Compare A Presidential Symposium: Theodore Roosevelt’s Legacy by Road Scholar vs Sunsets & Southern Charms by Tours of Distinction

Day 1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Location: Bismarck, ND Meal: D Hotel: Radisson Hotel
Activity note: Hotel check-in available from 3:00 p.m. All activities today and evening are at the hotel. Walking from hotel rooms to meeting room.

Afternoon: Program Registration: 5:00 p.m. After you have your room assignment, come over to the Road Scholar table in the designated room to register with the program staff and get your welcome packet containing your name-tag, up-to-date schedule that reflects any last-minute changes, other important information, and to learn when and where the Orientation session will take place. If you arrive late, please ask for your packet when you check in.

Dinner: 6:00 p.m. In the hotel meeting room, we’ll enjoy a welcome buffet dinner featuring an entrée, salad, vegetable, dessert, and beverage choices of decaf coffee, iced tea, and water.

Evening: Orientation. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule and any changes, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer any questions you may have. Our program was planned far in advance when details of the TR symposium (speakers, topics) were not available. The information will be posted on our website when confirmed and included in preparatory materials sent following enrollment. Our knowledgeable Group Leader will provide commentary throughout the program, en route during travel and transfers as well as at stops. Unless specified otherwise, transportation will be provided primarily by motorcoach, which will require going up/down a few steps. We will walk on average between 1-2 miles each day depending on local circumstances. When transferring between hotels, participants will be responsible for transporting their own luggage from the hotel to the motorcoach and vice-versa. Periods in the daily schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.

Day 2
North Dakota Capitol, Heritage Museum, Lewis & Clark Center.
Location: Bismarck, ND Meal: B,L,D Hotel: Radisson Hotel

Activity note: Driving a total of about 159 miles. Approximately 1.5 hour segment; 45 min segment & 45 minute segment. Walking up to 2 miles throughout the day including visits to museum, Capitol, interpretive center, meals, in and out of the coach and hotel. Walking on flat surfaces of sidewalks and floors.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel dining room. The special Road Scholar menu includes, eggs, a protein, starch, fruit, juice, coffee, tea, and water.

Morning: We’ll depart the hotel via motorcoach and take a short drive to the North Dakota State Capitol building — the Skyscraper of the Prairies — where we’ll learn from an on-site interpreter and gain insights into the history, culture, and political aspects of North Dakota. The 19-story statehouse was completed in 1934 for just $2 million and ranks as one of the nation’s most practical and economically built state capitols. The Art Deco structure is enhanced by a unique blend of raw materials, including Indian limestone, Montana Yellowstone, Belgian and Tennessee marble, Honduras mahogany, East Indian rosewood, laurel wood, English brown oak and Burma teak. The grounds also offer a unique opportunity to see the statue of Sakakawea (local spelling) and her baby, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Next, we’ll walk across the parking lot to the North Dakota Heritage Center Museum where the Corridor of Time gallery depicts life during the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene periods along with paleontological exhibits. Museum staff will greet us and provide an overview of the museum before opening up the rest of the morning for independent exploration of the exhibits. A First People's section describes and answers who the first people in the area were and how they arrived here. Featured objects in the exhibits range from 10,000 B.C.E. to the 18th century. One is a reproduction of the oldest house ever excavated in North Dakota, 550-410 B.C.E. Other galleries focus on the introduction of Euro-Americans to the area, agricultural methods, sociopolitical influences, Native American history, and an impressive natural history exhibit.

Lunch: Today's box lunch includes a delicious, freshly made wrap, a side of fresh veggies, baked chips, or a salad as the side.

