Benjamin Harrison

 Wednesday, May 7, 2025

I left Madison, Wisconsin this morning at 7:30, about 30 minutes later than I had wanted.   The issue is that I crossed into Eastern Time Zone somewhere in Indiana, meaning I came close to missing the 2:00 tour of the Benjamin Harrison Home in Indianapolis.   But I was only about 3 minutes late and they slipped me into the tour. (I became tourist # 4!)

This brings up an issue that I don't know if there is a solution.   Tooo many of these tourist attractions have brief hours.   The Harrison home's last tour is 2:00 and the visitor's center closes at 3:30.   Makes it difficult to do multiple stops in the same day.   And, The home is nothing without the tour!   

Benjamin Harrison, grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was president for 4 years, between the two non-consecutive terms of Grover Cleveland.   His wife was a founder of the DAR.   Harrison was the last president to have a beard.   He had a telephone in his home.   He built up the Navy.  His wife was very active, behind the scenes.   She was quite the artist and designed the White House China.  She died at the end of his term, and he later married his late wife's niece.

                                                            An Early Home Gym!

The family was well known for the pet goat they kept at the White House.   The story went that the little daughter was being pulled by the goat when it took off down the street.   At the last minute, the President of the United States grabbed the goat and child, and averted serious injury.  There is a children's book about it that I now wish I had bought.   The garden has that book on a large outdoor display.

Tomorrow's goal is William Henry Harrison's home in Vincennes, followed by a visit to a WWII LST, floating on the Ohio River.   Kentucky will be next.  As of today, I have visited something of all but 10 presidents, and Obama's Center is not open yet.

Madison, Wisconsin and the Houston Astros @ the Brewers

 Monday and Tuesday, May 5 and 6, 2025

Monday, I had a pleasant drive to Madison, Wisconsin to see my cousin Victor and his wonderful bride, Kathy.  Of all my cousins, we are probably the closest, both in ages and in values and lifestyles.

                                                     Image by Victor Kilman

On the way, I stopped at the Wisconsin Welcome Center.  I went in all boisterous and talkative (you think?) and was met by three staffers who matched my energy.  Every place I mentioned was met with brochures, no, books of places they wanted me to se while in the Badger State!

Victor and I had an easy drive to Milwaukee to see the Astros lose to the Brewers.   Is it me?  We sat 8 rows rom the field, not far beyond 3rd base, close to the Astros dugout.  I had some kind of Reuben Roll (it was an eggroll with kraut!) from a "food truck" on the second level.   Good, friendly crowd.   The roof was closed.

At the game, I met up with friends Laura and her Mom, Sandi, from Houston!  Laura teaches 2nd grade and has a tradition of going to an Astros game on her birthday, where ever that may be!

We wandered the parking lot for a bit, as I forgot where we had come in to the stadium.   Found it!

                                                      Image by Victor Kilman

Victor and Kathy live just down the street from a nature preserve.   Their back yard is also a nature preserve.   They combine a love of birds with Victor's hobby of photography.   The bird house at the top of the page is right outside the glassed in back porch / breakfast area.   These shots were taken from inside the house!  Their granddaughter has a box of bird "trading cards" with velcro.  Any bird she can identify goes on her little board.   So far, she has identified 15 distinct species!   The baby birds are sparrows.   The orange/yellow bird is a Baltimore Oriole.    Young Katherine has not seen this one yet, but Victor has!

Astros @ Chicago White Sox, Sunday, May 4

 

I attended South Park Church with my friends.  I met two of Pam and Cy's adorable grand kids.  This church started in the 40's and asked nearby Wheaton College for a preacher.  A young ministerial student was interested, but needed transportation to the church.   And so, Billy Graham became their first preacher!

We stopped in Cy and Pam's neighborhood at Rodham Corner, childhood home of Hillary Rodham, who later became fairly well known in America.

