Presidential Pathways: #37, Richard Nixon

Born: Jan. 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, Calif. (Visited: April 2013)
Died: April 22, 1994 in New York, N.Y.
Burial Place: Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif. (Visited: April 2013)
Library & Museum: Yorba Linda, Calif. (Visited: April 2013)

Birthplace

California historical landmark plaque.

18061 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, Calif.

Bedroom where Richard Nixon was born.

Burial Place

Final resting place of President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon.

Pat Nixon's tombstone.

Richard Nixon's tombstone.

Library & Museum

Main entrance with fountain.

Main entrance.

"The First Campaign"

"Road to the Presidency"

"House"

"Senate"

"Reshaping the Vice Presidency"

"1960 Election Results"

"1968 Victory!"

"Leaders"

"The Berlin Wall"

"White House's Lincoln Sitting Room"

"Watergate"

"Marine Helicopter"

Presidential Pathways: #40, Ronald Reagan

Born: Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico, Ill.
Died: June 5, 2004, in Bel Air, Calif.
Burial Place: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. (Visited: April 2013)
Library & Museum: Simi Valley, Calif. (Visited: April 2013)

Burial Place

Final resting place of President Ronald Reagan.

Close-up of Ronald Reagan's tombstone.

Library & Museum

Main signage.

Fountain and statue at main entrance.

"GE Theater"

"Governor Years"

"Victory & Inauguration"

"The Oval Office"

"First Lady"

"Air Force One Pavilion"

"Peace Through Strength"

"Summits"

"Berlin Wall"

Presidential Pathways: An Introduction

In previous posts I have mentioned some of my sight collecting adventures, which so far have focused on visiting baseball stadiums, but I have not yet delved into sharing my pursuit of presidential sights.  About six years ago, I started making an effort to visit presidential birthplaces, burial places, and libraries.  While searching through the Internet I stumbled upon a great resource, which has been instrumental to my travels: Rachel Kochmann's book, Presidents: Birthplaces, Homes, and Burial Sites.  She coordinated a summer trip with her husband and visited all the locations listed in her book.  She has updated the book numerous times, but I have stuck with the original book I purchased.

Here is my tally of presidential sights:

• Birthplaces = 11
• Burial Sites = 18
• Libraries = 6
• Completed Presidents = 7 (Van Buren, W. H. Harrison, Grant, Taft, Coolidge, F. D. Roosevelt, Nixon)

I have also compiled a map that details the various locations I have visited.  Unlike Kochmann, I do not try and visit all houses associated with presidents unless it is convenient to visiting the three primary sights.  I have visited some presidential homes, but they can be difficult to visit because many are privately owned and there are often multiple locations with presidential ties.

While visiting Southern California recently I visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum and Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, so I will post photos and a write-up about each site shortly.

Baseball Stadiums: 2013 Early Recap

After my recent trip to California I can add 3 new stadiums (LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga, Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim, and Lake Elsinore Diamond in Lake Elsinore) to my list, and one state.

I do not have any summer road trips planned yet, but am hoping to visit at least four stadiums.  I will be completing my PhD at Oklahoma State University this summer, and want to visit Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark., and Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo., before moving out of this region.  Closer to home, that being the Atlanta area, I want to visit the newly opened Regions Field in Birmingham and the soon-to-close Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, S.C.

Here is an update of my tally:

• MLB = 20 (13 active)
• AAA = 9 (8 active)
• AA = 15 (11 active)
• High A = 2
• Low A = 3 (1 active)
• Short-Season A = 6 (5 active)
• Independent = 5 (4 active)
• College = 15 (14 active)
• Spring Training = 10 (9 active)

My updated stadium map can be found here.  I don't have write-ups for each stadium I have visited, but am doing my best to write about each visit moving forward.

I have now watched baseball games in 30 states, the District of Columbia, and one province.

Baseball Stadiums: Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Last week, I attended a conference in Los Angeles, and I was very excited because I thought it might allow me to visit Dodger Stadium.  As it turned out, the Dodgers were out of town during my stay, but the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim opened their home schedule during the week.  So I made my first trek to Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

The game was slated for a 7:05 p.m. start, but my friend and I attended a taping of the Conan O'Brien Show that afternoon.  We also had to pick up two more people at a hotel in downtown and endured rush hour traffic, so we did not arrive at the stadium until almost eight o'clock with the game in the 3rd inning.  The pictures outside the stadium are a bit blurry, and I could not get a quality photograph of the "Big A" because the sun was almost down when we arrived at the stadium.

Main entrance.

Main entrance with one of the oversized baseball hats.

With seats along the third base line, I had a great view of the scoreboard in right field and the California Spectacular batter's eye in center field.

Right field videoboard.

The California Spectacular batter's eye along with pennants for the Angels' various championships.

