Jimmy Carter, Rejected by the Nation, Beloved by the South

When lists are made of the "worst presidents in US history", sadly a man by the name of Jimmy Carter gets mentioned.  His presidency was a rocky one.  The economy sucked, there was an energy crisis, and he was entangled in a hostage crisis.  To add insult to injury he was even captured on camera being attacked by a rabbit.

Carter was trounced by republican icon Ronald Reagan when he sought reelection.  Carter only won 6 states in his second election, and they weren't even good ones

His post presidency was marked by great accomplishments.  He founded the humanitarian powerhouse "Habitat for Humanity" which has helped millions find homes, he has stood up for important causes and even won a Nobel peace prize.

I remember asking my father why Carter was considered a bad president.  "Good men make bad presidents." he told me.

It was 1976, a tumultuous time.  The country had a real bad taste in its mouth when it came to politics, thanks in part to this man.

Seen here murdering Warren G. Harding

 Richard Nixon, a man so strongly associated with corruption, that he is single handily responsible for the fact that every political scandal now ends with the suffix "gate".

Not only was everyone in the Nation (except Lynryd Skynyrd) bothered by Watergate, but we also had a standing president that had not even been elected.

The one of the left

 The Nation needed to heal itself.  The Nation did not need another crooked politician.  The Nation needed a man with good old fashion values, so naturally they looked to the South and found a fresh face.

A man who oozed folksy charm.  A hard working church going man.  Jimmy Carter was the man American needed (but not the man they deserved).

Jimmy steam rolled his way to the White House.  Let's take a look at the map.

Apparently, 40 years ago, the idea of red and blue states was a little different.  Its not often today that you will see the Democrat sweep the South and loose California.  Its clear the South loved this guy and why shouldn't they?  When it came to the core principles of the democratic party, Jimmy was pretty much in line.  However, Jimmy was an evangelical Southern Baptist who opposed abortion.  There were even times when Jimmy was criticized and ridiculed by the media for expressing his faith.  Some say that Carter is responsible for making evangelical Christianity mainstream.

Eventually, the country changed there mind and decided that letting a good old country boy run the country was a bad idea and replaced him with West Coast Hollywood Elitist Ronald Reagan.

 
Although he was made to leave Washington in shame, the South never feel out of love with Jimmy Carter and there is no greater example of this then his home town of Plains, GA.  Plains is essentially a city sized shrine to Jimmy Carter.

There are tons of Carter related sites to be see, such as the farm house he grew up in.

Where you can also see where Carter and all his important childhood moments took place.

Also located here is his father's general store, where he sold plastic ham to the locals.

You can also check out Jimmy's elementary school.

Where he keeps his Nobel Peace Prize.....

You can also check out Carter's former campaign headquarters where a cardboard cutout of Jimmy still tirelessly makes phone calls....

Rounding out the Carter experience is the Billy Carter gas station museum.

For those of you know don't know Billy Carter was Jimmy's younger drunken redneck brother.  Billy is possibly best known for declaring himself the Colonel Sanders of beer and creating the short lived "Billy Beer".

With the best tag line of all time.

Billy is also known for controversially visiting Libya as an ambassador.  The problem was that he did this without bothering to get permission from the White House or Jimmy.  Billy would take money from Libya, causing Jimmy to have to publicly denounce his own brother. 

Sadly, the Billy Museum was closed, so I missed out of seeing any authentic cans of Billy Beer.  Unopened cases have gone at auctions for $100.

Plains other claim to fame is its peanuts.

This town is so excited about peanuts that in the downtown area they use peanut shells instead of mulch. 

It is safe to say that those with nut allergies should not step foot in Plains, or they face instant death.

What do you get when you combine this towns two claims to fame?  This of course:

This wonderful Jimmy Carter Peanut hybrid.  This monstrosity was actually used in his Carter's campaign posters.

Seen here viciously devouring a republican Elephant.

I'm all for the flesh eating peanut replacing the donkey as the Democrats new mascot.....

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram. 

Carpetbagger Appears on the Daily Woo

Yesterday I had the honor with meeting up with Youtube celebrity Adam the Woo.  Adam was a great guy and even let me appear in one of his videos.  We went and fed bears at the Bear pit in Pigeon Forge, TN.  This pit was somewhat different from the Bear Pits over in Cherokee.  For one they had Asian Sun Bears instead of Black Bears for some reason.  The pits were also a lot nicer, more like an actual zoo instead of a concrete pit.



It was a blast.  Everyone go check out Adam's channel, its a great mix of movie locations, abandoned sites, and roadside attractions.   He is truly living the dream, traveling the country non-stop in his van just to see awesome things.  He posts extended videos of interesting sites and then does a daily vlog like the one above.


The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram. 

An Ode to the Lost Toilet

The lost toilet.  It is an all to common site on the rural southern roadside.

Where do they come from?  How does the most intimate and private appliance in your home wind up up out in the elements for all to see?

