PLAINS — Twenty-seven years after leaving the White House, Jimmy Carter is still a magnet, attracting the curious to his hometown in the Sumter County peanut fields.

At the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, they visit the farm where our 39th president and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner grew up, see the school he attended, the peanut warehouse he managed, the church where he worships, the train depot where his quixotic quest for the presidency began, his brother Billy's new museum and the cemetery where his parents and siblings are buried.

William Schemmel (ENLARGE)

Tourists like to stop for photo ops with the Grinning Goober.

Photos Festival time The Plains Peanut Festival, Sept. 26-28, is the town's biggest annual celebration. Everybody turns out for the Saturday parade, and you can join a 1-mile fun run and 5K road race, shop for crafts and plenty of peanutty foods, and have Jimmy and Rosalynn autograph their books. Information Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, 300 N. Bond St., Plains. 229-824-4104, www.nps.gov/jica. Plains Better Hometown Association, 229-824-5375, www.plainsgeorgia.com. Georgia travel stories Westville: Pre-Civil War town is living museum  Allman Bros Band's 'Big House' to open as museum  Town is artisan-friendly  Five romantic spots for the newly wed  Art, music and scenery  Photos: Travel / Southeast Galleries Latest deals! Back to: Travel | Southeast destinations Travel Guide Powered by

Tourists buy peanuts and souvenirs and, sooner or later, it dawns on many of them that, yes, a man from humble beginnings really can reach the heights.

Don't miss

• The National Park Service Visitor Center, in the former Plains High School, is the logical starting point (open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., free admission). An NPS brochure tells the Carter saga and points the way to the historic site's other stops. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter attended grammar and high school in the red-brick building, which showcases the rural Southern life of the Carters and their classmates in the 1930s and '40s. Lessons are chalked on the blackboards. Stiff-backed desks are lined up like peanut rows in a red clay field. On an audiotape, Carter fondly remembers his teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, who admonished her charges to "accommodate changing times, but cling to unchanging principles." Valedictorian of the class of 1944, Rosalynn Carter recalled Miss Coleman's prophetic words that "any schoolboy, even one of ours, might grow up to be president of the United States." "Miss Julia" was a teacher, principal and guiding light at the school from 1908 to 1958. The last class graduated in 1979.

• The white-frame Plains Depot, circa 1888, was the nerve center of Carter's 1976 presidential campaign. From here, the 18-car "Peanut Special" carried most of the town's 700 residents to Washington for Carter's January 1977 inauguration. Nowadays, it's full of campaign signs, placards, newspaper stories and other memorabilia about the achievements of his one-term administration.

• The self-guided town tour takes you past the Dura Apartments, a public housing project at Thomas and Paschall streets, where the Carters and their three sons lived, in Unit 9-A, after Jimmy returned in 1953 to take over his deceased father's farm supply business. It's privately occupied and not open for visitors. Neither is the Carters' present home, guarded by a fence and Secret Service gatehouse. Carter's parents, Lillian and Earl Carter; his sister, Gloria; and brother Billy are buried in Lebanon Cemetery, on the edge of town.

• In May, Carter's folksy brother got his own museum. The Billy Carter Service Station Museum, in the gas station where he held court for locals and expounded on his views for the news media, is a joint project of several University of Georgia departments, the Plains Better Hometown Association and Billy's widow, Sybil. Carter owned the station from 1972 until he sold it in 1988, the same year he died of pancreatic cancer. You'll see his mud-caked cowboy boots, T-shirts, Liberty brand bib coveralls, photos, cans of his favorite Pabst Blue Ribbon and Billy Beer, letters from his friend Johnny Cash and copies of his book, "Redneck Power: The Wit and Wisdom of Billy Carter." (The museum is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Tuesdays, Thursdays-Fridays. Free. Weekend visitors can arrange a visit by calling the Plains Better Hometown Association, 229-824-5373.)

• Two miles from Plains, the Carter Boyhood Farm at Archery is staffed by NPS rangers, who talk about the farmhouse and outbuildings. Carter's parents and 4-year-old Jimmy moved into the white clapboard Sears, Roebuck catalog house in 1928. The family didn't have the luxury of running water until 1938, and even then showers were with cold water. Carter's recollections can be heard on push-button displays.

• You're welcome to attend Carter's Sunday Bible classes at Maranatha Baptist Church, which the Carters helped found in 1977 after a split with the conservative Plains Baptist Church. The former president built some of the furniture and sometimes helps with the yardwork. He's scheduled to teach Aug. 10, 17, 24 and 31. (Subject to change, so check ahead at www.plainsgeorgia.com. Click on Sunday school.)

• A 13-foot peanut with a familiar toothsome grin is one of the town's most photographed landmarks. Made by three Indiana residents in 1976, the Grinning Goober stands in front of Davis E-Z Shop on Ga. 45, a half-mile from the center of town.

Getting there

• By auto: Plains is about 150 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta. Take I-85/I-185 to Columbus and U.S. 280 to Plains.

• By train: The SAM Shortline Excursion train is a fun way to get there. Operated by Georgia State Parks, SAM (named for the 19th-century Savannah, Americus, Montgomery line) trains run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays June-December. For Plains and Archery, the Archery Explorer, Saturdays through Dec. 6, is the ticket. You leave Cordele, on I-75, 150 miles south of Atlanta, at 9:30 a.m., have 1 1/2 hours in Americus to see Habitat for Humanity's Global Village and entertainment at the 1920s Rylander Theater, where Carter celebrated his 75th birthday on Oct. 1, 1999; an hour and 15 minutes to explore Plains, and 40 minutes at the Boyhood Farm, before being returned to Cordele in late afternoon. Coach class seats are $22.99, adults; $19.99, age 62 and over; $12.99, age 3-12. Seats with chairs and tables are $29.99, adults; $17.99, children. The Friday Americus Adventurer visits only Americus and Plains. Volunteer conductors entertain passengers with the history of the refurbished 1940s and '50s cars and locomotives and the passing sights. 1- 877-427-2457, www.samshortline.com.

Where to eat, stay

• Mom's Kitchen is the town's only restaurant. Inexpensive, cafeteria line Southern breakfast and lunch served 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Dinner is on the line until 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Main Street/U.S. 280 downtown. 229- 824-5458.

• For dinner, try the Grand Dining Room at the Windsor Hotel in downtown Americus, 10 miles east. It serves contemporary American food with a full bar. Recently updated guest rooms are $100-$109. 125 W. Lamar St. 229-297-9567, 1-888-297-9567; www.windsor-americus.com.

• Across from the Plains Depot, the Plains Better Hometown Association has turned Carter's cousin Hugh's former souvenir store into the Plains Historic Inn & Antiques. Shoppers swarm over more than two dozen antiques and collectibles booths. Above, seven guest rooms and suites are decorated in styles from the 1920s to 1980, the decades from Carter's birth through his presidency. Jimmy Carter did some of the carpentry and Rosalynn assisted with the interior decor. Doubles, including continental breakfast, are $74.50, Sundays-Fridays; $85, Saturdays; $89/$110 in the 1970s presidential suite. 229-824-4517, www.plainsinn.com.