Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Land of Lots of Lincolns

Springfield Illinois - a place to pause for a couple weeks, and while we're here, we might as well explore!  Oh, and see where another president is buried.  President Lincoln, one of my favorites!

Apparently this is an acceptable way to greet him at his tomb:


An appropriately impressive monument:


We luckily arrived on the right date, and with a good tip from our campground manager, ended up at the tomb on the evening of a flag lowering ceremony.  Civil War actors and all:


We think it was closer to 24 guns, but who's counting?  Neat to see them load, fire, and clean/reload the old guns:


A replica from DC at the entrance to the tomb:


"Now he belongs to the ages"


A tall man of a different sort:


And...


We enjoyed visiting the presidential museum, especially the hologram show with a combination of a real actor and holographic images.  But we didn't quite expect Mr. Lincoln to be this tall!


Having a chat:


Yay for bees!


John wandered around the woodcarvers show at the state fairgrounds and took some good photos:


I don't know what this is (tur-duck-elk?) but it won a red ribbon!


Blue ribbon cow:


Another state capitol, again by accident.  Another nice building, with a unique zinc roof:


A tribute to Martin Luther King:


Another tall Lincoln:


The Illinois Liberty Bell, always enjoy finding these in different states:


It was a little windy...


The Capitol building is very impressive and quite ornate (also very tall):


With a beautiful dome - they have done a lot of restoration.


Wandering through the site of Lincoln's home, we came across our next travel trailer (just needs solar panels):


Lincoln's years in this home included lawyering, politics, getting married, having sons - and getting elected president:


The old state capitol, also worth a visit:


I loved looking at all the artifacts from Lincoln's time.  Including some games because you can't work ALL of the time:


Well played, sir:


The chamber where Lincoln gave his "house divided" speech - amazing to think I was standing in the exact same room where that happened:


Lincoln's law office across the street from the old capitol:


The train depot where Lincoln gave his last speech to the town before leaving for DC and the presidency - he never returned to Springfield, at least not while he was still alive.  He said, "My friends, no one not in my situation can appreciate my feelings of sadness at this parting.  To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything."


Another little bit of history:


I ran the length of another Wabash Trail!  Happily, this one was a LOT shorter:


And finally, fittingly, at the train station as we were on our way to Chicago - where Lincoln did finally return to Springfield in 1865:


That's a lot of Lincoln!  Loved it.

No comments: