Road-trip your way through history

Summer is here and it's time for a road trip!

Of course, I like road trips with a little history involved. Within proximity to Eastern Iowa are several cost friendly day trips and several more weekend trips where travelers can learn and have some fun along the way!

If you only have one day, Iowa has the Herbert Hoover Historic Site in West Branch. The presidential library takes you through Hoover’s life from his birth through his 90 years. Just down from the library is a blacksmith shop like his father had, the cottage that was his birthplace, and much more!

On the second weekend in August, West Branch will host their annual Hoover’s Hometown Days festival, which is a blast! After this year’s festivities the museum will close for its much-anticipated remodel.

Just on the Illinois side of the border with Dubuque is Galena, Illinois, the town from which future president Ulysses S. Grant left for the Civil War and later the White House. Admission to the house where Grant lived is $5 for adults and $3 for kids, a very cost-friendly way to learn more about one of the most important people in American History.

If you have two days, your options expand a lot! About 400 miles of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor is Springfield, Illinois, where you can see some wonderful Abraham Lincoln attractions. Step back in time to tour Lincoln’s neighborhood and house as it was in 1861, his tremendous tomb, and his presidential museum. The only charge for any of the 3 sites is admission to the museum at $15.

Just 30 miles away from Springfield, you can see New Salem, a town where Lincoln became a man and started his road to the White House.

On to Missouri! In Independence is the home and museum of Harry S. Truman. The home is free and the museum is fresh off a remodel, which a lot of presidential museums have completed or are scheduled to. While it's certainly understandable to be a little leery of museums being stale and boring, these renovations are making them a lot like Lincoln’s, which has tons of interactive exhibits. Also the Truman walking tour is certainly a good way to get your steps in and take in all the stops Truman did on his daily walks.

With Independence is close to Kansas City, where’s plenty more to see the, like the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

A little further west on Interstate 70 is Abilene, Kansas, where Dwight D. Eisenhower is from. It’s a recently remodeled museum with a long list of Ike’s accomplishments and Mamie’s upbringing in Boone and Cedar Rapids. Also on the campus are both Ike’s birthplace and gravesite. Abilene is a very nice small town — and if you have a sweet tooth, a Russell Stover’s outlet is right down the road!

These are just some of the main attractions within a moderate distance from Iowa. Several others are within range, such as Gerald Ford’s presidential museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Benjamin Harrison’s home and gravesite in at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, where legendary gangster John Dillinger is buried.

Tom Babbage first became a presidential history enthusiast as a third-grader at Indian Creek Elementary School in the Linn-Mar district. He now resides in Casa Grande, AZ.