{"id":6549,"date":"2024-03-29T22:10:36","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T04:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/?p=6549"},"modified":"2024-03-29T22:10:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T04:10:42","slug":"barber-trip-2-the-deluge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/2024\/03\/barber-trip-2-the-deluge\/","title":{"rendered":"Barber Trip 2: The Deluge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first order of business was to find a hardware store that might have some heavy-duty clear waterproof tape so I could make a “repair”. Abilene has no Home Depot or Lowes, but there is an old-school hardware store downtown. I’m trying to think of the last time I set foot in a hardware store that wasn’t part of a giant chain. The building was probably 125 or 150 years old. They had some T-Rex tape which fit the bill perfectly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downtown Abilene is a pile of brick buildings a couple of blocks deep on the north side of about a quarter of a mile of railroad tracks. Ike’s place is a few blocks away on the other side of the tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eisenhower Museum is the fourth Presidential Museum I’ve been to. Turns out, you can get a National Archives passport and get it stamped at the museums. I’ve been to three of the first four. I mentioned this to the ticket taker, adding, “I’ve been to Monticello, too.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s just a residence,” she sniffed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The museum itself is about on par with Hoover and Truman. World War II gets the most emphasis, with a pretty good general overview of the war in Europe and North Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t know how many of the Museums have the gravesites on the grounds. Ike and Mamie are in a little chapel next to the visitor’s center. It’s not really a chapel, though. Officially it’s the Place of Meditation. His boyhood home is there as well, but I didn’t tour it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days it seems each President is set on making a grander statement with his library than any of his predecessors, so the modern ones are in “statement” buildings surrounded by elaborate grounds. The buildings here are old school – utilitarian, brick, more modern than downtown Abilene, but not out of place. The grounds, too, are not great. The lawn is brown, and there’s not much more than lawn. It looks barren. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re working on the road in front of the grounds, and the fountain in front of the chapel is being renovated. There’s a sign to that effect, but the sign is the only sign of renovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exiting the museum parking lot, I headed south on KS 19 to start my great zig-zag, south then east, south then east to Little Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n