Today was the least amount of driving we have done on this trip. We did a total of 25 miles. We made up for it by doing a lot of walking through the downtown core to see all the things related to Abraham Lincoln. The eerie part of the whole day was that at times we seemed to be the only people in the downtown core. It looked like one of those Hollywood movies where everyone has disappeared due to alien abduction or nuclear holocaust. Labour Day kept everyone out of the core in Springfield.
We started off by going to Lincoln's home where he lived for about 17 years and was residing when he was elected President. About four blocks around his home has been made into a National Park and is run by the National Park Service.
Lincoln's home. We did an escorted tour through the house and it contained many artifacts that were used by the Lincoln family. I didn't realize that Lincoln had 4 sons but only one lived to adulthood. One died at age 4, one at age 12 and one at age 17. The oldest son was the only one to have a long life and lived to 82.
This is the family parlor where Lincoln would lay on the floor to read to his children. He laid on the floor because all the chairs were too small for his 6'4" frame. We toured through some of the other houses on the street that were open to the public. We obtained a lot info on Lincoln's life and law career in Springfield.
They have tried to restore this area to the way it looked around 1850-1860.
Our next stop was the Old State Capitol building.
This was the State Capitol Building from 1839 until 1879
Next we went to the present State Capitol Building.
After touring the grounds we went to the Illinois State Museum.
This hat is at the entrance to the museum. It was an amazing place. It had an impressive geologic display about the development of Illinois over the last 65 million years. The second floor displays are hard to describe because they covered such a wide array of topics. If you ever make it to Springfield this should be at the top of your list of places to see.
After the museum we headed for the Lincoln Tomb at the Oakridge Cemetery.
The obelisk is 117 feet high. This is the entrance to the tomb where Lincoln, his wife and three of his sons are interred. His oldest son is buried in Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.
Lincoln is 10 feet under this marble monument in the middle of the structure. He is certainly one of the most revered Presidents the Americans have ever had.
It was a great day that we both enjoyed. It is actually tiring at our age to try to absorb all the information we found today. However, the day was clear and sunny and about 75 degrees F. so it was a most pleasant day for all the walking and exploring we did. The only downside to our day was to get back to our motel and hear on the internet that the Esks skunked the Stamps BADLY. Can't we leave for a short trip without the rest of you not cheering the Stamps on to victory????? There is only one thing worse than being beat by Edmonton on Labour Day and that is being beat BADLY by the Esks on Labour Day. We expect you all to be cheering much louder on Friday for the return match.
Tomorrow we will look at a few more things in this area before starting our trip towards St. Louis.
One last picture that shows the Lincoln family tree. Unfortunately their are no direct descendats of Abraham Lincoln living today.
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ReplyDeleteMaybe Booth was a poor shot and hit three of the Lincoln kids before getting it right. The monument is so tall. Were he and his family buried standing up, head to foot? You two have to move on past this Lincoln guy. He is only on the penny. He never owned a Vette. He even tried to make himself taller by wearing a tall stovepipe hat. Move on to some backwoods area where you can meet people who all have the same last name and the same DNA. The banjo music will be authentic hillbilly opera. The Stampeders playedlike they were banjo players and were in a hurry to get back to the trailer park. Being in a museum finding out about dead presidents was just one step behind watching those Stamps. I'm sure they had a pulse but they played like they had no hearts.
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