How Did We Miss This?

We have company coming in from Israel in September and wishing to entertain them, I've been looking for enlightening amusements.  Two very nice ones are -

Flight Path Museum.com  which is near the south runway at LAX and contains a modest display of old (model) airplanes, china, silverware and glassware from 1st Class, and a variety of flight attendant uniforms all the way back to the '30s.  It's small,, easy to cover and if you are an aviation buff, a very pleasant hour or two. 

Automobile Driving Museum.org   This, too, is not far from LAX, and is a hangar-sized space (was once a car dealership) with a great many "old cars."  What makes this unique is that on weekends, you can sign up for a (free) ride in one of the cars!   They rotate the vehicles around much like you would a stable full of horses.  Inside the museum, you are allowed to take your picture in one.  The docents are all quite knowledgeable and all in all, it's a pleasant hour or so.

And then I smacked my forehead and muttered "Presidential Libraries" and So. Calif. is lucky enough to have two - Richard Nixon, Orange County, and Ronald Reagan, Simi Valley. 

I don't think the party is important faced with a chance to see history.  We've so far been to the Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt and the two here. 

I went to look up the pertinent data on admissions, hours, etc. and to my amazement, there's a second Reagan museum in Santa Barbara dedicated to the Summer White House - Rancho Cielo, north of Santa Barbara.

The actual ranch house is off-limits; this museum is located in Santa Barbara and announces its presence with a 5,000 lb. block of the Berlin Wall.  Inside Reagan's blue Jeep Scrambler centers what looked like a huge room with a 28 ft. long timeline, his old saddle, chain saw (how many former presidents can say that?)

There is a virtual tour of the ranch itself and previous visitors include Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth 2 and Mikhail Gorbachov.

Free admission in Santa Barbara, but I think Simi Valley has either a ticket cost or parking fee.  Santa Barbara is 90 miles away, much of it is a beautiful drive along the ocean and there are a lot of very good restaurants there.  The Army isn't the only thing that travels on its stomach ...