November 12, 2003 - Quitman, GA - 3

Well, lemme tell you one of the greatest stories as a result of this website.  Ron and JerrieLea had parked next to us the day after we arrived in Fair Play, SC.  We were pretty busy and didn't take the time to visit, but when we came back from running errands and saw this dish setup, I began spying on them, waiting to catch one of them outside.  If that hadn't worked, I'd have knocked on their door because we were leaving in the morning, and I HAD to find out how they liked it, how much it cost, where they got it, how long it takes to set up, what speeds they got, and a "few" questions like that.  As luck would have it, Ron came out to mess with his utilities, and I nabbed him.  After the formalities (which were intentionally short on my part -- these questions were about to burst out on their own!), Ron said he'd better go get his wife, as she was the "techie" in the family.  When she came out and gave me her name, I got that uncomfortable feeling there was something I was missing, but like I said, these questions were building up quiet a force.  When I mentioned I did a website, she seemed interested so I gave her one of our greeting cards.  She glanced at it and started to hand it back, saying something like, "Uh, this is Dave & Barb Jenkins", and then there was this click of recognition and she squealed something about following us forever, and then that uneasy feeling I'd had was relieved when she told me they were The Emptynesters!  AHA!  She'd written to me some time ago, I'd checked out their website, but hadn't been following it any more than any of the others I wish I could, because of the connection speed, and it seems to me there were a few more e-mails.  What a relief it was to me to put the loose ends together, and what a thrill to meet someone in person that we couldn't tell any stories to because she'd already read them!  Marc and Claudia are the only other people we know that we met on the internet because of RV'ing.  Well, we hunted down Barb and Ron Hoffmeister of "Movin' On" at a Life On Wheels conference a while back.  Anyway, it was good we'd not met before, or none of us would have gotten anything done!  It was great.  And not only did they answer most my questions, they gave us a copy of the "Gypsy Journal" that had an ad for the guy that sold them their satellite internet system.  I e-mailed him and we're doing the research.  What a kick.  Is this a great lifestyle or what?

See that swamp there?  Well, that's where we're parked here in Quitman, GA.  Well, almost.  This is actually the edge of a large lake that is part of the property the RV park is on.  Later you'll see the lake we're actually parked on.

We'd gotten up shortly after dawn to take a walk, and the dang swamp wasn't producing any alligators, or turtles, or big birds, or deer, or armadillos, or raccoons, or, or,..... but Barb wasn't going to give up easily!  It almost felt like home to see the Spanish moss again, and to feel the damp morning air, and smell the special smell that swamps have.

Yeah.  We're in cotton country--Georgia (& surrounding states).  But how do they get it from those fields into those big blocks?  And what's a "gin" anyway?  I know it's not distilled berry juice and has something to do with removing the seeds or something, and that Eli Whitney invented it, but that's about it.  And what do they do with it from here?  How's it get from there to my shirt? Well, that's another trip waiting to be taken.  Today we're taking a trip into Thomasville to look at a house.  Yeah, well, it's a special house and it's not for sale.  What we didn't know was that it was yellow. Boy, was it yellow!  The Lapham-Patterson House, built in 1885 as a winter "cottage" for a wealthy northerner.  Victorian resort-style architecture, oriental porch decorations, etc.

Boy, was it yellow.  And, believe it or not, it IS the original color. And the curator called that thing on the top its Fireman's Hat.  Kind of appropriate.  We could walk the grounds for free, and if we paid $4 each we could get a guided tour of the inside on the hour every hour between 9 and 5.  Barb had the money and I was willing to spend it.  What's new.

Since we had 20 minutes before "the hour" and we could get inside, we wandered the yard.  And it goes without saying that Barb was carrying the camera and saw a flower.  How 'bout those lines on the back side of this yellow house.  You ever seen anything so beautiful/ugly?  Nothing was symmetrical, and yet it was attractive.  There have been no additions to this house--it is all original.  And boy, is it yellow.

That chimney sure had some intricate brick work way up there.  Wonder why we can't make things pretty like that today.  And there's the tourists with grins.

The curator took our money and showed us to the library where we watched a video about the house and its original and subsequent owners.  The narrator for the video was our curator!  We got ALL our questions answered, and then some.  This lady really knew her stuff.  The story is that this fellow Lapham, the original builder, was a successful Chicago businessman.  Shoes.  And he got caught in the great Chicago fire and had some lung damage as a result.  The winter air in Thomasville was more healthy than that in Chicago, so he built down here.  And because of his fire experience in Chicago, every room in the home has an outside door or a big walk-through sized window that was nearly level to a deck or roof outside.  The upper floors would take you onto a deck, and, presumably, more safety than being caught inside the house.  And other health related things were involved in the building of this house.  There are minimal right angles.  The thought being that there aren't any in nature, and so a house without them would be a healthier house.  There was also no symmetry in the house. Joints don't match, windows aren't the same size, neither are doors.  Weird, but really well done.

Most the furnishings are from the period, but not from the original building.  The rather odd angles in the circular staircase were very well done, and you can see by the dining room floor pattern, that nothing lines up or matches.

The angled cuts not lining up, the trim strip on the door frame being cut rather than fitted, and the intricate work on the staircase all show a great attention to detail and craftsmanship, but an odd way to build.

The beautiful headboard appeared to be symmetrical, but then I was reminded it wasn't part of the original house, but only an example of furniture from the period.  The "toy room" was full of antique toys, but they were there for the visiting kids to play with.  Made us glad to see that there was someplace in the house where "look but don't touch" didn't apply.

Now, there's a BIG ball of yarn.  Barb's doing some more blanket building and, of course, that caught our eye.  See that design in the trim?  Well, that was supposed to represent good luck, and the house has it in several places.

There's that design again, and Barb is standing on the platform that the audience for the billiards players would be on, so they could watch the game.  We're on the 3rd floor, and it's just for the billiards games.  That stained glass window will shine colored lights on the floor and "sweep" it during the day.  Also supposed to be good for the health, I think.  Different pattern in each of the windows, but there's still one on every floor.

The house was built far enough out of town that electricity wasn't available yet, but it did have indoor plumbing.  This gas light fixture caught my eye because of the intricate work on the valve and fittings as well as the glass itself.  And back on the first floor, you can see the effect of the stained glass window beginning its "sweep" of the floor.

Remember, this guy was very health conscious, so he had a washbasin installed in the dining room.  The curtain would give some semblance of privacy to anyone washing their hands before dinner.