Tour Description

Intelligent Fun! These words were copied from the Space Center Houston but they also aptly describe our Presidential Libraries tour. Educational, historical, entertaining! We will visit 4 of our past presidents libraries and museums. Step-on Guides will give us tours of Houston, Austin, Dallas and Little Rock to show us the Highlights as well as the little known facts and attractions about their cities. Include a tram tour of NASA, Museum of American GI, tour Texas State Capitol, Sixth Floor Museum and Reunion Tower gives you a variety of impressive venues that memories are made of.

Day 1:

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We begin our tour with a travel day through Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Our overnight will be in Tyler, Texas.

Day 2:

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We continue to Houston, Texas and a highlight of our tour, a visit to Johnson Space Center for a cosmic lunch with an astronaut. The presentation will include first hand stories from the visiting astronaut. After lunch, enjoy a magnificent narrated Tram tour of NASA. It is totally amazing what you will be able to see and learn. Our overnight will be in Houston. (B.L)

Day 3:

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A Step-on Guide will meet us at our hotel for a 3 hour tour of Houston to show us the highlights and most interesting portions of the city. His narration will help us to learn things we had never heard about Houston. This afternoon we will tour the Museum of American GI. The Museum is a living history museum dedicated to preserving the equipment, uniforms and memories of all American servicemen and women. The Museum is honored to be the home for the Texas Vietnam Heroes Exhibit. The award-winning exhibit features 3,417 personalized dog tags and was developed to honor and remember every Texan who died in the Vietnam War, including the 102 Texans who remain Missing in Action. Our lodging will be in College Station, Texas. (B)

Day 4:

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Our first attraction of the day is one of the top attractions in the State of Texas, the George H. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. This museum experience is both educational and entertaining. The museum’s core exhibits reveal the unique influences and challenges that shaped George H. Bush’s life and presidency. See a WWll Avenger Torpedo Bomber, a 1947 Studebaker, a slab of the Berlin Wall, and precise replicas of President Bush’s Camp David and Situation Room. A special section is dedicated to First Lady Barbara Bush and her efforts on behalf of literacy and AIDS awareness and prevention. Next we continue to Austin to tour the Texas State Capitol. Construction began in 1882 and Texas Granite in shades of sunset red was finally chosen as the primary building material. Austin, Texas will be our home for two nights. (B)

Day 5:

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Our Presidential Library and Museum that we visit this morning is for Lyndon Baines Johnson. Papers of the Johnson presidency are preserved here. It also includes sculptures of President and Mrs. Johnson, gifts from foreign heads of state, Johnson’s 1968 Lincoln limousine, a collection of American political memorabilia and changing exhibits about American History. Displays chronicle both President Johnson’s and the First Lady’s life. A Step-on-Guide will meet us for a tour of Austin. Points of interest in Austin are the State Capitol, University of Texas, Bullock State History Museum, Congress Avenue, SOCO District, Lady Bird Lake, Warehouse District, Willie Nelson Statue, and more. Austin again tonight. (B)

Day 6:

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This morning we depart for Dallas, Texas and should arrive around lunch time. After lunch we visit our 3rd Presidential Library and Museum, that of President George W. Bush, the 13th Presidential Library and Museum. Not only is this museum The Nation’s official record keeper, it also showcases some 43,000 domestic and foreign Presidential gifts given to the President and First Lady by people from around the world and records that serve as a resource for the study of American History, the American Presidency, and important issues of public policy. Highlights include the Decision Points Theater that takes visitors “inside” the President’s decision-making process during major crises, See steel from the World Trade Center, a full-sized replica Oval Office with a Resolute Desk, and a Texas Rose Garden. The 67 feet tall, Freedom Hall encases a one-of-a-kind, 360-degree, high definition video wall that orients visitors and depicts a montage of the 44 U.S. Presidents. Lodging for two nights will be in Dallas, TX (B)

Day 7:

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Our Step-on-guide will meet us at our hotel for a narrated tour of Dallas. We will get to see and learn about such things as Texas Stadium where the Cowboys play among many other interesting venues. After the tour and lunch, we will tour the awesome Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. President John F. Kennedy’s life, death and legacy are chronicled at the site of his assassination. More than 400 photographs, artifacts and models are displayed on the sixth floor of the former Texas School Book Depository. A 10-minute film narrated by Walter Cronkite reviews the long term impact of Kennedy’s death. After this nostalgic and heart breaking tour, we will travel to the top of Reunion Tower. The 50-story tower is the focal point of the Reunion area, a settlement of French emigrants in the 19th Century. The Observation Deck gives you a magnificent view of Dallas. Dallas again tonight. (B)

Day 8:

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This morning we travel to Hope, Arkansas and make a stop at the birthplace of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and visit the grounds and exhibits of their favorite son. We continue to Little Rock for two nights lodging. (B)

Day 9:

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This morning, we will visit our 4th and last of our Presidential Libraries. The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum reflect the events, ceremonies, day-to-day working of the White House, the lives of the President and First Family, and the accomplishments and work of the Clinton Administration. The exhibits display the story of President Clinton’s life before becoming President, during him terms in office, as well as his post-presidential work plus many other exhibits such as the Presidential Limousine, The Cabinet Room and the Presidential Timeline. After lunch, we will meet our step-on-guide for a tour of Little Rock. From the 1957 Central High School Crisis to the Clinton Presidential Library, so much of American history has played out right here. Highlights or our tour include “the Little Rock”, Old Statehouse, Governor’s Mansion, Quapaw Quarter, Central High, The Old Mill, and many other stops! This evening Making Memories Tours will treat you to a fabulous dinner. Return to our hotel. (B.D)

Day 10:

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This is the last day of this amazing tour but before we depart Little Rock we want you to experience one more fabulous, historical building, the Arkansas State Capitol. The Capitol is equally rich in history, craftsmanship and architectural excellence. On your visit, you may see lawmakers at work and you’ll also enjoy a glimpse of the historic events and people who shaped Arkansas. After this fascinating tour, we depart for home and Making Memories Tours hope you will arrive with many memories of the patriotic things from our American past that helped to make us what we are today. (B)