CORDELE, Ga. — Most people travel by climbing into their cars or catching a plane.
Gone are the days where people would line up at train stations in petty coats and wait for a train to lazily take them to a destination.
But folks can still get that experience in modern day fashion by getting out of the house for a Georgia Adventure.
Get a chance to see the Georgia countryside by climbing aboard the Sam Shortline in Cordele for a full day trip or in Americus for a shorter excursion.
There are historical and fun stops along the way.
Our adventure began at the Depot at Georgia Veterans State Park where the vintage 1949 cars stood ready to roll.
"We're not crowded. We're not rushed. We move along at a clip speed of 25 miles an hour," Lee Kinnamon, Chairman of the Sam Shortline board, said.
When picking up the train in Cordele, the first stop to 'come a calling' is in Leslie, Georgia. There you can check out the largest collection of antique telephones in the world an dial into 30,000 square feet of stuff.
After about an hour, the next destination is in Plains, President Jimmy Carter's birthplace.
Get Out of the House | Climb aboard the Sam Shortline to take in the Georgia countryside
Kinnamon he says the 39th President of the United States was key in engineering a plan to ride the rails.
"He was eager to provide a way for tourists to get to his hometown from the interstate," he said.
When stepping off into the heart of Carter's hometown, his face is everywhere. People can check out his campaign headquarters to see memorabilia from 1976, and then get a bite of lunch at the Buffalo Café.
They'll make that burger anyway you want it. It goes along with the Plains mentality — to make everyone feel welcome.
"Plains is not a ghost town and we want to keep it that way. We want to be overly friendly to try to help if they need anything and I think that's what makes us special," Buffalo Restaurant manager Jan Williams said.
There are COVID-19 precautions due to the pandemic. Families that board together can sit together, but other than that, they are spacing out the seats to ride.
They do a special Christmas ride in December where Santa will be on board.
That experience comes with food will run folks a little more for a ticket.
Climb on board and see south Georgia through a rolling window for a six and a half hour experience, giving you a glimpse into history and the ways of yesterday.