Day 21 Friday at Long Beach

This morning we jumped on #5 to head to Nixon’s and look for a self car wash. The highways are full and everyone is speeding along. We have to exit three highways so we are really on the lookout for the turns, if I miss one we may end up in Mexico.

We spot the museum entrance. Again it is bathed in the sunshine of southern Cal! Half staff flags for the two Californians who died in Bushes war.

The story of Richard Nixon is again portrayed, as all presidential museum’s, nicely exhibited and monetarily sponsored by their wealthy followers. They gave his public life as a California politician thru his exit from the white house when president. Well we all remember him as we do, these museum’s will project a different image to those who follow us, you take it from there.

The exhibits I like are those that are given to the President from people and dignitaries from all over the world. You can click on any picture in this blog and get the full picture. A string of Mikimoto pearls from Japan; a green jade Eskimo hunter from Canadian Minister; a silver and gold peacock from Britain’s Prime Minister; a carved wood nameplate for Richard and Pat from Richard Scharbach from Madelia MN for Christmas.

Voted Jerry’s best of show – is a Chinese collage composed of jade, mother-of-pearl, ivory and mahogany, lacquered with wood inlay. The artist stamp is at the bottom in white with red lettering, Wang Xizhi, a fourth century calligrapher. Represent his vision of figures “Chariot in the Sky.” Which represents the Queen Mother of the West, a Daoist myth.

As we walked into the next room, there are statues of the states people he worked with; my favorite is Winston Churchill, Golda Mier, and more. These were plaster of Paris statues done by the Schwartz’s, who did the train station in Galveston TX we saw a couple years ago.

Remember Nixon was the one who started to extend a hand to China and that trip was the start. He travelled all over the world as most do. His wife Patricia Nixon was a mild women who travelled the world being an ambassador for the US with dignitaries and children alike.

Along side of the museum and part of it, was his birth house. It was a house bought from a catalog out of Chicago. The family being Quakers, wanted to build church there. That they did and it is the biggest in the US. It is a story and a half, raising four kids and the parents in it was, bringing the family together. The bodies of both are buried there. The state of California does not allow bodies to be buried outside a cemetery or church property. Remember the largest Quaker Church is within sight of the museum, they bought a small portion of the property so they could be buried on sight. Bet they would not do that for me or U.

We have about 20 miles to find Tom and Kitty’s house, I have a hand map drawn on a 4 by 4 inch piece of paper from Santa Clarita to Nixon’s and then their house, could not find a place to wash the car so we arrived well soiled. Even though we saw them a couple years ago it is always fun to see those who are closely related and see occasionally through our lifetime. We caught up on things and are headed off to dinner at Ferraro’s Italian Kitchen on Los Coyotes Diagonal. All is home made and you can tell by the flavors and the noodle softness. Well we ordered a carafe of the house Chianti;

next came the bread with a slightly sautéed sauce with large chunks of tomatoes, sliced onions with garlic cloves and olive oil and room temperature. the girls, Kitty with her special sauced order of which I blurred the pix and can’t figure out what it was, Shirleen with her Shrimp Scampi over fettuccini noodles; Tom and I ordered the same; fresh mussels, pieces of calamari, whole scallops, a fine light sauce over fettuccini noodles.