You can stay 53 times at the architecturally-striking Windsor Hotel in Americus, Ga., and your room won't look the same during any visit. That's because each of the 53 period-style guest rooms and suites has a personality of its own.
The deluxe choices are the Bridal Suite and the Presidential Suite in the hotel's distinctive tower.
The latter suite is in honor of the nation's 39th President, Jimmy Carter, who lives just down the road in Plains. He and Rosalynn are big supporters of the Windsor and were the featured guests last June when there was a grand re-opening.
Gotifried Leonard Norman, renowned Swedish-born architect who practiced out of Atlanta, designed the Windsor in 1890. He created a striking mix of High Victorian, Moorish and Islamic styles. The hotel was named for prominent local businessman and philanthropist John Windsor.
The grand opening on June 16, 1892, featured a grand ball on the fifth floor.
The Windsor fell on hard times in 1974 and closed its doors. It was given to the city of Americus and underwent an $8.5 million renovation before re-opening in 1991. There was an additional renovation in 2010 with the addition of a fitness and business center, new luxury bedding, microwave/refrigerators and flat screen TVs. It is now owned by a local couple.
Down through the years, famous guests at the Windsor have included President Franklin Roosevelt, presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, aviator Charles Lindbergh, baseball greats Ty Cobb and Shoeless Joe Jackson, labor leader Eugene Debs and actor Martin Sheen. Jessica Tandy and Hume Croyn stayed there when they were filming the Hallmark movie "To Dance with the White Dog" in 1994.
The Windsor is not the only striking late 1800s building in Americus, which was laid out in 1832. There's an old city hall/fire hall, an opera house, the Citizens Bank Building, the Thornton Wheatley Building that was once called the Pythian Castle and several more. Habitat for Humanity had its origins in Americus and its headquarters remains in a former Ford dealership.
Americus in its early days was a major cotton market. At one time, it was Georgia's eighth largest city. It was one of the first in the state to have electric streetcars.
Spreading toward Rees Park and Georgia Southwestern University are many elaborate old homes. A two-story home built in 1847 at Rees Park is operated as the Americus Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast.
Americus is the county seat of Sumter County, Jimmy Carter's home county.
While in Americus, you can drive to Plains on a Sunday and hear a Sunday School lesson by President Carter at the Maranatha Baptist Church. He is tentatively scheduled to teach at his home church on May 1, 15 and 22, June 12 and July 10, 17, 24 and 31. The dates are subject to change.
Andersonville Prison, where thousands of Federal soldiers died, is nearby. U.S. veterans are still buried there.
There are Mennonite farms, an old train depot and more historic homes at nearby Montezuma on the Flint River.