THURSDAY 29

On the Grounds of SMU.

THURSDAY 29^th…….I arrived at Bush 43 in time to walk around and take many pictures of the outer grounds before the doors opened at 9:30. This was also a most impressive creation, again, a large lobby with the famous Cigarette Boat off in a far corner. Perhaps it is not fair to say it was off by itself. Actually the boat was on the same floor as the lobby but not really part of the lobby. It took about an hour to make the tour, I did not stop for many of the TV presentations, and most of those are old television news clips or interviews. It was then a two hour drive to visit LBJ. His Library is most impressive, ten floors, three of them are available to the tourist and no windows at all are to be seen from the front of the building. Of course the Lobby entrance has a full window front but the rest of the building appears to be a large box. The scene is not difficult to accept, it is all well done, in a beautiful sitting on the campus of Texas A&M. . . . . After leaving there I turned west and began my 1402 mile trek to Yorba Linda, California to see the Nixon Library. I spent the night in Fort Stockton, Texas and continued the next morning.

Bush 43 Oval Office

Bush 41 Entrance

Bush 41 Oval Office

LBJ

LBJ Oval Office

 

WEDNESDAY 28th

...........A long day, I left the Elford Mansion shortly before 8am  and arrived at Bush 41 Library about noon. I have not down loaded those pictures but I will post a couple of others. After leaving Dallas I thought I knew where I was going next and I got on I-35 heading South. Several hours later I discovered that I-45 would have been much better. As it is I arrived in College Station too late to get into the Bush 41 Library so I'll do that in the morning. During my travels this afternoon I drove by the LBJ Library so hopefully I will have no problem finding it again tomorrow. Lets hope!

When I first saw this in the Norton Museum I thought I was looking at a photograph, silly me. It is a beautiful oil by a local man who is highly thought of in this community. I am sorry to say I can not recall his name.

This is a shot of the interior of the car that is sitting in the lobby of the State Museum. Don't forget to click on these pictures, they look much better enlarged.

TUESDAY 27th

.............Arrived at the Elford Mansion at about 7:15 yesterday. Had a nice piece of chicken for dinner and a great shower. Didn't really need the shower but did it anyway. Today Len took me to the local Museum and I enjoyed snapping a few more pictures. Lunch was great, I had work done on the car at a fair price and the weather was hotter than the devil, just the way I like it. I plan on leaving for the Bush Libraries in the morning. In the meantime I will post a few of the Museum pics for your amusement. 

The lobby  of the La. State Museum.

An outside shot of same.

This is inside of the Norton Art Gallery.

The little sign at the end of the stone says 'Eat more Beef'

Entrance to Norton Art Gallery.

MONDAY 26th

……….I was at the Clinton Library before noon and found that to be a wondrous building. Very large but mostly empty space inside. The TV presentations are fine and I especially liked the Oval Office presentations. I am not sure the pictures convey all that I am attempting but here is a couple to give you some idea. It is now Monday afternoon and I am south of Little Rock at a truck stop posting this blog. My plan now is to hop in the car and make a run for the Elford Place in Shreveport.

Clinton Lobby, entrance off to the left then we have to go through the xray machine behind the upper left wall before entering. First time I have run into Security so tight.

Clintons Oval office recreated.

The front entrance, the library is in a beautiful sitting.

SUNDAY 25th

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SUNDAY 25^TH……..I arrived at the Carter Library as it opened at 9am. The presentation is what is becoming standard. Many low volume TV’s with ongoing rhetoric pertaining to the subject of the particular ‘booth’ one has entered. The walls and many supporting columns are used to show photographs of different times in the life and Presidency of the man. After leaving there I drove to Nashville and took pictures of the Parthenon. I found that to be a great production but it will never be as fine as the real thing in Athens. This one was not made of individual stones stacked on top of one another but it does make me want to return to Athens to see how the restoration is going on the real thing.

The Main Lobby of Carters Library

His Oval Office recreated

Pond behind the facility, a great place for peace and quiet.

 

A close up

And from a distance. I will post interior pic's on YouTube.

 

SATURDAY 24th

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Saturday 24^th…………..This was a long day and I arrived at the Carter Library too late to get inside for pictures. I traversed the grounds and got some nice shots of the area with the sun low in the west. The plan is to return tomorrow morning and visit inside. The only problem with that is that they do not open until noon on Sunday; that will slow things up a bit but so it goes. . . . .Above is a close up of the entrance. I am impressed with the design of the building and the way it blends with the surroundings. This property is pure art, in all of its glory. All of the neighborhood only adds to the beauty.

Wednesday, Thursday,Friday 23rd.

............After visiting the Kennedy Library I found myself at Hyde Park where I had a chance to get many pictures....... I have always wanted to drive out to the far Eastern end of Long Island just to be able to say I had been there. This Highway takes one through the 'Hamptons' of Long Island and the properties are something to see. I was not able to see any because off all the foliage around the places. I must say the driveways looked nice...and well paved. I arrived at the end of the Long Island world about dark and only took a couple of pictures of the light house before it got too dark.
The next morning I drove to New Jersey and took a few pictures of the Russian Teardrop before continuing [in the rain] toward Mt. Vernon. I pulled in there around noon today, Friday, still enjoying the rain. Some of the folks in my pictures are dressed for it but some were not. I was one of the nots. I will post a few of the pictures of the past three days, I hope you enjoy!

