Two history nerds and the President Benjamin Harrison Home

This weekend, Wheat and I got our nerd on and crossed something off my Indianapolis Bucket List. After sleeping in a bit on Saturday, we headed downtown to tour the President Benjamin Harrison Home. Harrison, the 23rd President of the U.S. and the grandson of President William Henry Harrison, is the only president who ever lived in Indiana. Now, his home is open for hour-long historical tours.

I was the only person on our tour taking pictures.

Side note: Harrison is also a graduate of my alma mater, Miami University. Love and honor.

I can't believe how close it was to my old apartment! Had I known, we would have walked there long ago. The house itself was really pretty and sticks out from everything surrounding it. I loved the gorgeous wraparound porch and the huge tree in the front yard.

He absolutely didn't want to take this picture.

The place offers tours every half hour, but they don't have a waiting room. So, they ask you to congregate on the front porch and ring the doorbell every half hour to bring out a tour guide. That made for a pretty uncomfortable, yet hilarious couple of minutes before an adorable old man gave in and decided to ring the doorbell. Hilariously, a woman answered the door and told him to ring it again when she closed it, in order to get the tour guide's attention.

Our tour guide (Oren), who later admitted he has been working there for as many years as we've been alive, prefaced the tour by saying he was a volunteer and didn't know everything about the house or Benjamin Harrison. I'm convinced he was bluffing because he answered every single question from our small tour group without hesitation.

Unsurprisingly, we were the youngest people on our tour by a long shot. The house was really interesting inside, with most rooms recreated to look exactly the same as they did over a hundred years ago. They also have an extensive collection of original Harrison possessions and furniture, most of which are out in the open. Nearly all of the rooms were accessible, which blew my mind, and they also had an exhibit called "Raising the Hem: Historic Fashions of American Nobility," which showcased several of the First Ladies' dresses. They also had an exhibit on Women's Suffrage.

Nothing will make you feel huge like a couple First Lady dresses.

Some of my favorite things in the house were the Reginaphone, a cane with some of the presidents' faces carved into it, a hilarious precursor to the at-home fitness center, and a huge bookshelf in the library. The Reginaphone was basically a phonograph that played "My Country Tis of Thee." As the metal record spun, raised bumps caused a piece of metal to strike different notes (kind of like a music box).

Apparently, Harrison collected canes.

We also really loved the fact that they have a gift shop. I wonder how many things they sell in a year.

The tour was really informative (I honestly knew nothing about Harrison before it) and a super cheap date. Tickets normally cost $10 each, but we got them for $5 with our student IDs. For more information, go to the Benjamin Harrison Home website.

I'm so happy I actually found a guy who thinks this is not only an acceptable date, but also a fun way to spend time together. *swoon*