Baseball Stadiums, National Parks, and Presidential History – Kevin Wants to Visit! 

February 8, 2022 – If you ask Kevin Hubbard what he does to stay active, grab a railing, you are about to get dizzy. A collector’s collector, the retired executive of a Fortune 500 manufacturer of industrial products has some of the most fascinating retirement interests of anyone we have ever met.  Those include visiting presidential history sites, major league baseball stadiums, and his latest – U.S. National Parks. In a recent conversation Kevin was kind enough to share some of his interests. (Don’t miss the companion piece to this, his wife Susan’s hilarious account of his recent retirement).

U.S. Presidents

It all started with a fascination with presidential history that began in the first grade. That love of everything having to do with U.S. presidents continues to this day. It includes the homes where they were born (museums, or sometimes just a sign on the road), gravesites, and the homes where they lived. His passion also includes presidential museums. The modern era for those started with President Hoover, but before that there were more informal ones – sometimes only a room in a library. He has visited all of the key sites for presidents from Washington to Reagan, and has read biographies for all of them. To keep track of all of this collecting Kevin keeps detailed spreadsheets. We asked him about his favorites, and he suggested Hyde Park, New York. There in one place you can visit FDR’s home, the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historical Site at ValKill Cottage, plus stop in at the Culinary Institute of America.

I am happy to promote compulsive behavior!

Kevin Hubbard

Baseball stadiums

When Kevin’s children were very young he took the family to a World Series game. In the bottom of 9th excitement he looked over – and his wife and daughter were sleeping. His seven year old son, Noah, was screaming out a cheer – and that’s when he knew he had a baseball fan in the family. That sparked many father-son trips, which both enjoyed into Noah’s teenage years. On one adventure they visited ballparks in Dallas, Coors Field in Denver, Kansas City and St. Louis. Adding to the challenge of seeing a game at all the major league parks, Kevin has added on another: seeing the NY Yankees play in every stadium (National and American League). He and Noah once flew to see a game in Atlanta, bagged two Jimmy Carter Presidential sites, and then followed the Bronx Bombers road tour in the region, which included seeing them play the Marlins. While Kevin hasn’t caught a game in every stadium (teams keep building new ones!), there are only a few holes in his collection – Cincinnati, Seattle, San Francisco, and Oakland.

National Parks

Now that he has been retired he has time for even another passion – National Parks. At this point he (and in many cases wife Susan) have visited over half of the 63 U.S. National Parks and many of the 423 national park sites. One of his favorites is Glacier National Park. He looks forward to visiting the beautiful coral reefs of Virgin Islands National Park, as well as traveling to Isle Royale, Michigan. That one has a short season and involves a 3 hour boat ride, one reason why it is one of the least visited parks. He has not yet been to the one on American Samoa, which has to be the most distant. He recommends visiting national parks in the shoulder season, when the weather is OK and crowds less intense. Asked what they do when they visit the parks, Kevin said they usually stay several days and do a lot of hiking, and sometimes canoeing, or snorkeling. Naturally, he has books that document all of the parks.

What’s coming up?

So far the couple has decided to remain in their old northern New Jersey home. They do a lot of traveling, and also enjoy winter sports. Coming up next week is a trip to New Hampshire, where they plan to go cross country skiing with friends. After that his plan will take them to two national parks in Texas; Big Bend and Guadalupe. Mammoth Cave and Carlsbad Caverns are also on the tour.
Because his passion for visiting places is quite a bit higher than his Susan’s tolerance, on that trip he will drive from New Jersey to Texas, exploring all the way, while Susan flies directly to Austin.

The couple tend to get the most out of a vacation. On their recent 8 day trip to the Florida Keys among other places they explored: Biscayne Bay National Park, Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas National Park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and of course, the Harry Truman Little White House in Key West. When not traveling he can indulge in a new passion, viewing the Top 100 Films from the American Film Institute.

No regrets

We are in awe of Kevin’s travels and collections. He might be driven, but we suspect he doesn’t have many regrets about missing out on anything. Have you got a passion that you are pursuing in your retirement? Let us know what gets you excited every day in the Comments section below.

Kevin Hubbard is married to the prolific mystery writer SW Hubbard. Her many series offer “Mysteries with a Twist”.

For further reading:
Adventurous Retirements Blog