Where to see statues, sites and grave of US president: Eisenhower

Dwight D Eisenhower

Eisenhower's fame spread far and wide. My family has a friend in Singapore named Eisen by his father who admired Eisenhower. That is what prompted me to start looking at Eisenhower.

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), GCB, OM was an American army general who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he became a five-star general in the Army and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of Normandy in 1944–45 from the Western Front.

Eisenhower was born David Dwight Eisenhower, in Texas, but raised, (brought up, as we say in England), in Abilene, Kansas.

If the town of Abilene sounds familiar, maybe you have heard the song:
"Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town I've ever seen, women there don't treat you mean, Abilene, my Abilene."

He lived through two world wars. He said:

"Now I think, speaking roughly, by leadership we mean the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it."

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight — it's the size of the fight in the dog.

"In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.





Grave of Dwight Eisenhower in Abilene, Kansas.

What endures? Apart from the quotations. The museum and library.

Birthplace, National Historic Site





Bedroom


Parlour




Whilst in North Texas you can see museums about art, leather art, aviation, biblical art, cowgirls, Jewish art, the holocaust, scouting and many more.

Useful Websites
Song Abilene
by George Hamilton IV.
Why like Ike videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLggezLD_gSYao6xHkNE-cf_wIGPhQ54WD
https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_North_Texas

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Abilene, Texas - What More Is There To See: statues galore and museums, literature,

Problem
Abilene, Texas is a two and a half hour drive from Fort Worth. Last time I was in Texas I did a two cetnre tour of Dallas and Fort Worth. Is it worthwhile going to Abiline to the Ciliex Museum. If there's more to see should I stay overnight, or make a long weekend of it?

Answers
https://www.nccil.org
Firstly, the Childrens Art and Literature museum is closed on Sunday and Monday, so you want to be going up on Friday, or starting very early on Saturday if you are driving over.

Is it worth a special trip? Most people love it.

A few were disappointed to see an exhibition on only one author/illustrator.

Bookshop
Some loved the bookshop which contains a few signed books. Others thought it was small.

The exhibitions, usually three a year, concentrate on all the illustrations from a book or books by a particular illustrator. The drawings are often larger and more detailed than they appear in the final version of the book. If you live in the area, and many do because Abilene is larger (in population - more populous is the correct term), then you may find that visiting a free museum three times a year is worthwhile and satisfies your desire to learn about more than one author/illustrator.

Multiple Authors?
If you want a museum which covers lots of authors and books, consider the Museum of American Writers in the USA. It opened in 2017. It was inspired by the writers' museum in Dublin, capital of Eire. (That's only about Irish writers).

Back to Abilene. What else might you include on your trip?

Texas and Pacific Depot, Abilene, Texas, now Tourist Information Centre. Photo by Billy Hathorn in Wikipedia article on Abilene.

Pick up a map at the visitors centre in a converted, restored old railroad building. By the railroad on the South blvd is Everman Park.

 Or print off a map which can be found online.

Look for six Dr Seuss statues on N 1st.and statues of Guardians, 3 Little kittens, 3 Little Pigs, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and quotations from books.

Storybook Garden
Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden, 1008 N 6th Street, number 1098 Abilene, Texas 79601 5151.
Also see the giant dinosaur. Plus the VW Beetle on the Grace Museum.

Buffalo
My favourite statue is the big buffalo at Frontier Texas, 625 N 1st Street. (Oddly, the statue of the bull at the Bullring in Birmingham, England is also rated highly, though the nearest beef is in supermarket sandwiches.)

When to go? Festival Time!
Second week of June every year. CALF, Children's Art and Literature Festival.

Military Museum
The military museum got very favourable reviews. People loved the tank at the back (Americans say out back, which to me sounds like the Australian phrase Outback, which means not the back yard, but the wilderness).

Parents and grandparents said children loved the area of the toys for children to play with. It's all family friendly, except you are warned that in the WWII section the Holocaust room might not be suitable for children of all ages.

Discovery Centre
The Discover Centre is not like the Discovery centres in many other cities which are based in science.  This takes the bible as a starting point. Abilene takes its name from the Hebrew bible. See reviews on TripAdvisor. You might discover that others don't believe what you believe.

Abilene is nicknamed The Key City, and The Friendly Frontier. Now you know why.

Useful Websites For Travellers
www.visittheusa.com
https://www.traveltexas.com/#/
visitbritain.com
http://visitbirmingham.com
http://www.abilenevisitors.com
https://www.visitdublin.com
https://www.ireland.com/en-gb/
https://www.nccil.org

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other reviews on Abilene; Birming, England. Please share links to your favourite posts.

My Latest Discovery - Children's Illustration Museum in The Storybook Capital of America, Abilene, Texas, USA

Problem
What to see next and where?

Answer
I love literature and art.

I also love anything that's free. In addition to free admission, they have free fun art workshops for children on Saturday. Here's a free museum, in a place I have never visited. Abilene.

Didn't you love illustrated books as a child! I bet you still do.

It has changing exhibitions so you are sure to find something new. And a bookshop.

The idea for the place started with a meeting with the then Mayor and the illustrator, William Joyce, of a book set in Abilene. William Joyce is a co-founder of the museum.

See statue depicting the children from Santa Calls, "Childhood's Great Adventure" by Rick Jackson, downtown.

More statues are added every year in a ceremony.



By the way, the song Abilene is about another Abilene, in Kansas, which has an Eisenhower Museum.

National Centre For Childen's Illustrated Literature
Children's Illustration Museum
102 Cedar Street
Abilene
Texas
USA
79601

• Tel:+1-325-673-4586

Open 10-4 Tues-Saturday.
Closed Sunday and Monday.
One block away is the Grace Museum, which has lots of interactive activities for children. Also see the zoo.

Abilene Zoo. Photo in Wikipedia.

USA

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g30138-d12677273-Reviews-Adamson_Spalding_Storybook_Garden-Abilene_Texas.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_for_Children%27s_Illustrated_Literature

https://www.nccil.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Literary_museums_in_the_United_States

www.visittheusa.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker.