The Backyard Tourist

As someone who has spent a career helping tell America’s stories through museums, historic sites, and cultural institutions, I’ve always been fascinated by the people who shaped our nation. Presidents occupy a unique place in our collective memory. They are celebrated, criticized, debated, and studied. Yet too often, we view them only through the lens of politics rather than history.

That’s about to change.

The 250th Anniversary of our nation has caused me to be reflective. I’ve challenged myself to spend the next five years visiting and writing about the historic sites, museums, homes, birthplaces, libraries, and memorials connected to every President of the United States.

This isn’t a quest to rank presidents or revisit old political arguments. Instead, it’s an opportunity to explore the places where history happened and discover how communities across America preserve and interpret the lives of the men who occupied the nation’s highest office.

The journey will take me from humble log cabins and frontier settlements to grand estates and presidential libraries. I’ll visit birthplaces, family homes, museums, memorials, and archives. Along the way, I’ll explore the stories of the people who influenced these leaders, the places that shaped them, and the legacies they left behind.

Some sites are already on my list. As an Illinois museum professional, I’ve spent considerable time exploring the world of Abraham Lincoln. Yet there are many presidential destinations I have yet to experience, from New England villages connected to America’s earliest leaders to Southern homes, Western ranches, and the impressive network of presidential libraries that preserve our nation’s political history.

What excites me most is that this project isn’t really about presidents alone.

It’s about America.

Every presidential site tells a larger story about immigration, expansion, war, civil rights, innovation, culture, economics, leadership, and the changing American experience. These places reveal not only who our presidents were but also who we were—and who we continue to become.

Over the next five years, I’ll share detailed travel guides, museum reviews, historic site features, preservation stories, and road trip itineraries from these destinations. I’ll highlight both the famous landmarks and the lesser-known sites that deserve more attention from travelers and history enthusiasts.

Some stops will be inspiring. Others may be complicated. The best historic sites often are.

My goal is simple: to explore America’s presidential story one destination at a time and invite Backyard Tourist readers to join me on the journey.

There are 45 presidencies, dozens of museums and libraries, hundreds of historic sites, and thousands of miles of road ahead.

Let’s get started.