Sightseeing Day:
- President Lincoln's home
- Lincoln's Tomb
Today we had planned to go to New Salem, IL. This is a recreated village that represents where Lincoln grew up. One of the buildings is original, and the others were moved there from local areas. When I checked the website, it appeared to be just rows of log cabins. I thought they might have some living history, but it didn't appear that way. We opted not to go because when you've seen one log cabin of the time period, you've seen them all.
Instead, we headed to Lincoln's home in downtown Springfield. That was nostalgic. I really enjoyed knowing that we were holding the same handrail that he held. Many of the furnishings were original to the home.
The National Park Service is presently restoring a 4-block swatch of homes. We went into one of the other homes and they have done a great job of telling the stories of all the residents of the home. It was fascinating to learn who they were, what they did for a living, and their family stories.
But, as for the decorating, "What was Mary Lincoln thinking?" As you can see, the patterns are everywhere and in myriads of colors. But it was telling to see what styles were in vogue back then.
We enjoyed a good video about the neighborhood and Lincoln's life while living there. But, as we and two other adults were waiting for the show to begin, we were besieged upon by 56 middle-schoolers. They just packed in around us. We felt like we were being scrutinized by the four teachers. And, when one of the teachers pulled out a kid for pretend-snoring and let him have it, we four adults were then on our best behavior. When the video was over, the teachers "excused" us. Boy, did we feel like the "bad" kids on the block.
As you probably know, only one of Lincoln's four sons lived to adulthood. One of his son's died while he was a resident in Springfield. One died prior to them moving there. The third son died after they went to Washington. Their eldest son went on to become involved in politics and died at 87 (I think). He had 3 children, but no grandchildren (from the best I could discern). The Lincolns lived in this home for 17 years.
After we finished up with the neighborhood, we drove to the Lincoln Tomb. They are renovating it, so there was a bit of construction. Dave and I decided to take the scenic route around the cemetery. The headstones were very elaborate and different and, of course, some were extremely old. We ended up at Lincoln's FIRST tomb. I didn't know they have moved his body to a different location.
After our scenic tour of the cemetery, we went out for lunch and then went shopping at Wal-Mart to stock up on a few groceries and supplies. Dave came home and finished installing the vent over the stove that goes on the outside of the trailer. Of course, true to form, one task leads to another. He dropped one of the screws down the heater vent in the floor of the RV. So, now he'll have to unscrew the vent and retrieve the screw before we move the RV. Maybe staying in hotels would have been a better plan---NAAAH.
Last night, I started reading my "Dummies" book. It is very informative and I look forward to reading more tonight. Well, it's time for me to dance vicariously through "So You Think You Can Dance" and then hip-hop my way to the bed.
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