Today is the last installment of my visit Dallas series, and I’ll be sharing my visit to the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Presidential Libraries are such a cool opportunity to learn about a President. The Reagan Library is perhaps my favorite of the ones I’ve visited, but now that I’m living on the East Coast there are a lot of Presidential Libraries that are close by to see!
They did an amazing job with the design of the building. It is really beautiful and the Texas Campus it is on is really cool too. I spent a little time before my flight walking around and checking it out. I almost missed walking around a college campus.
Where: On the campus of Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Cost: Military (Active Duty) and 4 and Under are free, everyone else – you’re looking at $10-$17 (there are seasonal rates as well, which means you’re going to pay more during the warmer months).
I was really bummed to discover that they made a distinction between Active Duty and Guard/Reserve. They offer a discount price but they still differentiate the two, and if you’ve spent any time reading my blog you know this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine.
A huge portion of the library is spent on 9/11 and the years that follow. They did an excellent job sharing timelines and intimate details from that time, and it was very emotional. They had some great interactive sections for kids, as well as a reading section with recommended books from the first lady. Since that was such an important part of the First Lady’s time in office they dedicated a significant portion of the library to that, as well as to kids since the girls were so young when he took office. They paid homage to Texas and the President’s love of baseball. I was however disappointed that almost no space was given to the President’s childhood of young life. The Ronald Reagan Library did such a wonderful job including so much of the President’s life in the museum and not just his Hollywood days. But I realize that this facility is really dedicated to so much more including leadership summits, special events and a lot of research. That takes up a large portion of the building space. I would really love to see some of the research areas of the Library.
Perhaps the coolest part is the 15-acre “garden” full of native flowers. Not much was in bloom when I visited but I love that preserving acreage of land was a priority to the first lady and something she wanted to see contributed to the library. It is a beautiful place with spaces to sit and spend some quiet time. It is really a quiet and peaceful place.
The courtyard also has a small cafeteria which some really good sandwiches and coffee!
Catch up on my other Dallas Posts below! You can also click on the travel tab up top to see some of my other travel posts like Houston and Seattle!
Read Part Two here
Read Part One here
