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| Bill's new friend |
What a great day! Bill got up EARLY and took the truck to have the oil changed, then washed and then to a body shop to see if the tailgate was repairable or not. The bad news for the day is it will have to be replaced. When he got back I fixed whole wheat pancakes, bacon, and fruit for breakfast and then he called our insurance about the tailgate, then his body shop. At least that guy said it could have been worse! So we didn’t head in to Springfield until 10, but got right to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site visitor center and parked.
We were able to get on a tour of the house for 10:50, so we checked out the gift shop and exhibits til it was time. The house was not big or over impressive but along the way we got to see many of Lincoln’s original pieces and hear a lot about his life and the life of his family. The home is part of a 4 block area of the historic district that has been returned to the way it was in the 1830’s or so. The sidewalks were wooden with gravelly roads. There were period dressed interpreters strolling about and you could have a conversation about 1830 current events or talk about the Lincoln family. We visited 2 other homes that were open for touring and strolled the 4 block area. The other houses are office for the park service but totally restored from the outside. We went back to the visitor center to watch the movie which gave an excellent condensed version of Lincoln’s life from the time he came to Springfield to his election as President. The guy who played him really looked like him.
One of the park rangers steered us down the block to the Civil War Museum that was started by a volunteer group of women to honor soldiers of the Great Army of the Republic, which were the union soldiers from the Civil War. Everything in it was donated, all kinds of war artifacts, confederate money, medals awarded, it was amazing. The most impressive thing there though was one of the American flags that hung in the Presidential Booth at Ford’s Theater. After John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln, he jumped out of the booth and on to the stage below. He was wearing spurs as he was planning his get away by horse that was waiting for him outside. He caught his spur in the flag and caused him to break his ankle on the stage. One of the custodians kept the flag as memorabilia and later his family donated it to the museum. You could see the tear in it.
From there we drove to the Old State Capitol. We got a great parking spot right along the side of the building and decided to have lunch before going in. We only had 1 ½ hours of parking so we ate first at a great sandwich shop. Reminded me of Panera. Then we went in the Capitol. It was very nice but the 2 things we enjoyed most was a performance of singers that we happened on at the right time in the building. They did songs of the period and songs of the Civil War and told some Lincoln stories. Then we went to see Lincoln who was there in one of the offices for 2 hours “talking” to visitors. It was so neat. It was the same guy who did the movie. I took Bill’s picture with him. He’s not as tall as the real Lincoln but he sure looked like him. Made it back to the truck with 13 minutes to spare.
Next stop was Lincoln’s Tomb. Wow! That place is huge and SO extremely impressive. It’s in the city’s cemetery but there is no missing it. It looks like a mini Washington Monument is on the top. He’s buried under several tons of concrete with a massive granite monument on it and that is inside of another building. His wife and 3 of his 4 sons who died prior to adulthood are entombed in the same room as he is but in wall spots. We talked to one of the volunteers for quite a while and gathered a lot of interesting info about his wife, surviving son and his children. It’s all very sad.
We stopped at a gift shop and then a Wal-Mart on the way home. Picked up some more groceries and a new water filter for outside. Since I forgot to take stuff out to grill, I did a Karen and got a rotisserie chicken. We walked Xena for a long walk and Bill put the new filter in and it seems to be working so we don’t have to buy more water. I fixed corn on the cob and a nice salad to go with our chicken. Then we went for another walk to see the area back in the woods that we hadn’t seen and to see what new rigs had come into the park. Bill got to talking to a neighbor about his hose (that’s the kind of important stuff you do when you RV) and also about RV parks out west for our fall trip. I tried AGAIN to get my printer installed to no avail. It’s really starting to tick me off. Bill did the dishes and I called my old co-worker, Vera who lives in IN and made arrangements to meet for lunch on Tuesday. I am really excited to get to see her. She is 85 and her husband is 88, not sure if he is going to come. I guess she still drives. My back is still itching really bad from the ant bites. Back in Defuniak Springs we had some ant issues in the RV and apparently some got in my shirt and when I put it on I got eaten up. And I don’t have a back scratcher with me!!! Time to knock out more email!
