The West Coast From Right to Left Part II: The Gipper and the Mouse
So one thing I forgot to mention yesterday....to get to the Nixon Library, I had to take THE IMPERIAL HIGHWAY.
I've found listening to the car radio in Los Angeles, I have the same unrealistic expectations I had in the Deep South. In the Mississippi Delta, I was pretty much expecting the radio to be playing music from Sun Records in the late 1950's. In L.A., I kept wanting the music to be more "California"....the Beach Boys, the Grateful Dead, Jan and Dean. So basically I really want a combination of a radio and a time machine.
As I drove there, I found myself whistling the theme song to M*A*S*H....as the "Korean" mountains on that show were actually filmed right near Simi Valley. The Reagan Library ison the aptly named Presidential Boulevard. As you drive up the hill to get to the library you see banners of all the presidents preceding Reagan, and as you leave, you see banners of all the presidents after his administration.
As for the library itself....the Reagans always did know how to put on a good show. In one section about the courtship between Ron and Nancy, it's Tom Selleck reading Ronald Reagan's love letters. One thing I enjoyed is how many of the exhibits are interactive. In the green screen exhibit, you can read one of Reagan's sportscasts, introduce General Electric Theater, or "perform" with Reagan in "Knute Rockne All American." I opted for Knute Rockne....as have always wanted to be in a movie in 1930's Hollywood. There is also a presidential podium complete with telecaster, where you can give the inauguration speech. There are also computer games on state dinners at the White House, and Reagan's economic policies. That final game I had some issue with. It was kind of like the Game of Life, showing how much prosperity each family would get thanks to Reaganomics. When it got to 1982 I thought "And THAT was the year my father lost his job because Reagan cut the funding!" I found at this museum there was a lot more of me silently correcting the exhibits than at any other Presidential Library, including Nixon's.
To top being in the Army One helicopter yesterday, the Reagan Museum has Air Force One....the actual plane used from 1972-2003....so Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes. It is in a hanger that has a veranda and a marvelous view. It also has an Irish pub, actually FROM Ireland, transported brick by brick from the village Reagan's ancestors were from.
The Cold War aspect of the exhibit is, naturally, very dramatic. My favorite was the mini-documentary on communism that looks like it is being projected onto the Berlin Wall.
Sadly, the gift shop did not have a magnet of Reagan in front of the Berlin Wall. I once worked in a room that I dubbed "Berlin" due to a hostile coworker erecting a wall down the middle....and was reaaallly tempted to put up a picture of Ronald Reagan on my side. So I've always had a special affection for that speech.
Starting in July until April of 2013 there is a Disney Archives exhibit. It has all sorts of goodies from the movies: Mary Poppins' outfit, the spell book from "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", the elaborate storybook covers that start Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio, ghosts from the Haunted Mansion and the original models for the heads in the Hall of Presidents... If you are a Disney fan, I'd highly recommend it. I enjoyed it, although after a day full of the World According to Ronald Reagan, it got to be a biiit much. Then as I walked out to my car, I heard a girl named after Reagan saying "And REAGAN is the BEST president and if I married a guy named Reagan then I could be REAGAN REAGAN!" Bleech....aaaand that hit my limit of wholesome Republican values for one trip.
On the way back to my hotel I took the scenic route, and stopped at a seafood restaurant in Malibu. The view was fantastic, although could have done without the weird scary detour up a long and winding hill that the GPS decided was the best way. That part of the drive was "Ooooh great view....oh my God, Mukavitz, make sure you don't drive over a cliff!!!" I also realized that for me, Malibu is indelibly linked with Malibu Barbie....so was somewhat disappointed that I wasn't surrounded by people wearing bright pink and high heels.
I got back to the hotel triumphant that I'd managed to survive driving in L.A. Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Seattle.
I've found listening to the car radio in Los Angeles, I have the same unrealistic expectations I had in the Deep South. In the Mississippi Delta, I was pretty much expecting the radio to be playing music from Sun Records in the late 1950's. In L.A., I kept wanting the music to be more "California"....the Beach Boys, the Grateful Dead, Jan and Dean. So basically I really want a combination of a radio and a time machine.
As I drove there, I found myself whistling the theme song to M*A*S*H....as the "Korean" mountains on that show were actually filmed right near Simi Valley. The Reagan Library ison the aptly named Presidential Boulevard. As you drive up the hill to get to the library you see banners of all the presidents preceding Reagan, and as you leave, you see banners of all the presidents after his administration.
As for the library itself....the Reagans always did know how to put on a good show. In one section about the courtship between Ron and Nancy, it's Tom Selleck reading Ronald Reagan's love letters. One thing I enjoyed is how many of the exhibits are interactive. In the green screen exhibit, you can read one of Reagan's sportscasts, introduce General Electric Theater, or "perform" with Reagan in "Knute Rockne All American." I opted for Knute Rockne....as have always wanted to be in a movie in 1930's Hollywood. There is also a presidential podium complete with telecaster, where you can give the inauguration speech. There are also computer games on state dinners at the White House, and Reagan's economic policies. That final game I had some issue with. It was kind of like the Game of Life, showing how much prosperity each family would get thanks to Reaganomics. When it got to 1982 I thought "And THAT was the year my father lost his job because Reagan cut the funding!" I found at this museum there was a lot more of me silently correcting the exhibits than at any other Presidential Library, including Nixon's.
To top being in the Army One helicopter yesterday, the Reagan Museum has Air Force One....the actual plane used from 1972-2003....so Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes. It is in a hanger that has a veranda and a marvelous view. It also has an Irish pub, actually FROM Ireland, transported brick by brick from the village Reagan's ancestors were from.
The Cold War aspect of the exhibit is, naturally, very dramatic. My favorite was the mini-documentary on communism that looks like it is being projected onto the Berlin Wall.
Sadly, the gift shop did not have a magnet of Reagan in front of the Berlin Wall. I once worked in a room that I dubbed "Berlin" due to a hostile coworker erecting a wall down the middle....and was reaaallly tempted to put up a picture of Ronald Reagan on my side. So I've always had a special affection for that speech.
Starting in July until April of 2013 there is a Disney Archives exhibit. It has all sorts of goodies from the movies: Mary Poppins' outfit, the spell book from "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", the elaborate storybook covers that start Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio, ghosts from the Haunted Mansion and the original models for the heads in the Hall of Presidents... If you are a Disney fan, I'd highly recommend it. I enjoyed it, although after a day full of the World According to Ronald Reagan, it got to be a biiit much. Then as I walked out to my car, I heard a girl named after Reagan saying "And REAGAN is the BEST president and if I married a guy named Reagan then I could be REAGAN REAGAN!" Bleech....aaaand that hit my limit of wholesome Republican values for one trip.
On the way back to my hotel I took the scenic route, and stopped at a seafood restaurant in Malibu. The view was fantastic, although could have done without the weird scary detour up a long and winding hill that the GPS decided was the best way. That part of the drive was "Ooooh great view....oh my God, Mukavitz, make sure you don't drive over a cliff!!!" I also realized that for me, Malibu is indelibly linked with Malibu Barbie....so was somewhat disappointed that I wasn't surrounded by people wearing bright pink and high heels.
I got back to the hotel triumphant that I'd managed to survive driving in L.A. Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Seattle.