Saving Money On Presidential Library Visits For Families

I'm a nerd. I used to try and hide this fact when I was a youngster in school. Then I went to college and stayed in higher ed for a very long time. I've come to embrace my nerdiness.

That means that my kids have the good fortune (or maybe misfortune) of having a dad who likes to visit all sorts of historical museums. Alamo? Check! Louvre? Check! Various and sundry little museums off the side of random Interstates? Check! Check! and Check! This post will show you how to visit as many of the official presidential museums you can or want to visit within a given year for the low cost of $45.

Some of my favorite museum visits are related to the presidential libraries. When I was driving through Kansas a few years ago, I decided to visit the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Ike is one of my favorite presidents, so I really wanted to stop. This was my first visit to an official presidential museum.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we went to Disneyland in California for Spring Break. I saw ads in the hotel we stayed in that noted the Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon Museums. I looked at my itinerary for the day. We had nothing planned until a 7 pm game between the Lakers and the Hawks. The Lakers have been my favorite team since I was a kid--the days of Show Time with Magic, Kareem, and Worthy. Alas, the week after I bought the tickets, the team announced Kobe Bryant was out for the year. Bummer. They lost to the Hawks. Another bummer.

A Retired Air Force One at the Reagan Museum and Library

Anyways, the Reagan Museum was more strategically located for getting back to the Staples Center, so I decided that's the route we would take. Hands down, the Reagan Museum has been my favorite thus far. The Air Force One from Reagan's time in office was on display and decked out as it was back in the '80s. The Reagan Museum is also the most expensive presidential museum that I've visited. Today, if I were to take my family, it would cost a whopping $99 for my family of four. That's not cheap. I would not pay it again, nor should you. There's a pretty easy workaround.

Visit the Reagan Museum As A Family for $45

If you buy a membership to any presidential museum that's a part of the National Archives, you can get into any of them that are currently open. The Archives site shows that there are fourteen official museums tied to our nation's presidents. That's not exactly accurate, as the Obama Museum will not open for a few years. Therefore, you can get into 13 at this time.

The cheapest family membership that I've found is the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, TX. It's only $45 for two adults and any kids under 18 years of age. That's less than half of what I could buy tickets to the Reagan Museum. 

I chose to do this last Spring Break. We took a trip down to the Alamo, but stopped at the LBJ Library on the way down. I purchased the family membership for $45. On the way back home, we were able to stop at the George W. Bush Presidential Library Museum in Dallas and the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, KS. Cost for the Bush Museum--NOTHING! Cost for the Eisenhower Museum--NOTHING! The cost of visiting the LBJ Museum would have been $20 without the membership, but the higher cost was worth it because I visited the other two. 

I've now hit six of the 13 official Presidential Museums when you add the Hoover and Truman Museums. That means that I only have seven to go (eight in a couple of years). I'll be sure to check the cost to see if another membership to the LBJ will help me save some money along the way if I'm planning to see any more in the near future. Only the FDR, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, HW Bush, and Clinton remain (until the Obama opens, that is). 

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