2024 California Road Trip - Day #12 - Pasadena

I did a 20 minute Peloton strength workout and a 20 minute low impact bike ride. The Courtyard had a Peloton bike that needed to be activiated. We had breakfast at the hotel [oatmeal and frittata].

After breakfast, we headed to the Nixon Museum and Library in Yorba Linda. It was a liitle bit of a slog to get there. It took about an hour and forty-five minutes to drive 77 miles. SoCal traffic is a subject for another day...

Like Reagan, I haven't read a book about Nixon on my journey to read biographies about all of the presidents. After visiting the two museums, I am more interested in reading about both of them, particularly Nixon.

While the Reagan Museum was more impressive with its views from the hilltop, I think that the Nixon Museum did a better, more thorough story telling job. The museum starts with a film that highlights Watergate at the beginning before providing an overview.


I enjoyed the fact that you could walk around in the Oval Office replica at the Nixon Museum. The Oval Office is bigger than I expected with a higher ceiling.

Following the section on Nixon's accomplishments as president, there was a detailed and comprehensive look at Watergate. It was a lot of information. [Note to self], Sharon suggested that we watch All the President's Men.

The museum includes a section about the Vietnam War. I didn't realize that the troop levels reached 550,000.

We ended up taking a break after about an hour and a half and going to a nearby McDonalds for a quick lunch. Surprisingly, there is no food on site.

Both Sharon and I enjoyed the site. With the break for lunch, we ended up spending over four and a half hours at the Nixon Museum.

In the late afternoon, we wound our way to the Langham Huntington Hotel. We stayed at this hotel once when Jack played in a baseball showcase. We are spending two nights.

After getting settled in the room, we had a cocktail in the Tap Room. For dinner, we took an Uber to Cafe Santorini. I was done with driving for the day. We split Santorini's Grilled Calamari [grilled baby squid served over fields greens & tossed with lemon herb dressing]. For entrees, I had red curry seafood risotto [black mussels, shrimp, clams, spinach & red onions], while Sharon had a sea bass special.

Getting an Uber back to the hotel, we finished the day watching an episode of Outlander on the AppleTV.