Long we’ve road, and far we’ve come… and now we’re finally home!
It feel so wonderful to be back home in Texas… I’m not sure i’ve ever been this long away from home in my life. I am not saddened by this fact in the least however, as we filled these past three weeks with perhaps the greatest journey that I have ever gone on.
It feels ages ago since we had touched down in Washington D.C. doesn’t it? We had then worked our way through the major cities of D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, and through the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts!
I suppose that this post is more of a “Post-Mortem” than anything, but it’s still important to recognize all that we’ve been through.
It was fairly easy to get into Boston-Logan International Airport, which was one of the busiest in the world. Just minutes to takeoff…
Looking down at the City of Boston, which, in hindsight, is a wonderful place to visit…
The Bunker Hill Monument can be seen if you squint at the center-right area!
The U.S.S. Constitution can also be seen from afar! It’s a symbol that I can now recognize from anywhere…
About four hours later…
We came to Texas Country one again! Farmlands as far as the eye can see! That’s the Texas I remember!
As I put in the conclusion of my 2018 Summer Trip, the need to paying homage to this “Temple of Texas Fast-Food” was simply too great to resist. Whataburger, a trademark of the state!
Ah… it’s been too long…
And soon enough, we arrived home, with a large bounty of souvenirs to take in!
I’ll count this when I have time…
Phew… we have seen the last two of the Main 13 Presidential Libraries for our passport, bringing our grand total to 13/13 Libraries!
-Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum: West Branch, Iowa
-Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum: Hyde Park, New York
-Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum: Independence, Missouri
-Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Center: Abilene, Kansas
-John F. Kennedy Presidential Library: Boston, Massachusetts
-Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library: Austin, Texas
-Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum: Yorba Linda, California
-Gerald Ford Presidential Museum: Grand Rapids, Michigan
-Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library: Ann Arbor, Michigan
-Jimmy Carter Presidential Library: Atlanta, Georgia
-Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum: Simi Valley, California
-George H.W. Bush Presidential Library: College Station, Texas
-William J. Clinton Presidential Library: Little Rock, Arkansas
-George W. Bush Presidential Center: Dallas, Texas
AND, for my morbid goal of seeing every single Presidential Gravesite, we have our total of 35/39 (Green text include those we’ve visited overall, and black text include the last four that we still need to see)!
1.George Washington: Washington Family Tomb at Mount Vernon (Fairfax County, Virginia)
2.John Adams : United First Parish Church (Quincy, Massachusetts)
3.Thomas Jefferson: Monticello Graveyard at Monticello (Charlottesville, Virginia)
4.James Madison : James Madison Cemetery at Montpelier (Orange, Virginia)
5.James Monroe : Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)
6.John Quincy Adams : United First Parish Church (Quincy, Massachusetts)
7.Andrew Jackson : The Hermitage (Nashville, Tennessee)
8.Martin Van Buren : Kinderhook Reformed Church Cemetery (Kinderhook, New York)
9.William Henry Harrison : William Henry Harrison State Memorial (North Bend, Ohio)
10.John Tyler : Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia)
11.James K. Polk : Tennessee State Capital Grounds (Nashville, Tennessee)
12.Zachary Taylor : Zachary Taylor National Cemetery (Louisville, Kentucky)
13.Millard Fillmore : Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo, New York)
14.Franklin Pierce : Old North Cemetery (Concord, New Hampshire)
15.James Buchanan : Woodward Hill Cemetery (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
16.Abraham Lincoln : Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery (Springfield, Illinois)
17.Andrew Johnson : Andrew Johnson National Cemetery (Greenville, Tennessee)
18.Ulysses S. Grant : General Grant National Memorial (New York City, New York)
19.Rutherford B. Hayes : Rutherford B. Hayes’s Spiegel Grove (Fremont, Ohio)
20.James A. Garfield : Garfield Tomb at Lakeview Cemetery (Cleveland, Ohio)
21.Chester A. Arthur : Albany Rural Cemetery (Menands, New York)
22 and 24. Grover Cleveland : Princeton Cemetery (Princeton, New Jersey)
23.Benjamin Harrison : Crown Hill Cemetery (Indianapolis, Indiana)
25.William McKinley : William McKinley Memorial (Canton, Ohio)
26.Theodore Roosevelt : Youngs Memorial Cemetery (Oyster Bay, New York)
27.William Howard Taft : Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, Virginia)
28.Woodrow Wilson : Washington National Cathedral (Washington D.C.)
29.Warren G. Harding : Harding Tomb (Marion, Ohio)
30.Calvin Coolidge : Plymouth Notch Cemetery (Plymouth, Vermont)
31.Herbert Hoover : Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (West Branch, Iowa)
32.Franklin D. Roosevelt : Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site (Hyde Park, New York)
33.Harry S. Truman: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum (Independence, Missouri)
34.Dwight D. Eisenhower: Place of Meditation at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Center (Abilene, Kansas)
35.John F. Kennedy : Kennedy Gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, Virginia)
36.Lyndon B. Johnson : Johnson Family Cemetery at LBJ National Historic Site (Stonewall, Texas)
37. Richard Nixon : Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (Yorba Linda, California)
38.Gerald Ford : Gerald Ford Museum (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
40. Ronald Reagan: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum (Simi Valley, California)
41. George H.W. Bush : George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum (College Station, Texas)
I’ll have to knock out those last four on a later trip…
And so, we come to a close for our journey… From the Plains of Texas to the District of Columbia, to the Fields of Gettysburg, the Streets of Philadelphia and New York, the Heights of Vermont, and the very shores of Boston Harbor… it’s a lot to take in.
We know what each of these destinations are,… but why are they here? Why are they significant to history?
More often than not, historical sites such as all the ones that we have visited served as incubators for great change over the course of our existence. Whether it be a birthplace or boyhood home that shaped an individual’s ideals, a home that stands as an embodiment to their personality, or a great battlefield where the throngs of war had altered the course of politics and culture, these places are only small chapters to the greater story that is the History of our country.
But so too does traveling across these new and fascinating landscapes different from our own that give us more empathetic perspective that we can use to not only make ourselves wiser and smarter, but also gain a greater appreciation and understanding for the struggles of others, and for different backgrounds and cultures.
So that is why I reiterate a point that I have often stated before… History is not mere timelines and paragraphs in a textbook… they are the actions of people just like you and me, who did, at least to the best of their ability, leave their country a little better off than it was before. It is they that have woven the very fabric of our lineage, those who had lived in those times, and those who sought to make a difference and an lasting impact on society.
And that in itself is a remarkable thing. We have that power too, if we put our minds to it. Because History is not made up of singular individuals, but all of us, striving to maintain our living and protect our interests. That is what is so beautiful about history… it is relatable, and it is us.
We are history in the making. And it is up to us to see how we are remembered in the eyes of our successors, for good or bad, and to ensure that the right lessons and teachings are passed down…
Thank you all for sticking with me to the very end… I am so grateful for your support and care for our travels, and I could not ask for anything more special than that.
Thank you.
Mark's Historical Roadtrips! 