There was nary a cloud in the sky when Tom’s alarm rang at 6:00am on Wednesday July 23, 2025. Although I was anxious to visit the Iowa State Capitol Building during our first stop of the day, I was even more excited for what was scheduled in the afternoon – a plethora of Ronald Reagan sites in the towns of Tampico and Dixon, Illinois. Due to the fact Dutch Reagan was born in Tampico and spent a good portion of his childhood in Dixon, there were no fewer than fifteen different historic sites and cool stops associated with the Actor-turned-President etched into my photographer’s itinerary. And if I were to get lucky during our time in the two Illinois towns, I might grab a bag or two of jellybeans as a personal tribute to our 40th President.
Once my companions had shat, showered, and shaved, the three of us left the Sleep Inn in West Des Moines, Iowa at 8:15am. The early morning commute to our first stop of the day was only fifteen miles long, and luckily, Vicki didn’t have to fight too much hectic traffic on our journey into downtown Des Moines.
Twenty minutes or so after our departure, my photographer’s wife pulled into a parking lot located on Capitol Hill. No, she hadn’t driven to Washington D.C.; but instead had parked almost in the shadow of the Iowa State Capitol Building, which had been constructed on high ground overlooking downtown Des Moines.
Although the three of us had visited Iowa’s Capitol back in 2021, I wasn’t able to see the interior because the building had already closed for the day. And from what I can remember, I had a tough time posing near the picturesque West Front because eleven members of the Lincoln High School basketball team from Des Moines were using the Capitol’s steps as their training ground. Tom was able to capture a few unobstructed images of me with the building, however, when a ten-minute window of opportunity opened during one of the student’s breaks.
But now, we were back, and thankfully there were no basketball players (or Asian tourists) anywhere in sight. Without hesitation, Tom carried me to the West Front of the Capitol, which on that bright sunny morning, was bathed in shadow. Because of the intense Sun angle, it became instantly obvious that photography would be a challenge for my semi-talented camera guy.
After I had posed on the ‘Lincoln and Tad’ statue, which I had also done in 2021, Tom carried me down a series of steps where I stood on the Bicentennial Fountain and posed with the Capitol in the background. Even though the Sun’s glare had somewhat diminished the overall breathtaking brilliance of the beautiful building, the Capitol still looked amazing through my squinted eyes.
When we were finished at the West Front, the three of us headed inside where we hoped to see the Governor’s office and the Rotunda – and anything else that might pique our interest. We no more stepped foot inside the first floor of the building, however, when we saw an entire busload of school-aged children on a field trip invade the Capitol. While I was thankful the group wasn’t of Asian heritage, which was obvious because very few of them had cameras, I knew the clock had begun to tick for our chances of having the second-floor Rotunda to ourselves. It’s not that I don’t like kids, I just don’t like to see them anywhere near me while I’m visiting a historic site – unless they’re named Bo, Rory, Reese, or Brooke.
I had a bounce in my step and a huge smile on my resin face when we returned to our vehicle. The Iowa State Capitol Building is one of my top five favorite Capitols, and our hour-long tour seemed to fly by in a flash. Someday, I’d love to return and have four or five hours to explore the interior and the grounds – I imagine there were some interesting things we missed during our short tour. Thankfully, one of the things we were able to avoid was the large swarm of piss ants that had invaded our morning picnic.
Nearly two hours after we left Des Moines and headed East on Interstate 80, Tom said something that caught me off guard and quite frankly, made me secretly question his mental capacity. Just as the sign for the exit to West Branch, Iowa came into view, I heard my photographer say to Vicki, “I’m not going to stop and pay a visit to Herbert Hoover’s grave again – unless you want to see it. It’s up to you. I know you didn’t get to visit the gravesite two weeks ago, and since we’re only a mile away…” Tom’s wife couldn’t get the words, “Nah, that’s okay”, out of her mouth fast enough, which came as no surprise to me.
