There is nothing plain about the Plains Historic Inn

Imagine being transported to a completely different decade. Well, you can be (sort of) at the Plains Historic Inn in Plains, Georgia. Plains is a tiny town that is home to a big name, former President Jimmy Carter. Carter was born in Plains and lives there today, and he teaches Sunday school on select Sundays throughout the year that anyone can attend. He has even joined his hometown in developing this Historic Inn for visitors to Plains. I was determined to meet President Carter and the inn seemed like the perfect place to stay the night before attending his Sunday school lesson.

The inn is composed of seven different suites and each suite is themed to a different decade, ranging from the 1920’s to the 1980’s. I stayed in the 1950’s suite and immediately fell in love with it. Bright colors were popping off of the walls, magazines from the 50’s were in our room on display, and we even had a 50’s television and phone. I really felt like I had went back in time. To get the true 50’s vibe flowing, I even chose to watch a black and white movie that was playing on TV. While there was a traditional 50’s television set in the room, right above it was a nice big flat screen TV as well. I had no idea that the original screens on TV’s from the 50’s were so small! I kept thinking, “How did people even watch anything on that tiny screen?!”, but I guess if that’s all you had then you’d enjoy it. However, I was thankful for the flat screen.

Above our door

Couch with a table full of magazines from the 1950’s in our suite

TV set from the 1950’s with a flat screen on top

I love this art and the little car

The suite had plenty of space for me to maneuver around in in my wheelchair and since all suites are located on the second floor, there was an elevator. I also noticed that a hoyer lift could easily fit under the bed. The only thing that didn’t quite live up to the accessibility standards that I need was the shower. It was a traditional bathtub and there was no handheld shower sprayer. I was told before going that it was a tub though, so I brought a connector piece that allows my shower chair to slide into the tub. It slid right in, but a handheld shower sprayer would have been great. This was really a very minor setback for me though and the other aspects of the inn definitely made up for it.

The dog in our bathroom was my favorite!

We even had a little Christmas tree in our room

On the second floor, right outside of our room, was the shared living area and kitchen. There was a television, couches, and a full kitchen. The refrigerator was stocked full of complimentary items for breakfast as well. There was cereal, oatmeal, sausage biscuits, muffins, orange juice, and more. You can eat these items at any time, as the refrigerator is free to use whenever. What really made this living area so special for me was the decorations. There were Christmas trees, lights, and other Christmas decorations. It was definitely getting me in the Christmas spirit.

While the Historic Inn is upstairs (or upelevator for me), the first level is an antique mall. There are over 25 booths and display cases. I bought a good bit of Jimmy Carter memorabilia and it was all reasonably priced. For example, you could buy a strip of 6 postcards for just 69¢. A lot of the stuff was actually from the 1970’s, which is when Carter became President. In addition to loads of Carter memorabilia, there was also tons of other goodies to choose from. I actually rolled around the entire antique mall twice because it was so fun to see everything. I wanted to just buy it all, but I tried to control myself. Haha!

Aside from the lovely inn and the antique mall, one of the greatest things about my visit was the hospitality. Miss Jan, who runs the inn, greeted us upon arrival with a huge smile and made sure we were accommodated and ready for a terrific stay. She recommended restaurants to try in the area and even made us her special guest at church the next morning with a front row seat to see President Carter. Miss Jan is a former school teacher and you can immediately tell that she was great at her job because she is such a nice person. You can also see her passion for Plains and the Carters in the way that she speaks about them.

If you want a quintessential small town America experience and want to meet a President while you’re at it, Plains is the perfect place to visit and there is truly no better place to stay than the Plains Historic Inn. My stay ended up being one of my favorite history lessons of all time and I can’t wait to return and experience a different decade.

*Thanks to the Plains Historic Inn for partnering with Curb Free with Cory Lee and hosting my stay. All opinions expressed are my own.