Afternoon: The Great Plains Synfuels Plant, owned by Basin Electric, is home to the largest carbon dioxide capture project in the world. Learn from the experts why this facility is so important to the Midwest and Eastern parts of the United States in the production of synthetic gas. Local farmers and the general population all benefit from the byproducts of this process as well. Continue on to: The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center staff, Washburn, North Dakota, will provide an overview of the Expedition with special emphasis on displays that include Native American artifacts including a buffalo robe that visitors can try on, a cradle-board, and an original "hasp." The Center's Bergquist Gallery, 1 of only 4 galleries in the world to house a complete collection, rotates the prints of Karl Bodmer on a seasonal basis. Bodmer's watercolors and Maximilian's written descriptions are considered the most complete and reliable eyewitness account of the Upper Midwest Indian cultures. At Fort Mandan, we’ll learn even more about the journey of Lewis & Clark from a historical re-enactor. This site is particularly important because Lewis & Clark spent more days in North Dakota than any other place on their journey. Sacagawea, their interpreter and wife of French Canadian trapper and guide Toussaint Charbonneau, joined the expedition at this site as well. As we walk around, we’ll notice that this site offers a reconstruction of the 1804-1805 winter quarters built by the Corp of Discovery out of cottonwood lumber cut from the riverbanks. It was triangular in shape with high walls on all sides and a gate facing the riverbank. The men started building the fort on November 2, 1804 and remained in the area until April 7, 1805. When the Corp passed back through the area in August 1806 on their return journey home, the fort had burnt to the ground; the reason is unknown. Depart for trip back to the hotel in Bismarck with an arrival time of approximately 5:30 PM (CST)

Dinner: Enjoy a simple dinner while you cruise the majestic Missouri River aboard the Lewis & Clark Riverboat.

Evening: Return to the hotel after your dinner cruise approximately 7:30 PM.

Day 3
Enchanted Highway, Energy Sources, TR National Park Overlook
Location: Medora, ND Meal: B,L,D Hotel: Rough Riders Hotel 

Activity note: Driving a total of about 199 miles. Approximately 1.5 hour segment; 45 min segment & 1.5 hour segment. Walking up to 2 miles throughout the day including picture stops, meals, in and out of the coach and hotel. Walking on flat surfaces of sidewalks and flat, gravel parking areas at picture stops.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel dining room. The special Road Scholar menu includes, eggs, a protein, starch, fruit, juice, coffee, tea, and water.

Morning: We’ll depart Bismarck for Medora, North Dakota. Our Group Leader will provide commentary throughout the journey. As we gaze at the fields of grain and hay, we’ll understand why North Dakota ranks first in the nation for the production of hard spring and durum wheat. Other dry-land crops include sunflowers, canola, beans and flax. We’ll also get to see North Dakota's Enchanted Highway, 32 miles dotted with soaring metal sculptures that are some of the largest in the world. As unusual as they are enjoyable, these monster-sized creations are unquestionably a must-see Americana road art, and we’ll hear more about it from our Group Leader. The highway isn't just about the objects, however; it is also about a man named Gary Greff whose vision to help revive this small community was met by getting travelers off the Interstate Highway and into small town, rural America. The first project, "Geese in Flight" is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Largest Metal Art Sculpture at 110-feet tall, 154-feet long, and 79 tons. Others include a dedication to Teddy Roosevelt, pheasants in the prairie, a giant grasshopper, and many more. We’ll have plenty of photo opportunities to enjoy these gigantically fun roadside creations that have been featured in magazines, newspapers, and on television.

Lunch: Lunch at the "Enchanted Castle" steakhouse includes your choice of one entrée from the Road Scholar selected menu, salad, starch, chef's choice of dessert, water, iced tea, coffee or hot tea. Extra beverages available for purchase.

Afternoon: Learn how recovered energy sources presently affect the people and state of North Dakota as well as the domestic and global markets. Follow the time line and history of energy development within the Bakken and Three Forks areas from the early 1950s to the present. Discover how advances in technology are now used to limit the environmental footprint creating what is now called the "new normal" in energy development throughout the country. Short stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park Painted Canyon overlook before arriving at your hotel in Medora. Stand in awe as you experience your first panoramic view of the North Dakota Badlands!

Dinner: Dinner is on your own tonight. Your group leader will offer suggestions and directions upon request.

Evening: Historical and entertaining presentation relating to Medora's past and present.

