Beside of Founder’s Hall, we were able to tour the campus pool (Wilson Pool).  This pool was built in 1942 because it was difficult to transport patients off campus to swim each day in t he Warm Springs.  There were therapy tables, chairs, lifts, and parallel bars to aid in pool exercises.  The pool is only 4 feet deep and it was kept at a temperature of about 90 degrees.  This was to help patients’ muscles relax and be able to get the most of their water therapies.  As you can see from our pictures, Flat Suddreth was really enjoying this part of the tour, as he was trying the chair lift.

As we continued the tour, we entered the Wilson Building.  This building was used as the infirmary.  Today, it is used as part of the hospital.  It is having some renovations, as it is in need of new ceilings.  The money for these repairs has been slow, due to budget crunching with the state.  Attached to this building is the North Wing.  It was built as a hospital for polios.  Many patients returned year after year to Warm Springs to have repetitive surgeries done on their muscles.  Outside this building, patients had to pass ‘walking tests’ before they were allowed to go home.  There were parallel bars, steps with varying degrees of  steepness, where patients could practice mobility.  Before building codes were changed to accommodate the handicapped, people with wheelchairs did not have ramps, so they had to practice maneuvering curbs and steps.  There were different kinds of surfaces outside in the yard for practicing these skills.

After we  left the North Wing, we saw two other buildings from the outside only.  Since there were current patients inside, we were not allowed inside.  The patients there today are there for rehabilitation therapy or for long term acute care.  Some are soldiers who came home from Iraq. 

We continued our tour by stopping at Roosevelt Hall.  This building was built in 1953, so it would not have been there in Ann Fay’s time.  There is a memorial there  to Roosevelt on the right and the saying, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself”.  On the left is Helen Keller, another famous person who overcame great disabilities.  From  here, we entered the dining hall, where in Ann Fay’s time would have had linen table cloths on each table.  FDR came to Warm Springs many years for the annual Founder’s Day Thanksgiving Day dinner with the patients.  Although he had trouble standing for long periods of time, we  were told that after each Thanksgiving Day meal, he would stand in the doorway and shake each person’s hand until everyone left.  This must have been very difficult for him to do. 

Our last stop of the day was very special!  The Smithsonian has had an exhibit at Warm Springs called “What ever happened to polio?”.  The last day of the exhibit was January 17th.  It was not going to be picked up until January 30th, so Linda let us in to see it.  We were the last group to be able to tour this exhibit and the artifacts that will be sent back to Washington, DC this weekend.  At this point, my camera was out of batteries and I did not get very good pictures of the exhibit.  I will let someone else blog this portion of the trip…

Our adventure to Warm Springs has been wonderful.  The people we have met truly do embody what people here call “the spirit of Warm Springs”.   My story (Mrs. Hindman) began Friday night after we all got in bed finally around 11 pm.  Joanna, my youngest, age 4, woke up vomiting in our bed (gross, I know).  We called the front desk here at the Best Western to let them know that we needed a change of bed linens.  When the two young ladies came to our room, not only did they have the new linens and pillows, but they also brought crackers, a Sprite, and some peppermints for Joanna.  They offered to go next door to the nursing home to get us baby aspirin, if we needed them.  They were so gracious and hospitable to us, even at 2:30 in the morning!

Joanna slept without any more incidents and she and my mom stayed home this morning while we toured Roosevelt Institute for Rehabilitation.  She has been fine the rest of the day…no more vomit… Hallelujah!

In the meantime, all of us met for breakfast in the hotel lobby at 8 am, and we left at 8:30 to meet Linda Creekbaum at the Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation.  We arrived a little early, (since the Institute is only about a mile from the hotel), but our early arrival gave us some time to get a group shot in front of the center.  We met Linda in the parking lot.  She led us inside the Georgia Hall, where polio patients at the center would congregate for fun and fellowship while at Warm Springs.  Georgia Hall now houses the dining hall and offices.  The Institute’s librarian, Michael Shadix, came over to meet us on his day off.  He was just as interested in our writing prompt and work with our students as we were in hearing about the history of Warm Springs Institute.  He gave us a DVD filled with about 30 minutes of silent reel footage of actual therapies and assistive devices that were used at Warm Springs in the 1930′s.  We were so grateful to him for taking his time to meet with us on his day off.  He also gave Mr. Seldomridge a book about Warm Springs (the name escapes me now), but I cannot wait to get my hands on it. 

After the films, Michael had to leave, so we said our goodbyes and then Linda took us on our tour of the grounds.  We began by walking outside at the Meriweather Inn site.  The old Inn began as a resort in the late 19th century.  It had several floors and burned twice, and was rebuilt over the years.  It does not stand on the campus today.  FDR was deathly afraid of fire and would not stay in the Inn at Warm Springs.  He stayed in some of the cottages across from Georgia Hall in the early days of his visits here. 

We continued down the walkway outside to the area called the quad.  When FDR designed the Institute, it was very important to him that it did not feel like a hospital.  The campus was designed to look like a college campus, and was fashioned much like the University of Virginia.  There are columns on many of the buildings.  In the area called the quad, there are two main buildings (Georgia Hall and another one) that face one another and then running down either side of the rectangular patch of grass, the other buildings form the surrounding perimeters of the rectangle.  To the left of Georgia Hall, is Kress Hall.  This is one of the dormitories and the place where Ann Fay stays in Comfort. 