To me seeing a lone toilet sitting on the side of the road is always jarring.  A toilet's element is behind closed door.  It is something we all use, but something we never want others to see us engaging with.

A toilet sitting outdoors seems so naked, so exposed.

Where are these toilets coming from?  Like a bad puppy that no one loved they are abandoned in parking lots and back roads.  Yet loyally they sit, almost as if holding out hope that their past owner will be coming back for them.

One theory is the fact that the Garbage man will not take your broken toilet.  Although everyone may not realize it a toilet requires a disposal fee at your local dump.  The average disposal cost for a toilet in America is 25 dollars.

The only way around in this to smash your toilet to pieces with a hammer and slowly discard of its pieces, much like Andy disposed of his spare rock dust in the Shawshank Redemption.

Occasionally you will come across a stray toilet with an usual color, standing out like a bright flower.

You think to yourself, "I could take that home and turn it into a planter, or maybe do some other art project with it".  Then you think about how many poops have been taken in said toilet and you keep driving.

Of course every once in awhile you just may stumble across a beautiful garden of toilets.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram. 

A Carpetbagger in New York

Now, I did not move to the South until I was 19 years old, but make no mistake about it, I am not accustomed to big cities.  I grew up in a small town in Northern Indiana, rarely venturing into the scary metropolis that is Chicago.  My whole life I have been firmly rooted in flyover country.  I never had that strong a desire to live otherwise.  I was always content with roaming back country roads and traveling to rural outposts.

A few years back my brother moved moved to New York and my father suggested we all take a trip out to the city.  Reluctant at first, I felt it was my duty as an American to see this place that appears in every TV show and movie.

Of course, I am always looking for interesting roadside attractions to see.  When I found out I was going to New York, I decided my goal would be to track down a legendary folk hero and attraction:  The Legendary Naked Cowboy.  A man who has made a legend of himself by playing guitar in his underwear in the middle of Time Square.  Essentially the world's most famous street performer.

Stepping into Time Square for the first time was practically a religious experience.  The place was loud, ridiculous, tacky and overstimulating.  My idea of heaven.

The streets were crawling with street performers.  From your traditional silver men......

To the more rare Gold Man....

Then there was an army of unlicensed characters posing for pictures in exchange for cash.....

And a surprisingly large amount of people openly begging for drug money.......

And I must say, when it comes to religious fanatics, the Bible Belt has NOTHING on time Square.

Anyone want to explain to me what that guy is talking about?

These guys are Black Hebrew Israelites, who believe that blacks are the true Jewish people and that the people are traditional regarded as Jewish are imposters.

I weaved through these magical characters, with my father and brothers desperately trying not to loose me.  I was hoping with my all my might to find the legendary Naked Cowboy, but I was coming up empty handed.   I did mange to locate a naked Indian.

 

And then we stumbled upon this....

It was a Naked Cowgirl, so maybe we were getting warmer.

Meet Sandy Kane, the Naked Cowgirl.  She is actually a nemesis to the Naked Cowboy who sued her for copyright infringement.  He also opposes her crass and non-family friendly nature.  When a guy who dances in his underwear for money thinks you are not family friendly, you are hardcore.  Of course that didn't stop me and Little Satan from having our picture taken with her.

She appeared to be fascinated with Little Satan, and used some disturbing language (that I will not repeat) to describe him.

I promise that will be the last photo of Sandy Kane.

I had admit defeat and reluctantly leave time square.  After sterilizing Little Satan, we headed off to see some of the other famous sites in New York. 

Such as the World Famous "People with AIDS Plaza"

The Stone Head from "Night at the Museum" that says "Give me gum gum, dumb dumb"......

And the statue of Balto the Wonder Dog.....

Of course I proved my dedication to being a tourist by having my picture taken riding Balto......

And of course what would a trip to the Big Apple be without seeing the Wall Street Bull.....

If you take notice, there are actually two lines the form at the Bull for tourist photo ops.  One at the head of the Bull, and the other, longer line at the rear of the Bull....

Apparently it is some sort of New York right of passage to have your photo taken touching the Bull's testicles.....

It turns out that I loved New York.  As much as I was dedicated to documenting and appreciating the South, New York is a great place for a man such as me who requires non-stop stimulation and excitement.

After our week long trip, we took one last quite walk through the night streets of Time Square, and who should appear.......

The Naked Cowboy!  Putting his hands all over female tourists.  Finally, my New York trip was complete.

As a side note, I later found out that this was not the original Naked Cowboy, but a Franchisee.  Apparently, the original Naked Cowboy was in such demand that he actually became a personal Franchise and has allowed other Cowboys and Cowgirls to pay for the right to take up his mantel and perform in his stead.

With all this excitement there was only thing left in New York to do.   One thing I always wanted to try.  Before our plane left we headed to the top of the Empire state building.

Look out below!

Disclaimer:  New York was not harmed in the making of this blog.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page.  You can also follow me on instagram.