Day 4
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Chateau, and TR Symposium
Location: Medora, ND Meal: B,L,D Rough Riders Hotel

Activity note: The drive through Theodore Roosevelt National Park is about 36 miles, approximately 1 hour. Walking up to 2 miles at visitor center, town of Medora, hotel, meals; sidewalks, level terrain. The drive to/from Dickinson State University is about 34 miles each way or 38 minutes.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the RoughRider Hotel. Menu items include an egg dish, breakfast meat, pastry, fruit, juice, coffee, tea, and water.

Morning: A local expert will be with us aboard the motorcoach and on site as we capture the spirit of the West during our field trip to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, visitor center, and TR’s ranch cabin located in the badlands of North Dakota. In 1884, after the death of both his wife and mother, the future 26th President went out to his ranch in the Badlands to rebuild his life. These wild lands were a catharsis for him. For about two years, he ranched in the area and noted his experiences in pieces published in Eastern newspapers and magazines. Returning east and into politics, Roosevelt would forever associate himself through his extensive writings and memoirs with the vanishing frontier and the life of the cowboy and rancher. The Little Missouri Badlands were explored early in 1924 to determine possible park sites but it wasn't until 1947 that this area became the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park and finally a national park in 1978. The Maltese Cross Ranch cabin was originally located south of Medora. At Roosevelt's request, the one-and-a-half story cabin, complete with a shingle roof and cellar, was built. Constructed of pine logs, the cabin was considered something of a "mansion" in its day with wooden floors and three separate rooms (kitchen, living room and Roosevelt's bedroom). The steeply pitched roof, an oddity on the northern plains, created an upstairs sleeping loft for the ranch hands.

Lunch: At the historic Schafer Center in Medora, we’ll have lunch including salad, entrée, vegetable, and beverage choices of coffee and water. Other beverages not available for purchase.

Afternoon: After lunch, we will board the motorcoach to the Château deMores which memorializes the life of the Marquis de Mores and his wife Medora who the town is named after. See many of the original furnishings and personal effects of the family in the two-story, 26-room Château built in 1883 and used only as a summer residence. Learn about the many enterprises of the Marquis and the history of the area at the visitor's center. The rest of afternoon is your to enjoy as you wish. Your group leader will offer suggestions and directions.

Dinner: The group dinner tonight is a buffet featuring an entrée, salad, vegetable, and dessert with beverage choices of water, decaf coffee, and ice tea. Additional beverages available for purchase.

Evening: We’ll board the motorcoach and ride to Dickinson State University for the start of the Theodore Roosevelt Symposium at 7:00 PM with welcome and introduction of all symposium speakers, followed by the keynote speaker. The annual symposium is hosted by the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson, North Dakota dedicated to preserving the legacy of America’s 26th president. Clay Jenkinson is the moderator for the Theodore Roosevelt Symposium and will be the speaker this evening. Clay is also a featured presenter and panel monitor. Clay Jenkinson grew up on the western plains of North Dakota, not far from Theodore Roosevelt's Badlands. He attended the University of Minnesota, Oxford University, and the University of Colorado. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Clay has won numerous awards, including the National Humanities Medal, the highest honor conferred on a public humanities scholar in the United States. He has portrayed historical characters, including Theodore Roosevelt. He has appeared in three Ken Burns documentary films, including the most recent film The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. He has made four documentary films himself, has written nine books and is the founder of the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University. We’ll return to the hotel after the evening events.

Day 5
Full Day at Theodore Roosevelt Symposium

Location: Medora, ND Meal: B,L,D Rough Riders Hotel

Activity note: Limited amount of walking from hotel to coach to symposium to meals; mostly level sidewalks, 1/2 block slight incline walking to lunch, dinner and evening performances. Distance and time from Medora to the symposium is 34 miles or 38 minutes each way.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the RoughRider Hotel. Menu items include an egg dish, breakfast meat, pastry, fruit, juice, coffee, tea, and water.

