Kurt's Historic Sites
California Trip
August 2008
In 2004, my dad and I traveled all of the way to Washington, D.C. to see
President Reagan lie in state in the Capitol rotunda. Over four years later, we
were on our way to pay our respects once more. Both he and President Nixon
are buried in the "Golden State", which took us a while to get to. Our local
airport is evidently not worthy of the honor of having a direct flight out West,
so we had to fly to North Carolina first. From there, we flew to California in the
midst of coughing children, "snoring guy", and odiferous infants. Miraculously,
we made it through the flight alive and arrived at LAX safe and sound. Later
that day, we met up with my dad's friend Jay and went out to dinner. A very
nice guy, he took us to the location of the cave used in the 1960's Batman
television show. After a great night, we went our separate ways and agreed to
see each other again prior to our departure. Before we could get to any graves,
however, we had to focus on the main purpose of the trip. My dad had come
up with a revolutionary sports novelty product, and we were in town to
present it to Mattel, Inc. The presentation went very well, and the Mattel
representatives at the meeting seemed very enthused about the idea.
Unfortunately, a deal with the company never came to fruition, but we sure had
fun at the time. Now with the meeting out of the way and two full vacation
days left, we could turn our focus to grave hunting.
The next day, we went to our first presidential stop, having chosen to
visit Ronald Reagan's library first. Accompanying us was my dad's friend Jay,
who thought that he would enjoy the experience. We found President Reagan's
library to be quite amazing. The largest of its kind, it contains artifacts from
Reagan's political career as well as his film career, and includes a pavilion for
Air Force One. After a few hours in the museum, we stopped to grab a bite to
eat. The three of us ate outside, and were able to look out at a breathtaking
view of Simi Valley. Once we finished our meal, we walked past a portion of the
Positioned so it looks out toward the valley, the gravesite was actually
quite inviting. Unfortunately, there was a fence positioned around the tomb and
there was a fairly decent crowd. I was beyond the age where people would
excuse the cute child and let him jump over the fence, so that was out. Looking
around, we also noticed what appeared to be either security cameras or motion
censors inside the gate's perimeter, so it was decided that it was not a good
idea to jump this fence. Not feeling disappointed though, I stood next to the
fence and posed for some pictures. Satisfied, we left the grounds and headed
back toward LA. On our way, we stopped to see my dad's friend Andy, who was
out in California visiting friends. After a fun afternoon watching the Olympics and eating pizza, we left to get some rest and prepare for a great time the
following day.
The next morning we discovered that we had not made it through our
plane trip unscathed. Both my dad and I were coughing like crazy, undoubtedly
gifts from our neighbors on the plane. Despite feeling extremely fatigued, we
were able to muster enough strength to get us to the Nixon library, situated
about forty miles East of our El Segundo hotel. I found the library to be quite
impressive, as it contains an exact replica of the East Room of the White House
and some very interesting artifacts. Amongst the treasures of the museum are
the gazebo the president's daughter Tricia, was married under, Nixon
campaign memorabilia, and the infamous gun given to the president by singer
Elvis Presley. Earlier in the trip, my dad had commented that it would be funny
if the museum omitted anything and everything to do with the Watergate
Scandal. Ironically enough, the museum had nothing concerning the scandal,
but only because the exhibits were being renovated at the time.
After visiting Nixon's birthplace, the two of us roamed over to Nixon's
gravesite. There was a small hedge separating us from the president's marker,
but we knew that it wouldn't deter us from crossing over and getting closer for
better pictures. What did deter us was the security guards that frequently
passed by and watched the grave. Figuring that it couldn't hurt to ask, we
walked back over to the birthplace, where two female tour guides were
chatting. After we explained our situation, one said that she would stand guard
for us, but we would have to hurry. With all of our fence hopping experience at
graves, it was no hard task for us to go quickly. The photographs came out
terrific, and we thanked the tour guide for helping us. Once we made some
purchases in the gift shop, we were able to go on our way.
The next day, still feeling fairly ill, we flew back East and returned home.
Before we could do so though, we still had to visit the graves of two great
like that?
