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Known for Presidents

Abilene, Kansas

During his homecoming speech on June 22, 1945, President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “the proudest thing I can claim is that I am from Abilene.”

And Abilene is proud of Ike. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum sits on a 22-acre campus that features five buildings, including his boyhood home, his burial site and a visitors center. The museum features five major galleries, and among the artifacts and exhibits, guests will see “the D-Day planning table, the table where the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force planned Operation Overload,” said communications director Samantha Kenner. The giant bronze statue of Eisenhower outside the museum is another must-see.

Groups can tour the white farmhouse where he grew up as the third of seven sons. His boyhood home “is a museum in itself; it’s pretty spectacular to stand inside the home where he grew up,” she said. The Place of Meditation is the final resting place of Eisenhower; his wife, Mamie; and their firstborn son.

Also in Abilene, groups can dine at Mr. K’s Farmhouse Restaurant, where in 1965, the former president succumbed to the restaurant’s long-standing tradition. The owner, Lena, gave him an early 75th-birthday paddling with one of her trademark paddles, which he signed afterward. The restaurant also has an Eisenhower Room decorated with photos, including the famous picture of Ike and Lena.

www.eisenhower.archives.gov

Warm Springs, Georgia

Franklin Delano Roosevelt first visited Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1924 in search of a cure for his polio-caused paralysis. The 88-degree spring waters didn’t cure him, but they did give him relief. Three years later, he bought the property and founded the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation. In 1932, the year before he was inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States, FDR built the Little White House nearby as his personal retreat.

Today, guides lead groups through the house, which has been preserved much as it was during FDR’s time. Visitors will see his 1938 Ford convertible with hand controls, listen to FDR’s “Fireside Chats” on a 1930s radio and see the “Unfinished Portrait” for which he was posing when he suffered the stroke that caused his death.

Guests should also bring their bathing suits. Tickets to the house and museum include admission to the springs where visitors “can swim in the pools he swam in,” said Stacey McClain with the Little White House. For guided tours, groups must have at least 15 people and must make reservations at least two weeks in advance.

Nearby, groups can visit the 9,000-acre F.D. Roosevelt State Park, where they’ll find several structures built by the Civilian Conversation Corps, one of FDR’s New Deal programs. Among the structures is a stone swimming pool and Dowdell’s Knob, where he would take polio patients on picnics.

www.gastateparks.org/LittleWhiteHouse

Simi Valley, California

From radio announcer to movie star, from governor of California to president of the United States, Ronald Reagan is arguably one of America’s most interesting figures.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum opened in 1991 but was completely renovated in 2011. Interactive exhibits allow visitors to act in a movie alongside Reagan, deliver his inaugural speech on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, read his digital diary and set the table for a state dinner. During guided tours, guests can touch an authentic piece of the Berlin Wall and peer into the replica Oval Office as it looked during Reagan’s presidency, complete with a jar of Jelly Belly jellybeans on the famous Resolute Desk.

In the Air Force One pavilion, it’s hard to know which is more impressive: the enormous glass wall delivering views of southern California or the Air Force One seemingly suspended overhead that flew seven U.S. presidents. Groups can dine beneath its wings and climb the stairs to tour the plane. The Air Force One White House Luncheon and the Air Force One Barbeque Buffet each include a docent-led tour of the library and the pavilion, followed by lunch.

While in southern California, groups can also visit Reagan’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame or tour Warner Bros. Studios, where Reagan made many of his movies.

www.reaganfoundation.org