A replica of President Truman's oval office

 Check out this TV!

 Posing with Harry!

 The Trumans' home (wife, Bess' childhood home) in Independence, Missouri.  They lived here after they were married and also after he left office.  He also oversaw the library until his death.

Absolutely beautiful Illinois farmland

Home field of the St. Louis Cardinals.

 The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States.

 The steeples at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky

 Winners Circle

Angela tried to enjoy the official drink of the Kentucky Derby...the Early Times Mint Julep!   Actually, to be clear, Angela did not drink very much.  It was straight liquor with a sprig of mint.  Too much for a wine person.  Most of it went down the bathroom sink but she gets to keep the glass.

Third race of the day at Churchill Downs was on turf!  So cool.

Big winner! ($5.10)












     After spending the night in Independence, Missouri, the next morning we headed to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.  This was the most interesting and well-presented presidential library of the four we have visited (Carter, Clinton, Eisenhower, and Truman).  There were numerous opportunities to interact with the displays and information given (listening to campaign speeches, voting on what influenced his decisions, listening to his daughter sing on a TV with Jimmy Durante, etc.).  History still debates his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.  All visitors were invited to write their opinion in a book.
     On our way to the oval office, we viewed the famous plaque that sat on his desk while in office, "The Buck Stops Here."  We also saw a video demonstrating the number of Presidents that quoted this slogan in political speeches....both Republican and Democrat.  We learned that up until 1950, the Presidents held press conferences in the oval offices.  We saw a picture of one of the conferences and it looked like the press members were so crammed into the office that they could barely raise their hands.  We also rode by the Truman home near downtown Independence which is not open to the public.
     Next, we headed to Mt. Vernon, Illinois for the evening via St. Louis. Traffic was hectic around the city but what beautiful farmland we saw on our way to Illinois.
  Our final bucket list stop on Friday was Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.  It is closely sandwiched between the airport and the University of Louisville.  There were around 5,000-6,000 people there as compared to 50,000+ on Kentucky Derby day.  It was very fun to watch female jockey, Rosie Napravnik who also ran in the Derby. We can say that we sat in the box seats!
     One more blog post to come.