You know I have been on a huge history/US Presidents kick for some time now. So, on this trip, we tried to visit some of the presidential houses along the way. We were excited when we realized that we wouldn't be passing far from Warm Springs, Georgia, home of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Little White House!
Though we were happy about the chance to visit here, we did not have any major expectations. Well, this ended up being an unexpectedly amazing stop on our trip.
FDR first came to the Warm Springs area, before he was president, for polio treatment. He liked the place so much that he built a cabin. He ended up spending a lot of time here. He also spent his final moments at his Warm Springs Little White House.
Before visiting the actual house, there is a very nice museum and movie. The museum included many amazing artifacts directly linked to FDR. Most impressive was a collection of canes that had been sent to the 32nd President by supporters.
After going through the museum, you make your way to the house. There are several guest and secret service cabins. The actual Little White House itself seems small but very cozy. This would be a fun cabin to stay in. There were friendly staff around to answer questions. They let me know that the books on the shelf had belonged to FDR. On display were his desk, and the bed he was in when he passed away.
As a dog lover I was touched by the scratch marks at the bottom of the main door. In the glass, you could see them (my camera wasn't able to focus on them). Still, you could see where Roosevelt's little dog Fala had scratched.
We loved the gift shop here. They had plenty of Roosevelt books, buttons and other items. There was a very sweet lady running the place (ALL of the staff we talked to here seemed to love their job, and working at the Little White House).
THEN, there is another small museum housing the last couple of painting of Roosevelt, including the very famous one that we being worked on just before it death (it remains unfinished).
Seeing the unfinished painting, the displays about his death and funeral, plus standing by his bed where he died, is VERY moving.
But, it makes it a bit of a downer when you leave. LUCKILY, the actual springs where Franklin would swim are a very short drive from the home!
We stopped by the small visitor center/museum by the springs. ANOTHER friendly staff person thanked us for stopping by (it seems that a lot of people who buy the ticket to visit the home SKIP coming to the springs, even though it is included in the main house admission). Anyway, seeing the springs had a bit of an uplifting feeling to balance out the sadness of the home.
At the spring, you can buy a nice little bottle to take with you, to collect some water from the actual spring.
The "spring" was not exactly what I had in mind, though I had seen the pictures and video of FDR here previously. It is really a nice, large pool with the spring in it to supply the water. The pool is totally empty, but the spring is there. You actually walk through the empty pool to the spring.
We were the only people there when we went.
It was very pleasant, getting our bottles filled with water. I splashed a little bit of the water in my face. You can feel so much of a personal, lively connection to Franklin, and the history of Warm Springs here.
