Picture It: The Reagan Library and Museum

Those of you who are at all familiar with my political leanings will not be the slightest bit surprised that, despite the fact that I have lived, literally, down the hill from it for almost four years, I never visited the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum until a couple of weeks ago.

The Library itself isn't open to the general public, but the Museum recaps the life and careers--Hollywood, Sacramento, and Washington eras--of the late actor, California governor and 40th President through a variety of exhibits, some of which may also be interesting to a less partisan audience.

View from the Reagan Library, above Simi Valley

A re-creation of the Reagan-era Oval Office, at a slightly reduced scale

An expansion to the original museum houses the Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One for President Reagan. Visitors may walk through the plane, but no photography is allowed inside it. Notice the tables? The Air Force One Pavilion is available for private functions, including corporate events and high-school proms.

Reagan famously said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." A piece of the dismantled Berlin Wall is now installed on the Museum grounds.

What finally brought me to the Reagan Library actually had very little to do with Ronald Reagan, though--it was all about his old friend Walt Disney. D23, the Official Disney Fan Club, is presenting its "Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives" exhibit at the Library until April 2013, which features many artifacts--including collectibles, source materials, and props--never before seen by the public. I wrote about the exhibit in the feature "Mickey Comes to Simi Valley" for CBSLA.com this week.

Admission to the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California includes all permanent and temporary Museum exhibits, including "Treasures of the Disney Archives." My husband and I purchased our own tickets to the Library in order to prepare a feature about the Disney exhibit for CBSLA.com "Best of LA", for which I was compensated.