Although I would’ve liked to have visited on our 31st President’s grave again, especially since it was only a mile off our beaten path that morning, I understood the reason my photographer had for bypassing the site. It was already a handful of minutes past eleven o’clock and Tom had planned on taking me into Illinois where we’d visit Ronald Reagan childhood sites in Tampico and Dixon before nightfall. Since we were still over 90 miles from Dutch Reagan’s birthplace, which was scheduled to be our first stop, my photographer figured we didn’t have any extra time for Hoover.
He did, however, have some extra time for his stomach. Roughly a half hour after we whizzed past the West Branch exit, I heard Tom say to his wife, “I’m so hungry I could eat a sandwich from a gas station. And there’s no better place to stop than the World’s Largest Truckstop which is just four short miles away.”
Sure enough, Vicki left Interstate 80 at the Walcott exit and within a few minutes she had the Jeep parked at one of the many gas pumps at the famous Iowa 80 – The World’s Largest Truckstop. At 220 acres in size, the ‘WLT’ is three times larger than the average truck stop and offers numerous amenities for truckers and tourists, including a buffet, a food court, a movie theater, a dentist, a chiropractor, a church and a museum dedicated to trucking. But on that particular morning, my photographer had his sights set on three things – the bathroom; the pre-packaged sandwich display; and the fresh fruit cooler.
When Tom carried me into the Iowa 80, I was instantly awestruck – the place was massive. In fact, it reminded me of a Buc-ee’s, only on steroids. Not wanting to waste much time, my photographer conducted some business, then he picked out a ham and cheese hoagie sandwich and a container of chunked watermelon he planned to eat during our ride into Illinois.
With empty bladders and satisfied stomachs, my companions crossed the Mighty Mississippi River and into the Land of Lincoln at 12:34pm. For the next 45 minutes or so, Vicki navigated the Jeep through the boring, corn-filled landscape of Western Illinois. Since it had been ten years and four days since my first and only visit to the Ronald Reagan Birthplace in Tampico, I was excited for my triumphant return to the town of about 800 residents and where the sidewalks roll up by five o’clock in the afternoon.
At 1:18pm, my photographer’s wife found a parking place along South Main Street in downtown Tampico. Even though it was early afternoon, parking in the historic business district was a non-issue. In fact, it seemed as though the three of us were the only living beings in the entire town – which made it easy for me to pose in front of Ronald Reagan’s birthplace without the distraction of other tourists.
After I had posed for a few photos in front of the Graham Building where President Reagan was born in a second-floor apartment on February 6, 1911, Tom carried me inside the bank building where we met our tour guide, Joan Johnson. Funny thing was – while the lower part of the structure had become a bank in 1919, it was home to a tavern when Jack and Nelle Reagan moved into the building’s upper apartment on October 1, 1906.
Before we headed to the actual upstairs birthplace, Tom, Vicki, and I listened to Ms. Johnson as she spoke about Ronald Reagan’s life in the building, which lasted from his birth until the family moved out on May 5, 1911 when the “Fat Dutchman” was only three months old.
When Johnson had finished showing us some of the artifacts and photos on display in the small museum, the three of us followed our passionate tour guide up the steep set of stairs and into the world of Jack, Nelle, Neil, and baby Ronald Reagan. Even though it had been a decade since I last stepped foot inside that restored apartment, it not only seemed like yesterday, but it also felt great to be back.
My photographer and I could’ve talked about President Reagan for the rest of the day with Joan Johnson, but Tom’s clock was ticking – we still had three Reagan sites left to see in Tampico before we made the 28-mile drive to Dixon.
After we bid farewell to our gracious host, the three of us walked across the street where I posed in front of a large, two-story brick building that featured a mural of President Reagan on its Northern exterior wall. Today, the building is home to The Break Room Pub-N-Grub, which was one of the few, and perhaps only, eateries in the small town of Tampico.
