My family and I just came off a long weekend in New York City, returning late Monday night. We wrapped up the vacation by spending the day at the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before a late flight out of Newark to LAX.

It was a long awaited visit for me and AMNH was a highlight for us. My children love the Night at the Museum movies, so they were excited to visit the museum in person. For me it was all about my favorite president, Theodore Roosevelt, and his connection to the museum.

TR has been a favorite of mine since I read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris as a teenager. Like so many young men, I was instantly captivated by Roosevelt’s idea of the Strenuous Life and the vision of the rugged outdoorsman and man of action who also happened to be a learned and published historian and natural scientist. Since that time I’ve read nearly every major biography of Roosevelt. Studying the life of our 26th President has truly been a passion of mine.