PS.. Only 6 months until Christmas.
PSS. I think I forgot to mention that we have been on Historic Route 66 quite a bit. Even one of the original sections that was from 1926 – 1930. We got to put the Illinois Route 66 sticker on our door!
We were able to get on a tour of the house for 10:50, so we checked out the gift shop and exhibits til it was time. The house was not big or over impressive but along the way we got to see many of Lincoln’s original pieces and hear a lot about his life and the life of his family. The home is part of a 4 block area of the historic district that has been returned to the way it was in the 1830’s or so. The sidewalks were wooden with gravelly roads. There were period dressed interpreters strolling about and you could have a conversation about 1830 current events or talk about the Lincoln family. We visited 2 other homes that were open for touring and strolled the 4 block area. The other houses are office for the park service but totally restored from the outside. We went back to the visitor center to watch the movie which gave an excellent condensed version of Lincoln’s life from the time he came to Springfield to his election as President. The guy who played him really looked like him.
One of the park rangers steered us down the block to the Civil War Museum that was started by a volunteer group of women to honor soldiers of the Great Army of the Republic, which were the union soldiers from the Civil War. Everything in it was donated, all kinds of war artifacts, confederate money, medals awarded, it was amazing. The most impressive thing there though was one of the American flags that hung in the Presidential Booth at Ford’s Theater. After John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln, he jumped out of the booth and on to the stage below. He was wearing spurs as he was planning his get away by horse that was waiting for him outside. He caught his spur in the flag and caused him to break his ankle on the stage. One of the custodians kept the flag as memorabilia and later his family donated it to the museum. You could see the tear in it.
From there we drove to the Old State Capitol. We got a great parking spot right along the side of the building and decided to have lunch before going in. We only had 1 ½ hours of parking so we ate first at a great sandwich shop. Reminded me of Panera. Then we went in the Capitol. It was very nice but the 2 things we enjoyed most was a performance of singers that we happened on at the right time in the building. They did songs of the period and songs of the Civil War and told some Lincoln stories. Then we went to see Lincoln who was there in one of the offices for 2 hours “talking” to visitors. It was so neat. It was the same guy who did the movie. I took Bill’s picture with him. He’s not as tall as the real Lincoln but he sure looked like him. Made it back to the truck with 13 minutes to spare.
Next stop was Lincoln’s Tomb. Wow! That place is huge and SO extremely impressive. It’s in the city’s cemetery but there is no missing it. It looks like a mini Washington Monument is on the top. He’s buried under several tons of concrete with a massive granite monument on it and that is inside of another building. His wife and 3 of his 4 sons who died prior to adulthood are entombed in the same room as he is but in wall spots. We talked to one of the volunteers for quite a while and gathered a lot of interesting info about his wife, surviving son and his children. It’s all very sad.
We stopped at a gift shop and then a Wal-Mart on the way home. Picked up some more groceries and a new water filter for outside. Since I forgot to take stuff out to grill, I did a Karen and got a rotisserie chicken. We walked Xena for a long walk and Bill put the new filter in and it seems to be working so we don’t have to buy more water. I fixed corn on the cob and a nice salad to go with our chicken. Then we went for another walk to see the area back in the woods that we hadn’t seen and to see what new rigs had come into the park. Bill got to talking to a neighbor about his hose (that’s the kind of important stuff you do when you RV) and also about RV parks out west for our fall trip. I tried AGAIN to get my printer installed to no avail. It’s really starting to tick me off. Bill did the dishes and I called my old co-worker, Vera who lives in IN and made arrangements to meet for lunch on Tuesday. I am really excited to get to see her. She is 85 and her husband is 88, not sure if he is going to come. I guess she still drives. My back is still itching really bad from the ant bites. Back in Defuniak Springs we had some ant issues in the RV and apparently some got in my shirt and when I put it on I got eaten up. And I don’t have a back scratcher with me!!! Time to knock out more email!
PSS. I think I forgot to mention that we have been on Historic Route 66 quite a bit. Even one of the original sections that was from 1926 – 1930. We got to put the Illinois Route 66 sticker on our door!
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