The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is located at the north side of Los Angeles, California in the Simi Valley region. It is perched on a mountain top overlooking fabulous views of mountains, valleys and the Pacific Ocean. Every President gets one of these beautiful places after they leave office and it houses tons of photos, videos and memorabilia relating to the President and the presidency during their time. The bodies of Ronald and Nancy Reagan are buried on the sacred grounds.
Although I am not big on spending vacation time at historic sites and nor am I overly interested in USA history, the three hours we spent at this intriguing and beautiful site were truly the most interesting and informative of all museums or libraries I have visited.
As luck would have it, upon arrival I spotted a docent leading a group of well dressed teenaged students on a tour. His voice was confident and from his tone I knew that he would be much more appealing to listen to than the seven dollar audio device given to us at check in. The guy truly knew his stuff and had selected the key aspects of the Reagan presidency in each of the many rooms through which visitors walk.
I tried to be discrete and after the third presentation he came to me and thanked me for joining in! I, in turn, complimented him on the fine job he was doing.
After that grand and definitely “grand” tour, I walked backwards through the building to the beginning to review things, and to take in some of the others things along the way such as touching a piece of the Berlin Wall and viewing the collection of gowns Nancy wore to various events. There were at least three photos of our former Prime Minister Mulroney and his wife Mila being a part of some state events during their time in office. The exhibit includes many videos including one of Prime Minister Mulroney speaking at the Reagan state funeral in 2004.
Typically sites like this do not appeal to me because there is just too much to take in and sometimes the presentations lack variety in terms of audio, visual, hands on or on the spot question and answer experiences. That was definitely not the case here — especially when I was also invited to walk through the actual Air Force One (the size of a passenger plane) and Marine One (helicopter) that President Reagan used throughout his mandate. (See photos) Yes, the building was so big it easily housed both and the experience of climbing up the steps to view the life of a true VIP, was mindboggling.
This building and this tour definitely does the 40th President of the USA proud. I could feel his spirit and that of Nancy hovering around, and feel confident that the designers and caretakers have created a most impressive story of respect, admiration and love for everyone to enjoy.
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