My day today/The Hayes house and museum
By Sissy15
@sissy15 (12285)
United States
February 25, 2024 9:08pm CST
We had a really long day today. We went to the Rutheford B. Hayes house and museum. I went once on a field trip when I was a kid to tour the house but the museum was closed at that time. They have since remodeled the downstairs of the house to look like it did when Hayes lived there. Before that, it looked like it did when the last of the Hayes family left in 1965.
The house is huge but still looks homey. I really enjoyed it. I was fascinated hearing all about the house and Hayes and everything he and his wife did for our country and their surrounding area. He sounded like an amazing man. The house tour guide showed us a picture of Hayes son Web and I was like man he looks like Teddy Roosevelt and he informed us that Teddy was actually around Web's age I think actually a few years younger and they were good friends and Web was often mistaken for Teddy and I guess once when someone told Web he looked like Teddy he said "No, Teddy looks like me". I laughed at that.
Hayes did a lot for the community including starting the hospital that is there. We were told he was the first president to have a telephone at the white house and the telephone number was 1. When on the tour we went into the master bedroom which was downstairs and where both Hayes and his wife died and the master bathroom we learned was also used as his office. He had a desk and everything placed in there so he could do his work. The guide said he was quoted as saying that a man is never disturbed while in the bathroom and that's why he used it as a sort of office.
The museum was interesting too. The grounds and the library there are open to the public for free and Hayes and his wife were both buried on the grounds and you can see his tomb when you're walking around. While walking the grounds we were super amused at how friendly the squirrels were. The squirrels were allowing visitors to feed them from their hands which I've heard you can train them to do that (but honestly probably shouldn't) and all of the squirrels were pretty fat probably from everyone feeding them. My husband called out to one of the squirrels and it started coming to him then realized he didn't have food so ran away.
Something else we found out while we were in the museum looking at the Hayes family tree was that there are still some direct descendants that are still alive. Some of the boys who were the last to live in the Hayes home before it was donated are still alive and have come to the house and told stories of the house while they lived there. I guess there was a family reunion there not too long ago. I think the guide said last summer.
Every Easter they have something called an egg roll on the grounds, I'm not entirely sure of the details of it but I am going to assume it is like it sounds. I remember hearing about it in the past but never paid attention to the details.
After the museum, we ended up in Sandusky where we went and looked at the view of Cedar Point from one of the parks and we drove to Huron and then back to Sandusky and we went to the mall where we ate at a place called Cheers which despite the name looks nothing like the Cheers bar even though they used the Cheers logo. I was shocked to see how much they had in their mall. My husband found a store that had a lot of cool Star Trek merchandise including their uniforms and I guess a lot of the money from purchases goes to charity. I checked out the bookstore with my son. We were out pretty late and didn't get home until around eight because we had to go to the store and pick up a few things.
It was a long day out but we really enjoyed ourselves. We have made it a point to try to get out on Sundays and do things with our son. We don't always spend money. Sometimes we go to parks or other free places. Last weekend we went to Dayton to the flight museum which is free. Our car is amazing on gas because it's a fairly small car and we can get pretty far on a tank of gas.
The picture is of The Hayes home I took from the property before our tour.
3 people like this
3 responses
@sissy15 (12285)
• United States
27 Feb
I know which is why our goal has been to spend time with him. Sunday he told us he loves Sundays. I'm glad we get to make these memories with him. Next Sunday we plan to go back to Sandusky and check out the merry-go-round Museum and the maritime museum and maybe walk out to the lighthouse they have there. We originally planned on going to the Acoustics for Autism event which is a bit closer to us than Sandusky where there are a ton of live bands and any money made goes to charity but we know it's going to be super crowded especially since it's going to be nice weather so we decided to skip it. I love events like that but I've found over the years I can't handle the crowds because people tend to get rude and I don't have the patience for it anymore so I protect my peace.
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@sissy15 (12285)
• United States
28 Feb
@JudyEv You're probably not wrong, but a lot of it is outside so that helps a little. I work with kids though so I'm already in a giant petri dish. I don't wear a mask anymore at work because it makes getting directions across difficult but even when I was wearing one I'd still get sick because kids are gross and would cough directly in my face. I've just come to the conclusion that whatever is going around I'll probably get eventually but I still don't go out and place myself in situations with huge crowds of people so I can get something else going around.
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@MarieCoyle (34029)
•
26 Feb
I love historical sites and homes. I wanted to go there as I knew it was our first Presidential Library. Lng time since I've been there, but I would go again if I could. Very interesting. Glad you had a good time!
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@sissy15 (12285)
• United States
26 Feb
I do too, we have been making a habit of checking out a lot of the local ones lately. We have been doing a lot of museums and things too. I'm only about a half an hour from the home but for some reason I only went once before on a field trip in sixth grade. I actually know the author who wrote the book on Hayes's wife or rather did know she's gone now. They sell her book in the museum. My aunt used to take care of her (she had dementia) and she was also the mother-in-law of my health teacher. There was a tree out in her yard that the museum gave her in honor of her book which was a neat gesture if you know the trivia about how Hayes would name trees after people and have those people touch the trees.
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@sissy15 (12285)
• United States
28 Feb
@MarieCoyle It's an interesting thought, I love history. I enjoy checking out the local museums and things. Hayes admired Lincoln and had pictures and things in his house of Lincoln. There's a street named after Lincoln in Fremont too. I have really been enjoying checking out historical sites and museums around me. I live in NW Ohio and we often get overlooked but we have a lot of historical sites and museums. Fort Meigs is just up the road from me. This coming Sunday we plan to go to the Merry Go Round Museum in Sandusky. Sandusky has a ton of beautiful buildings and old homes too. I know it's mostly known for Cedar Point which is amazing but I much prefer other things to the amusement park. I love learning about things in general and not just historic museums but I definitely have a soft spot for historical sites. Our next goal is to get to the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. My husband and I have been planning trips that we can get to and from in a day. Ohio gets overlooked a lot when it comes to things to do but we really do have a lot. There's a lot of history in Ohio.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (34029)
•
28 Feb
@sissy15
I feel the same way about Illinois. I've lived many places, but I was born here and after many years I returned. I am never done discovering historical sites and such here. In the course of my life I have been fortunate to see other states and historical sites in other places as well, but it's really nice when you can be home that night after a day of enjoying history.
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