Saturday we visited the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum Complex in Abilene, KS. It is a very interesting place, but it sure is cold. The temperature outside was in the high 80's, maybe low 90's and inside it was probably 65 degrees or less. Just plain cold to this old guy that likes things a bit on the warm side, like 75 to 80.

I indicated my displeasure to the gal at the desk and she said they had to keep it that cold due to the preservation of the artifacts. I also indicated that they needed someplace to get some food as you could spend all day in the museum or the library and not see it all, that is, if you did not freeze in the process. She said that would not be allowed due to the paintings, etc. and I understand that. Maybe a small restaurant on the grounds would suffice.


A very interesting place with all kinds of photographs, letters and a whole section on gifts given to the President and the First Lady. Most were quite lavish and many studded with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. There was a lot of Mamie's jewelry on display as well as a lot of her clothing from the White
House days.

There is a beautiful chapel where the President and First Lady are burried along with a son that died at 4 years of age. I will show some pictures tomorrow of the chapel.

On the grounds there was an old fashioned baseball game going on. Not sure what two teams were playing but they had old time uniforms, no gloves and they were having a lot of fun.

Some time back we visited Eisenhower's birthplace in Dennison, TX. He only lived there a few years before moving to Kansas. The family home is on the property and still retains most of the furnishings that were in the house when Dwight's mother died. She raised 6 boys in this house and they all were educated and did well.

It was agreed that Dwight's older brother would go to college for 2 years and Dwight would work to help pay the tuition. After that Dwight wanted to go to Annapolis, but found out he would be too old before he could get in, so he applied at West Point where he did well and advanced his career.

The museum takes his life all the way from when he was quite young through his advancements in the Army and to the command of all of the allied forces during WWII. There are many films you can watch depicting the battles and landings he was in charge of.

After they left the White House, they bought a farm in Gettysburg and lived there the rest of their lives. They were both brought home with their young son to rest for ever.

On our way home, we stopped at a 24 hour diner type of restaurant where we had some beef bbq and Evelyn wanted to take some pie home, so we ask what they had. The waitress looked at the back of her pad and started listing the pies that they had available. One was a Blue Goose pie and next was Gooseberry and on and on. I never imagined that you would find Gooseberry pie at a restaurant. Of course we got a piece to bring home and boy was it good. Just like I used to get at the local fish fry.