When the building was built in 1900, however, it hosted several businesses until it became the H.C. Pitney Variety Store in 1911. That’s when Jack Reagan, the future President’s father, became employed there as a clerk. When Pitney sold the store in 1914, the Reagan’s left Tampico. Five years later, when Pitney regained ownership, Jack Reagan returned to his old job as clerk and moved his family back to town. The Reagans, including eight-year-old Ronnie, occupied the building’s second-floor apartment from August 25, 1919 until December 1920; which was when Pitney closed the store and the Reagans moved to Dixon.
By early afternoon in Tampico, the temperature was near 95 degrees with no end in sight. That meant instead of walking to the next Reagan site, which was just around the corner on Glassburn Street, the three of us boarded the Jeep and Vicki drove us there.
While my photographer’s wife stayed in the comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle, Tom carried me from Ronald Reagan Park to an area in front of a private residence. The two-story wooden home in front of me was where Jack Reagan had moved his family when they left the apartment above the tavern just three months after Ronnie was born. The future President lived in the rented home with his parents and older brother Neil from May 1911 until December 1914. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, it dawned on me – Ronald Reagan lived in that home on the day Titanic sunk.
After I posed for several images in front of the home, which I thought looked a lot better than it did ten years earlier, I was carried back across the street where I stood on a statue dedicated to our 40th President. It turned out that Ronald, along with his brother Neil, spent a lot of time in the park where they played on an old Civil War cannon. The bronze statue, which was created by Ted McElhiney in 2013, depicted Reagan as a 12-year-old boy standing on the cannon, even though Ronnie was only nine years old when his family left Tampico for good in 1920.
During my previous visit to Tampico ten years earlier, I had the pleasure of seeing the President’s birthplace, the Pitney Variety Store, the childhood home on Glassburn Street, and the Ronald Reagan statue. But one site I hadn’t visited before; one that was discovered thanks to the information provided by Joan Johnson at the birthplace; was the Church of Christ, which was located two blocks East of the park. It turned out that young Ronnie and his mother, Nelle, attended that protestant church in town, while Jack and Neil worshipped at Tampico’s St. Mary’s Catholic Church at the same time.
A minute or two after we left Ronald Reagan Park, Vicki parked along the street near the Church of Christ on South Fremont Street. Although Tom and I weren’t able to access the interior of the church as it appeared to be permanently closed, the two of us were able to admire the exterior of the historic building where I posed for several photos. As I stood on the steps to the front entrance, I envisioned Nelle and Ronnie walking towards me. Mrs. Reagan held tightly to her son’s hand as the two headed through the doorway and into the church for the Sunday morning service.
While there, I wondered if Nelle and her son prayed for the victims of the Titanic disaster during the service on Sunday April 21, 1912. Then it dawned on me, the youngster was only 14 months old at the time and was likely sucking on his thumb instead of praying.
The first European settlers arrived in the area in 1852 and nine years later, the township of Tampico, Illinois was founded by John W. Glassburn. A little over a decade later, in June 1874, which was about a year before the township was officially incorporated into the Village of Tampico, a devastating tornado struck and destroyed 27 buildings. Tampico was nearly wiped off the map.
But the town survived and was rebuilt after the tornado; and 37 years later, on February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan took his first breaths of life in the center of Tampico. Although Jack and Nelle Reagan knew their “Little Fat Dutchman” was special, no one could’ve predicted he would eventually live where the current President, William Howard Taft, resided – at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
On January 20, 1981, when Ronald Reagan recited the Presidential Oath of Office to become our 40th President, Tampico was back on the map. And this time, it wasn’t just a small dot on everyone’s Rand McNally. For on that day, Tampico, Illinois became a Presidential birthplace, and that’s something not too many towns and cities in America can claim.
Although Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama each have strong ties to the state of Illinois, only one President was born in that state – and that’s Ronald Reagan.
At 2:25pm on July 23, 2025, Tom, Vicki, and I replicated the same decision Jack and Nelle Reagan made over one hundred years earlier. Tampico had nothing left to offer, so we packed up our belongings and headed 28 miles to the Northeast to the town of Dixon, Illinois.
I’ll see you there! And trust me, it’ll be worth the wait!