Due to arriving late for the game and the sellout crowd, I did not get to explore the stadium in search of unique food items.  Instead I opted for the banal Angel Dog, and waited almost 10 minutes for the hot dog.  The service is amongst some of the slowest I have ever endured at a ballpark, but fans in front of me in the line assured that they had received much quicker service during sold-out games.  So I'm not sure what caused the delays during the third game of the season, but I was certainly frustrated by the inferior service.

The drove of fans waiting for food in the upper decks.

The food was OK, but not spectacular.  The most entertaining part of the experience was listening to Angel fans complaining about the team's poor performance and watching many of them leave in the 7th inning.  It made me laugh because slugger Josh Hamilton, who signed with the team during the offseason, complained about fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex as not being true baseball fans.  So I wondered how he'd feel about the crowd flooding out of the stadium barely a week into the season.  I hoped for a better experience at the ballpark, but left unimpressed and hoping for something more.

Maybe when I visit Southern California again I can arrive before the 3rd inning and explore more of the stadium, and hopefully leave the ballpark with a better feeling than I did last week.

Baseball Stadiums: Lake Elsinore Diamond

When you have a friend whose last name is Storm and you have the chance to watch a team called Lake Elsinore Storm, it's a requirement to attend a game with him.  Lake Elsinore is about 90 minutes south of downtown Los Angeles, where we were staying for our conference.  I got some advice from MiLB's Ben Hill about what to do in town before the game, so Storm and I made sure to get to town and stopped for a bite at Annie's Cafe.

En route to Lake Elsinore, Storm and I visited the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda. However, that deserves its own piece.  So back to baseball...

Really, back to Annie's.  Lunch was at In-n-Out Burger, so we didn't arrive at Annie's until nearly 2 p.m.  Storm and I knew that as newbies we'd be required to wear some goofy hats.  Our server didn't immediately announce anything about our first visit, but eventually the owner, Annie, came out and gave us each a jester hat and announced to the small crowd that we were "virgins, uh newbies here today."

Upon receiving our jester hats, Annie told Storm and I that if we kept our hats on that she and the servers would dance for us but if we took off our hats that we would have to dance for them.  I asked what if we wanted to do both, and she said that we could dance with her and the servers.  After finishing our desserts, Storm and I proceeded to dance with Annie and the servers doing "Gangnam Style."

We did not spend the night in Lake Elsinore, but with nearly four hours to kill before the game we checked out the visiting team hotel: Lake Elsinore Casino & Resort.

Overlooking the hotel from Casino Drive.

We played blackjack for about an hour and proceeded to explore the town, where we saw the lake that took its name from the city.  It is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California.

Lake Elsinore is a popular recreation area.

After exploring the lakefront and Main Street, Storm and I headed for The Diamond.  It was about an hour before the gates opened, so we parked the car and saw an extremely long line waiting to enter the stadium.  Many of the people in line were Little League players.

The line is moving!

The Storm is known for its distinctive logo that features a pair of eyes.  Depending upon personal taste, the eyes are either really cool or really creepy.  The eyes are just about everywhere in and around the stadium.  Even when you don't think the eyes are nearby, they are!

Logo celebrating 20 seasons behind home plate.

Showing the way to the bathroom.

In the dugout.

 

Above the manual scoreboard in right field.

The team employs a pair of mascots who serve different functions.

Jackpot, the score keeping rabbit, who operates the manual scoreboard in right field and comes out to celebrate Storm homeruns.

Thunder, a green fuzzy dog, is the team's official mascot.

The concession stands have a few unexpected items, but the most unique are served in The Diamond Club.  Traditionally, I try to enjoy an encased meat.  The Storm serve a variety of meats made by Masterlink, which is a local sausage factory.  I opted for the Portuguese Hawaiian Sausage over the Habanero Hot Link.

The Portuguese Hawaiian Sausage, which is topped with grilled peppers.

The Storm feature craft brews from Hangar 24, and I selected the Baseball Beer.  The Diamond Club features many other selections from Hangar 24, but I felt that I had to sample the Baseball Beer.  What else would have been appropriate on a Saturday night watching the American past time?

Overall, the experience at the Lake Elsinore Diamond was outstanding.  Despite waiting in a long line to enter the stadium, the service at the stadium did not suffer because of the large crowd.  The staff in the team store was friendly and helpful, even offering my friend a small discount because his last name is Storm.

The on-field entertainment was unique and delighted the crowd, young and old.  The food choices covered the staples, but offered special selections for fans who want to experiment when they visit the ballpark.  The seats, which were right behind home plate, were outstanding.  Overall, the Storm provide the epitome of the Minor League Baseball experience.  Any baseball fan should attend at game at Lake Elsinore Diamond.