JFK Presidential Library

 September 24, 2024

Took the hotel shuttle to UMass Redline and boarded the number one shuttle at UMass. Everyone else was getting on the bus without a word, but the driver looked at me and says “where?”  I told him and  he said you got the right bus, get off of the third stop .    How did he know I was not a UMass student?

Excellent film on the early life, which ended with the 1960 convention.  The exhibit for the 1960 election features a street with storefronts with artifacts behind the windows with everything from kitchen appliances to a TV set showing leave it to Beaver.    

Kennedy's inaugural speech was short.  Full of inspiration and quotes from many sources.

Kennedy did the first ive press conferences on TV.    He started the Peace Corps.   Film of many of his speeches and transcripts of more.

Presidential gifts are interfaced throughout the hall along with history presentations.  I felt like I was in the White House.

Film “To the Brink”.    About 20 minutes, using actual voice from the situation room. Excellent.  Cuban Missile Crisis

An avid sailor and a good golfer, he made a conscious effort not to be compared to Eisenhower, who everyone thought spent too much time on the golf course.   Kennedy tried to do it quietly outside Hyannisport.

The view in front of the Kennedy Center is much better at 1 o’clock than it was at 9:30     The sky has cleared up.     I was given a little momento and a certificate in honor of me completing the 13 National Archives presidential libraries 

The café, although everything was prepackaged, I had the meatball sandwich and it was tasty    

The Kennedy library is on the grounds of University of Massachusetts. Most of the buildings that I see are modern and quite attractive, as are the students. 

After purchasing the required coffee mug, and refrigerator magnet, I headed into Boston. I took three different subways to the long wharf without getting lost!

I visited the USS Constitution and the USS Cassin.   The Cassin is a preserved Fletcher class destroyer, and was a sister ship to the USS Gregory, on which my father served in the late 50s.   

Both ships are in the Charlestown naval shipyard.   There is an historic drydock that is now used only to take care of these two ships.

The national park service runs the museum and the destroyer, but the navy has kept the constitution as a commissioned ship since the early 1800s.  The crew are active-duty Navy personnel.

And now for a little potty humor.   The following was posted were even the king must go on foot.

The park service tries to keep the children entertained.   There are many activities in the museum to include build a boat, And they had a pretty high-quality putt putt course on the dock.  

I’m pretty sure there’s a rule that says a Texan in Boston has to buy a lobster roll.  I did and it was very tasty.   The food was good and the service was quite good.    Karina asked me to post on one of the opinion pages, but I told her this is as close as it gets.   Karina gets five stars!    Bostonia Public House.  

The green salad was one of the better I’ve had.
 It was packed pretty tightly in that little bowl!