented), but we soon figured out where we were supposed to be going. We stopped at Wendy's for lunch and I got a chicken sandwich. We drove for many hours, and during that time I read "The Sweet Far Thing" and listened to Wild Space. It was dark when we finally reached our destination of Charleston, South Carolina(or to be more specific, the Isle of Palms) and it took us even longer to find our hotel, which was called "Seaside Inn". As the name implies, we were on the beach(the air definitely had a salty tinge to it).
                          We checked in and made quick dinners for ourselves(I had Cajin Rice and Beans) before taking showers and going to bed. The room and bathroom were really small and it wasn't something I liked at all. :p But it was a good day and probably one of my favorite parts of the vacation. :D

Hope you enjoyed my second post. May the Force be with you and have a good night :D
Jedi Shena Tokala signing off