The F.D.R.'s entertaining a visitor.

The front of the house.

The Living room

Busts in the visitors lobb

This is what is standing at the end of Long Island. Now you know.

The Russian Teardrop, Google it, some story.

Mt. Vernon. The House

The Washington's had very nice furniture.

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TUESDAY 20th

.........I was the first person in the door at the Kennedy Library this morning. The entire bottom floor is filled with memorabilia of the Kennedy years in the white house. A large amount of it is presented with actual recorded TV announcements
and speeches. There are many dozen TV sets running at all times, giving you the story of his 1,000 days with actual TV footage. The lower floor is broken up into many "side rooms" where there is a TV explaining what is going on. It all leads up to the fatal day in Dallas. I get the idea that it is to help see Kennedy as the first TV President. It is all well done and there are many items of more personal nature on display too. I spent as much time outside photographing the grounds as I did inside. At first I was not impressed with the location but as time went on it seemed to grow on me.

The entry. Behind the building is Boston Harbor.

 

A park like setting is part of the campus.

 

 Kennedy's sailboat, much smaller than I had expected, probably as large as one man would want to handle in trying circumstances.

The Bay, with the Boston skyline early morning. this is the view from the rear of the Library.

 

The lobby, clean and neat, no extra unneeded things to clutter up the place.

 

The main hallway downstairs with the presentation rooms branching off to each side.

I had been having problems with the puter so I pulled off I 84 on the way to FDR and got a motel room. The puter is working fine again, the battery is all charged up and my chess games and blog entries are up to date. Tonight I will sleep well and tomorrow morning I will stop in on FDR. 

 

 

MONDAY 19th

......After leaving Niagra Falls Sunday night I drove about 60 miles East of Buffalo and shut things down for the night. I drove 419 miles that day and visited the Falls too.

SUNDAY 18th

........My plan was to stop at Niagra falls on the Canadian side but I did not turn at the proper place so ended up in the lane that took me to U.S. Customs. I arrived in line at 12:30 and it took till 2pm getting beyond that point. The time it took the Customs Officer to question me was about two minutes. The gas tank was in sad shape so I gassed up at $3.89 per gallon and drove the short distance to the entrance to Niagra Falls Park in the city of Niagra Falls, New York. I must mention that during the long drive from Salt St. Marie I bought 4 gallons of gas from a Canadian station. That sat me back $20.06 American. Our gasoline prices follow Canada by about a year so I expect we will all be paying that before too long.....I snapped many pictures at the park and the falls. Here is a smidgen of the total. 

The beginning of a very nice, long walk. I made it a lot longer than necessary by getting lost but so it goes. The weather was just right for a long walk in the area of the Falls.

 

That is Canada in the background

 

I was tempted to take the picture knowing it would be too light to be easily seen.

 

Before reaching this walkway between islands and the actual falls further downstream the water comes rushing down a slope of bedrock. The water is only about a foot deep, maybe two in places but it is running at  great speed.

 

The top of the falls looking down on the yellow jacketed paying customers who wished to get up close and personal with the falling water. I believe the tour takes them behind the falls. That must be a noisy place!

 

The tower reaching over the falls is loaded with tourists at $15.50 a pop. I spent my money on an ice cream cone.

SATURDAY 17th

The Rest Stop sign promised a view  but by the time I got the car parked the bushes had grown so high that not much could  be seen. I think there used to be a large lake out there somewhere. This Rest Stop is on the way to Salt St. Marie in Canada. My '52' Buddy Bob Vetious, recommended I take the detour just to see the Longest suspension bridge in the country. The bridge connects lower and upper Michigan.

Rest Stop with a view [not].

People who study such things have determined that the glaciers of 10,000 years ago pushed this rock about 200 miles and left it at this location. They feel they can match it exactly with  rocks of the same type from the other location further north.

The village that stood at this location many years before the bridge was built still has a presence in the neighborhood. It is a nice tourist trap now. The longest archeological 'digs' in the country is taking place right here.

A long shot of the bridge, arriving in Northern Michigan way over that'a way.

 My plan was to stitch these last two pics together before posting but I forgot. I will do that when I make up my YouTube pesentation after I get home.

 

 

 

FRIDAY 16th

I arrived at the Ford Library later in the afternoon. This campus is located in a beautiful spot right next to the University at Ann Harbor.

The scene of the front of the building, the grass extends in all directions from this point. It is a landscapers dream.

As one enters the lobby you find that there are steps leading down to the main floor. This lobby section is all that is open to the public. There are many 'trinkets' being displayed in the cases on the floor and the area along the wall.

A 'available light' picture of the office Ford used while at the Library. Flash pictures are not allowed at any of the Presidential libraries I have visited.

This is the best composite picture I could produce of the Courtyard at the back of the building. The end of the visitors section is on the left of the scene but the building really reaches out another two hundred feet or so to the right. That is the Library section that is used by Historians and writers. I would have liked to get in there and walk around but it did not appear to be in the cards.

This is all behind a glass case built into the wall. There are several such cases with memorabilia.