We fought our way to South Chicago on the freeway to Rate Field to see the Astros play the White Sox.   Great seats behind the plate, I could have called strikes and balls from there!  Many other Astros fans in attendance.   The game started well for us, but about the time the weather fell apart, so did the Astros.  We called the game in the 5th, I think the umpires called it in the 6th.   White Sox, 5-4.

I had an Italian Beef sandwich (roll) that was very good.  Pam came back with a burger and enough hot, delicious seasoned fries for all of us.

We struggled back on the freeway.   Houston has nothing on this eternal mess!  I then drove 40 minutes to my niece's place in Uptown, north of downtown Chicago, and just off of Lake Michigan.  As I approached Sophie's 100 year old 4th floor walkup, my texts lit up with requests from my siblings, especially Sophie's mom, asking for (almost demanding) pictures and details.   I complied.  Sophie and her roomates all went to Lawrence College in Wisconsin.   Her boyfriend, Amos cooked a wonderful dinneer of Pesto Pasta with a scrumptious mess of grilled / roasted begies.   I reported back to sister Allie that the place was nicely done, and Sophie and Amos are quite happy.  They have started planning a wedding for late '26 in a Wisconsin State Park.   I clarified that this was common knowledge with her mom (my sister Allie) as I no longer like to keep secrets.   Amos collect maps, so I really like him!

Ok, here is an update.   I was on my way to Marquette, Michigan to spend time with sister Kristen and her hubby Mark.    That has changed.   They had a little medical scare Friday, which has resolved itself, but they won't be in Marquette for several more days.    So......, Wednesday morning, bright and early, I am changing course, and will head for Indiana to learn about William Henry Harrison and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison.   I will try to visit all of my presidential sites between there and Princeton, NJ, before crossing into Canada at Buffalo, and if the Canadians will let this old Texan in their fine country, I will cross Ontario and return to America several day later, in Michigan, where I hope to spend time with my sister.    Stay tuned.

I 

Chicago, May 3, 2025

 The main purpose of this month-long journey is to visit presidential sites, homes and museums between St Louis and Princeton, NJ, but there are other things I want to do.   I am on my way to the upper peninsula in Michigan to see sister Kristen.   More on that later.

I spent a wonderful weekend with friends Cy and Pam in Chicago.   They recently moved from Houston to be close to grandchildren.  They have a beautiful home and are long-time friends from church.

Saturday morning, we took a Metra train from Park Ridge to downtown and took an Uber to the Griffen Museum of Science and Industry.  (For many years, Chicago Museum .... , but Mr Griffen recently gave $150 mil, so .....)  It has been a lifelong dream of mine to someday visit the captured German submarine, U-505 that is in the basement of the South Chicago museum.   It was everything and more!

At the main junction of the museum is a light show extraordinaire that changes constantly.   We watched as preschoolers sat, stood and danced to the lights and were amazed as they discovered that their movement influenced lines and other patterns on the floor.  Truly magic.  I saw a docent offer random children headsets that turned their view of the room upside down!  Amazement and awe!  They even let me wear one.  I could not catch the ball, and I was the one tossing it.

We visited a very large and amazing train layout.  The first part is Chicago, complete with skyline and the El, and lots of trains!  Next was Seattle (I assume this layout is on loan from a Seattle museum!)

I saw many cool things, but I came to see the U-505.   We had tickets for the 1:00 tour and the program said to be there 30 minutes early for the display that leads up to the actual sub.   Impressive!

As a teenager I read all about Captain Daniel V Gallery and his hunter-killer group during WWII.  They had noticed that the last sub they sank had stayed on the surface for several minutes before sinking, and the tak force decided it would be worth while to capture the next sub, if for no other reason, to capture code books and cypher sets.   Long and short of it - They Did!

They towed a captured German sub across the Atlantic, kept the crew hidden until war's end, and kept all that intel a secret.