We continued our tour through Kress Hall and out around back, where we learned about Bush 13 from Linda.  Bush 13 is where polio patients would meet and hold hands while at Warm Springs.  This particular bush was large enough to conceal two wheelchairs.  [Side note...Linda was extremely wonderful at adding the human interest to the history portion of the Warm Springs story.  I wish my history teachers would have done this for me in school.  I would have really enjoyed it so much more...]

There is so much more to post about today, but bed is calling my name right now.  I will post the rest of the adventure tomorrow.  And to think, this post was only about the first hour of Saturday.

-KW

We did make a stop once we got into Georgia, and then we started the last part of our trip to include a supper stop.  The White’s decided to brave the downtown Atlanta traffic and stop at the Varsity… it was a fun time.  The rest decided to stop at O’Charley’s for supper. 

Tomorrow will be a great day … I am looking forward to it!

Mrs.  Gruen will be traveling with her hubby and two  daughters.

Mrs. Hindman will be traveling with her mom and her son and daughter. 

Mr. Seldomridge will be traveling with his “son” who is actually a former student.

Mr. Suddreth will be traveling in flat form.  I can’t wait to see what trouble he gets into on our trip. 

Mrs. White is traveling with her husband, two daughters and son.  Her stepson, Gideon, was planning on making the trip until he broke both bones in his lower right forearm.  So, we may take a flat version of Gideon with us so that he can have his picture made.  (After all, he has worked hard to read Blue and Comfort so that he’d be ready to travel.)

This is promising to be a fun group… and we do hope that you learn lots from our experiences!

http://www.rooseveltrehab.org/history.php

This is the link for information about Roosevelt Warm Springs Institution for Rehabilitation.  This is our 9 am tour with Linda on Saturday morning.

http://www.gastateparks.org/info/littlewhite/

This is the site of our afternoon tour at Warm Springs.  This starts at 1 pm with David on Saturday afternoon.

On the way down, our plan is to stop in Atlanta at the Varsity for dinner.  Then, we will continue on to Warm Springs.  Friday night, we will chill in the rooms and prepare for our big day on Saturday.

Mr. Seldomridge called Linda at the Roosevelt Institute for Rehabilitation today and explained to her what we are doing.  Linda is the same person who gave Joyce Hostetter her tour of the facility, so she was very excited that we are coming.  What a coincidence!  Linda told Randy of some other interesting sites that we will now plan to see on Sunday.  The cool thing is…the Institute is not usually open on Saturday, but because Linda is so wonderful, she is giving our group a tour herself, beginning at 9 am on Saturday morning.  She is also sending us brochures for the students to use for their writing prompts on Blue.  The Smithsonian Exhibit on polio closes at the Institute on Jan. 17th.  Boo, right?  Wrong!  Linda said that since it won’t be picked up until Jan. 27th, she may be able to ‘sneak us in’ there to look around if it hasn’t been disassembled at that point!  Cool!!!  We will definitely have to take lots of pictures of our secret tour.  I would guess that we will stay there for a good 2 hours, at least.

Lunch on Saturday will be at the Bulloch House, possibly.  We have not discussed this yet, but if so, someone will have to call for reservations.

I (Mrs. Hindman), called Warm Springs this afternoon and talked to David.  Once I explained to David our plan, he booked us for a 1 pm tour of Warm Springs, which includes a 13 minute movie introduction, 2 exhibits, the Little White House, and the warm springs pool, all with a ranger who answers questions through a self-guided tour.  He was able to get us a group rate (with 15 people).  He also told me that even if Joanna doesn’t go, he will still let us pay with a group rate, even if it is just 14 people!    David is emailing me brochures and a teacher guide about Warm Springs, so that we have more information to share with the students.

Saturday, after our two tours, we can shop in the many stores in the town, and then, enjoy supper somewhere together. 

On Sunday morning, we will be able to visit Georgia State Park, and Dottie’s Knob, one of FDR’s favorite picnic sites, according to Linda.  There is a covered bridge not too far away that we want to see while there too.  We will travel back sometime on Sunday afternoon.  This will be so much fun!!

The World’s Largest Drive-in sits on more than two acres and can accommodate 600 cars and over eight hundred people inside. On days of Georgia Tech football games up to 30,000 people visit The Varsity. It sells more than two miles of hotdogs daily, a ton of onion rings, 2500 pounds of fresh cut potatoes, 5000 homemade fried pies, and 300 gallons of chili, all of which are made from scratch daily. The downtown Varsity is also the world’s largest single outlet for Coca-Cola.

This is where the now famous cry of The Varsity started “What’ll Ya Have”.

This could be lots of fun!

Excellent idea for you to go and blog and video the trip!!

What to see? I’d ask for the guided tour of Warm Springs. It’s free. And naturally you’ll want to see the historic pools, FDR Museum and the Little White House. It would be great if Bob Prater could do an FDR interpretation for you. Might be worth looking into. He does them occasionally but I don’t know if he charges for special events or groups such as yours. I could inquire. And I’ll try to connect you with Suzanne, too.

Last I heard the Smithsonian exhibit “Whatever Happened to Polio” was still in Warm Springs. I think it’s a permanent exhibit. You could perhaps drive out to Manchester to Magic Hill to see if you car will travel uphill by itself. I tried it but wasn’t sure I was in the right place.

There’s the Bulloch House Restuarant which is a “must do” at least once.

It’s a tiny place and January might be quieter than usual but one never knows!

So, I found the Bulloch Restaurant–it looks really nice.  It is an old Victorian house, built in 1893.  

http://www.thebullochhouse.com/index.html

The Bulloch House

More to come as we meet to discuss other sites for our trip!