Morning: We’ll coach to Dickinson State University for a full day at the symposium. Featured this morning are two nationally known speakers who will continue the discussion of Theodore Roosevelt's Allies in the Arena. During breaks, each speaker will have a book signing in the lobby. Opening remarks are scheduled for 9:00 AM followed by the first speaker of the morning with the second presenter at 10:45 AM The 2020 list of speakers include: Patricia O’Toole who is the author of five books, including The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House, and The Five of Hearts: An Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams and His Friends, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A former professor in the School of the Arts at Columbia University and a fellow of the Society of American Historians, she lives in Camden, Maine. Another speaker we look forward to hearing from is Matthew Oyos, an award-winning professor and author, Matthew Oyos specializes in the history of warfare, with an emphasis on the relationship between warfare and societal change. His research has focused on modern American military affairs, particularly Theodore Roosevelt and the development of the modern American military. His book, In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military, won the Theodore Roosevelt Association's Book Prize in 2019. As professor of history at Radford University, Oyos was the recipient of the University’s College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award for 2005-2006. He also received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences in 2019.

Lunch: Lunch today is on the campus of the university. Visit with other symposium participants while enjoying your sandwich type of lunch served with a side dish, dessert, coffee and water.

Afternoon: We’ll continue our learning experience with two more nationally known speakers who will address different aspects of Theodore Roosevelt. We will here from other great speakers, such as Deborah Davis who has authored nine narrative non-fiction books, including Fabritius and the Goldfinch, an Amazon Kindle Single, the best selling Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X, Gilded: How Newport Became the Richest Resort in America, and Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner that Shocked a Nation, which won the prestigious Phillis Wheatley Award for best work of history in 2013, and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. She formerly worked as an executive, story editor, and story analyst for several major film companies. Speaker Charles Delgadillo is a lecturer in history at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and Norco College, in California, and the author of Crusader for Democracy: The Political Life of William Allen White. Editor of the Emporia (Kansas) Gazette, White was known for his quips, quotations, and a sharply crafted view from Main Street. But White was in fact a public figure and political operator on a grand scale. Writing the first biography in a half-century to look at this side of White’s character and career, Delgadillo brings to life a leading light of the world of journalism which Theodore Roosevelt enlivened and cultivated.

Dinner: At 5:15 p.m. in the campus student center meeting room, dinner will be served which includes salad, entrée, side dish, dessert, coffee, and water.

Evening: After dinner, enjoy an evening form between the speakers and TR in the HOT SEAT. We will return to hotel after the evening events.

Day 6

TR Symposium: Panel discussion, TR lecture, farewell dinner.

Location: Bismarck, ND Meal: B,L,D Hotel: Radisson Hotel Bismarck

Activity note: Total driving distance today is about 134 miles, approximately 2 hours. Walking up to 1 mile to/from hotels, motorcoach, meals, picture stops. Level sidewalks and streets.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the RoughRider Hotel. Menu items include an egg dish, breakfast meat, pastry, fruit, juice, coffee, tea, and water.

Morning: This morning's symposium lecture begins at 9:30 AM. Clay Jenkinson presents Theodore Roosevelt's Allies in the Arena followed by a speaker's panel discussion and open Q&A session.

Lunch: Visit with other symposium participants while enjoying your lunch before returning to Bismarck. A simple buffet style lunch includes an entrée, side dish, dessert, coffee and water.

Afternoon: Relax and enjoy the view of the countryside as we make our way back to Bismarck. Watch for combines harvesting fields of golden grain, observe the drooping, heavy heads of now pale yellow sunflowers facing only to the east, marvel at the hundreds of hay bales seen along the side of the road, look for cattle dotting the ranch lands, and most of all, let your mind and spirit wander to a time when the wide open spaces meant a new beginning for those who came to homestead the seemingly endless prairies of North Dakota. May you take home a new appreciation for the land, the people and the animals that live and still roam here in North Dakota.

Dinner: In the hotel meeting room, our farewell dinner will feature a delicious buffet meal with salad, main dish, side dish, dessert, coffee, iced tea, water; other beverages available for purchase at the hotel bar. Share favorite experiences and memories of the program with new Road Scholar friends.

Evening: At leisure. Be sure to prepare for check-out and departure in the morning.

Day 7

Program Concludes

Location: Bismarck, ND