After the war, Admiral Gallery convinced the Navy to let his hometown of Chicago have the sub, and by 1954 it had been towed through the Great Lakes.  It spent 50 years outside the museum, but about 15 years ago Chicago lowered the U-505 into the basement and put a roof over it.   It has been restored, sound effects and lights added, and groups of 20 at a time get the full treatment.  This was AMAZING!  This may be the best museum ship I have seen.  Mr Kent, our guide, was a magnificent story teller.  I felt like a kid again, realizing all the stories I had read over 50 years ago!   This was well worth the trip!

We also toured  a restored Burlington Zephyr as we left the museum.  This museum qualifies as a check mark on my bucket list!

Illinois on a Friday

 I spent the night at a Best Western in Springfield, Illinois.  Pleasant breakfast of sausage and egg and I was in the car by 7:30.    Forgot to check the gas gauge and ended up driving about 3 miles off the freeway to find a station.   No, I did not run out, but note that Tuesday in Houston, I paid $2.39 a gallon.    This morning set me back $3.39, and I put more in the tank than the manual says it holds!

Eureka is a pleasant little farming / college town not far from Peoria.   Ronald Reagan went to college there.   The joke on campus is when you ask where something is, they tell you, "oh, it's the red brick building!"  All the buildings are red brick.

The museum is in the student center, probably the newest building on campus.  The room is spacious, bright, and has Reagan quotes throughout.   As president, he gave a major foreign policy speech from Eureka College.   Gorbachev spoke there once.

An exhibit I liked was biographies of some of his favorite professors.   They also have one of his actual English papers!

The garden has a requisite piece of the Berlin Wall.

This is small town America.   The volunteer Fire Department will sell pork chop lunches this Friday.

Next, I made my way to Reagan's boyhood home, still not sure where.   On the way, I crossed the Illinois river and saw a monument to a medal of honor winner, next to a WWII torpedo, in the town of Henry.  I can also tell you the American Legion will host a chicken dinner this month.

I never realized how much farming goes on in Illinois.   I saw miles and miles of farms, and got behind many grain trucks.

Tampico is the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.   I challenge you to find it on the map!   This museum is run by enthusiastic volunteers, with maybe more information than I was looking for.   But I learned a lot about the little town.  They have had visitors from all over the world, especially from behind the former Iron Curtain.   One lady gave the museum a handful of pieces of the Berlin Wall!  

Others did art work.  Little Ronald lived in several buildings on Main Street, including over the bank. 

  I learned that young Ronald's favorite pose for pictures was to look like Rodin's "The Thinker".   I guess it became a local joke, because someone commissioned a statue of him which is in the city park, of a 10 year old Ronald standing on a civil war cannon, with his hand under his chin!

I had lunch at a little pub across the street from the museum.  I was surprised that I could have bought a Shiner Bock in a farming town in Northwest Illinois.   My server said she sells a lot, even more when they have it on tap!

 

I am getting used to GPS, which is good because I could never have found my way without it.   Illinois toll roads scare me, and for good reason.    I'm used to crowded freeways, but Illinois offered me a car on the side of the freeway, fully on fire!   I was doing 70, and was getting passed all the time.

I recently got a present from Social Security, after the repeal of the Windfall profits something, that had reduced my Social Security because I draw teacher retirement.   Anyways, the check was unexpected, and nice, and I walked into a European Train Store outside Chicago and had a lot of fun!   Remember the difference between man and boy is the price of his toys!    There was one train I really wanted, that they could have gotten from the warehouse, but the tariff just doubled the price way beyond what I am willing to pay.

I am staying with friends Pam and Cy, here in Chicago.   They recently retired here to be close to grandchildren.    More on this later.

I will post again tomorrow.

Grant's White Haven

 This morning I drove from just north of Little Rock, to St Louis.   Hiram Ulysses Grant was stationed in St Louis as a young lieutenant before the Mexican War.   His West Point friend took him to his childhood home where the young US Grant met his friend's sister, Julia Dent.   A long and slow courtship ensued.   The Dent family had about 800 acres.   The house was White Haven.    When Grant acquired the house and some of the land, he had the house painted "Paris Green"    They say it's because it was an expensive color and he wanted to show that he was a man of means!  

