As you may recall, the folks are visiting all the Presidential Libraries/Museums. There are 13. Each time they visit one, they get their Passport To Presidential Libraries book stamped.
Yesterday, they visited one of the libraries that Mom has been very excited about seeing. Which one? The Ronald Reagan Library!
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| The stamp at the bottom left makes the visit official. |
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The folks have visited nine libraries and only have four left. Once they visit all the libraries, they will receive a crystal paperweight. Sure, it doesn't sound like much, but it is the adventure of it and the paperweight is just a bonus. They still need to visit the following libraries: Clinton, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Ford.
Mom said the scenery around the library is beautiful. She can definitely see why the Reagan's chose it. Construction began in 1988 and was dedicated in 1991.
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| Mom liked the touch of the elephant. |
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The Entrance.
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The cost to enter is $16 a person. A short video is shown and it was somewhat disappointing. Most of the videos at the other libraries tell you about the President's life, but this one was about America and how he improved it.
Another different thing at this one is that he did not show much at all of his childhood. His first wife was not mentioned. There were just a few photos of the children he had with Nancy and those were of them as adults. It really focused on him and Nancy and not family. That is different from the other libraries. Obviously that is how he wanted it because he was alive when it was built. He did not die until 2004.
Mom said that the library was classy. The employees were very professional. This library had a different feel to it.
Some of President Reagan's love notes to Nancy are on display. He used to send her telegrams when he was away that were funny and full of love. They definitely had a love story.
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Campaign items.
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| Here is a teleprompter. Mom had never seen one in action before. |
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| The clothes that the Reagan's wore on inauguration day. |
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| One of the many flags they were sent that were flown by Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis. |
Mom was a classmate of the brother of one of the hostages, Rocky Sickmann. They flew a flag at their home, too.
President Carter did his best to get the hostages home but they refused to negotiate with him. The day that Reagan took office, the hostages were released. President Reagan sent Carter to Germany to meet with them. It was a nice gesture for him to do since Carter worked so hard to get them released. It may have also been a jab at the Iranians.
Here is a re-creation of the Oval Office:
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| There's the jelly beans. |
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| Some of Nancy's dresses. |
Since it is Christmas time, they had a display of Christmas trees from around the world.
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| This is the Canadian tree. Is this how you decorate Veil and Maddy? |
The one thing that makes this library really stand out is Air Force One. Yep, Air Force One is actually there and it can be toured. It served
seven U.S Presidents from 1973 to 2001, including Presidents
Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W.
Bush.
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| The Presidential china. |
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| Presidential Reagan's office. |
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| Mrs. Reagan's area. |
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| Mom thinks this was Mrs. Reagan's office, but can't remember for sure. |
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Maybe it was this one.
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| Dad departing Air Force One |
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Motorcade car.
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| Marine One with Santa as a the pilot. No photos were allowed on that part of the tour. |
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| Remember this from our Jelly Belly tour? |
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| Here are some photos of the scenery around the library. |
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| Replica of the Berlin Wall |
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| Reagan and Gorbachev |
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| Some of Reagan's saddles and belt buckles. |
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| His hat. |
There were also images from the Challenger disaster. Mom didn't get photos of that. There were many other things in the museum, but Mom didn't take pictures of everything.
He announced in 1996 that he had Alzheimer's Disease and he died in 2004. There is a memorial room. There are four big screens that show scenes from his funeral. Mom said it was very sad and several people were wiping their eyes.
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| The boots that were in his funeral procession. The bugle that was played. |
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| The flag that was on his casket. |
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| One final photo. |
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| Piece of Berlin Wall in the garden. |
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| More of the scenery. |
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| South Lawn |
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| Burial site. |
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| More scenery from the front of the library. |
Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Ready For More Adventures
