ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – For nearly 40 years, Marion Mims has served customers at Atlanta’s iconic Mary Mac’s Tea Room.

She has waited on a number of celebrities over the years, but none bigger than former President Jimmy Carter.

“When he came in and I waited on him, I almost started crying. I said I get a chance to wait on Jimmy Carter,” Mims said.

It’s a moment in time, Mims will not soon forget considering she waited on him many times. She remembers it like it was yesterday.

Mims said Carter would sit at a round table back in the day when it was in the middle of the Atlanta dining room next to The Carter Center mural on the wall.

“He loved it. He loved the picture,” Mims said.

Carter also loved to order the fried chicken and vegetable plate with a side of Southern hospitality.

“I put my hand on his shoulder, and I said what can I get you to drink baby. I called him baby. I call all my customer’s baby,” Mims said. “He loved that. He just smiled.”

Mims said all the servers wanted to wait on Carter when he came in and not just because he was a gentleman, but because he was a good tipper.

“I think the first time, I got $50, and the bill wasn’t that high, and I think one of the other servers got like $100 from him,” Mims said.

Perhaps the real reason Carter loved to dine at Mary Mac’s was his special recipe for “Carter Custard,” which he gave the restaurant. And in his honor, it’s back on the menu this week only.

“It’s real peanuty, really, really peanuty,” Customer Crystal King said.

And just about as unique as Carter’s custard is on the menu at Mary Mac’s Tea Room are the number of photographs of the former president on the wall. He takes up more room than any other celebrity or dignitary and in one, he left a personal note.

“Thanks for putting the custard on the menu. This will be a great boost to my campaign. Love, Jimmy” the note dated February 1976 reads.

“He was really down to Earth, he was real down to Earth,” Mims said.

The Carter legacy will live on at Mary Mac’s and Mims is just grateful to have been a part of it.

“He’s really going to be missed. He’s really going to be missed,” Mims said.

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D.C. officials are urging people experiencing homelessness to go to shelters amid this week’s dangerously cold temperatures.

Tent encampments covered with snow could be spotted throughout the city after Monday’s snow storm.

About 1,400 people stayed in the city’s shelters Tuesday night, officials said.

“You kind of, like, make the best of it, and you do what you have to do to survive,” said Eban Nimblett, who has been experiencing homelessness for more than three years. “Me and other people in our situation, we try to comfort up and just stay whole.”

Nimblett, who spoke to News4 at one of D.C.’s day centers, described what it’s like living on the streets when it’s dangerously cold outside.

“Treacherous, treacherous. It’s like you wandering. You might end up at Union Station or riding the buses or the subway or just kind of wander out, just looking for a place to actually, you know, to huddle up and keep warm,” Nimblett said.

D.C. officials say the city has enough space in its shelters, but convincing people to take advantage of them is often difficult.

“It’s very important that people understand how dangerous hypothermia can be,” Rachel Pierre, an administrator for the D.C. Family Services Administration, told News4.

“For people who won’t come out in the cold, we have outreach, checking on them, distributing warming items, hand warmers, socks, dry shoes, blankets, as many blankets as they want, as many blankets as they need, as many sometimes tarps, if that’s their request,” Pierre said.

She said the city continues to check on those that refuse to come to a shelter in case they change their minds.

The day center where News4 met Nimblett is blocks away from the White House and offers meals, hot showers and medical services.

“Once I learned about this place, I kind of fell in love with the people here, and they got to know me and they have the doctor here, they have laundry, a place to take a shower, they feed. You can sit in, watch TV, keep warm,” he said.

If you see someone you think might need help you can call the shelter hotline at (202) 399-7093 or dial 311. D.C.’s hypothermia vans operate 24 hours a day.

For more information on the city’s cold weather resources, including shelter locations, go here.