The name US Grant is due to a clerical error at West Point, and the name stuck.

The National Park Service administers this house and they are doing a fine job.   It took them many years to restore the house to the way it was when Julia and Ulysses lived there.  NPS moves their people around, I guess.  The staff at White Haven wanted to know if I had seen their friend Ashton at Clinton's boyhood home.   He was my tour guide and had asked me to convey greetings to them!

A feature I really liked was a little video that showed what meal time was like between Julia, Grant, and Julia's father.   The video screen is the mirror over the fireplace!

An interesting feature in the house:  this picture shows the construction of the walls.   Heavy timbers, covered with wooden laths, and then plastered.    I remember that my grandparents' house upstairs had wood lath covered with wall paper.    I guess sheet rock is a recent thing!

Much of the land that was once the Dent farm is now called Grant's Farm, right down the street, and is owned by the Busch family.   The farm was closed today, but I spotted a number of the Clydesdales in the pastures!

I stopped at the Illinois welcome center.   It took me a few minutes to figure out the sign in front of the building.   These are the little figures that are on all the Google Maps!

I got to Springfield in time to take a short bike ride.   I should have driven to the trailhead, as the street I took from the hotel to the trail is not very bike-friendly, but the trail was nice.

Tomorrow I will try to leave the hotel early, as I will visit three places before stopping at Pam and Cy's home in Chicago

  

Clinton Boyhood Home

 April 30.  I made it from Houston to Little Rock.

I stopped in Hope, Arkansas to visit the boyhood home of President Bill Clinton.

The staff were very nice and informative.   National Park Service Rangers.   I forget my guide's name, but he was very knowledgeable, and like all good guides, made a point of clarifying which furnishings are original, and which ones bear a real resemblance.   He told me Clinton swears the little roll-top desk is original, but NPS is not so sure.  I met Sheila, who had helped me on the phone last week.  She is a retired teacher and has been a ranger for several years.   I got a one-on-one tour.   The house is on the main drag, close to the railroad tracks.   This was his Grandparent's home, he and his mom lived there for his first four years.   Then the house went through several owners and a fire.   It was almost torn down, but it was purchased for the foundation and restored, becoming a NPS site some years ago.   Most of the furnishings are as close as they could find, but one of his favorite books is the original and is encased in lucite.   His rocking chair looks very similar to the one I still have from my own childhood.

Now, here is a cool thing that I've never seen before.   Hope, Arkansas had a birthday calendar, and they put Clinton on it in 1947!   The ranger showed me a picture of the page, the original calendar is set to January and they don't touch it any more.

One of the best selections of fridge magnets I have seen.   The quote of the place is:  "I still believe in a place called Hope."

  
I asked the visitor's center on I-30 for a place where I could get a salad for lunch.   They sent me to downtown Hope to a country kitchen type place, where salad was nowhere on the menu!  But they made me one and topped it with some of the best grilled chicken breast I have tasted.

I ignored my car's warning and almost ran out of gas.   The exit I took from I-30 led me about 3 miles to a wide spot in the road with $3.00 / gallon gas!   But I got my gas.

Got to my Best Western in Jacksonville, north of Little Rock, just before the bottom dropped out of the sky.    Tornado warning on my phone, sirens, and the lights went out for about an hour, before I was able to walk next door to a Mexican restaurant.   It was still raining, and the freeway is all messed up, so I went to Arkansas from Texas for a Mexican steak!

So, this is my fifth major quest to visit presidential sites.   Thursday I will visit Grant's home in St Louis, and will then head for Springfield, Illinois, to get a running start on a marathon Friday.

I will stay with Pam and Cy in Chicago.   It will be a full weekend!

I welcome comments, it's how I know if anyone is reading this stuff.