Out of respect, I know we probably shouldn’t refer of our presidents as “cute,” but look at this crate filled with Woodrow Wilsons in the gift shop at the Wilson Birthplace and Presidential Museum in Staunton, Virginia. (Only $11.95!) See what else we saw in this “Part 2” of our Nerd Trip.

The gift shop is just down the block from the presidential museum, which I visited after first touring the birthplace of our 28th president (see previous post).
At the museum, a bust of President Wilson greets you on arrival (much more stately than the doll).

Check out this cool car. It’s President Woodrow Wilson’s 1919 Pierce-Arrow limousine, which was waiting for him when he returned to the United States after signing the Treaty of Versailles. It’s one of the highlights of a visit to his birthplace in Staunton (pronounced “Stan-ton”, the “u” is silent), Virginia. You can see the car at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, just a few steps from the house where our 28th president was born.

“For the first time ever at a presidential library, you can sit behind the most powerful desk in the world,” declares the brochure from the George Bush Library and Museum. By traveling to College Station, Texas, you can sit in the “Seat of Power” in an Oval Office replica!

At Papa Bush’s (as my mom calls him) museum, you can get a souvenir photo for just over $10, I think. Or you can pay a small fee ($5 the day we visited) to have your camera “commissioned” to the museum for personal photos. We were all over that!

At the George H.W. Bush library and museum, you’ll encounter a plane, a limousine, a spy satellite, a boat, an Oval Office re-creation, presidential pets, a piece of the Berlin wall and video clips from Saturday Night Live and David Letterman, all while learning about the man who became our 41st president. Papa Bush (as my mom calls him) certainly seems to have a sense of fun!

Happy Birthday to President John Fitzgerald Kennedy! Our 35th president was born May 29, 1917. Here some facts about JFK.

Now to Part 2 of my encounter with Chris Matthews and his book “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.”

Despite early word that the MSNBC host would not sign books, at the end of his talk, Matthews said he would stay to autograph copies for anyone who wanted them.