Land of Lincoln

Yesterday I told you about our fun sightseeing in Springfield, Illinois - touring the carillon and botanical gardens. We were just getting started on our day!

If you don't know this, Springfield was where President Abraham Lincoln lived as an adult. He worked in politics there until he became president and had intended to return there to live after his presidency, but of course he didn't live to see that day.

I actually visited Springfield with my parents back in 1987, but Ryan had never been there. We decided we'd see the Lincoln sites (most of them anyway) while we were there! Fun fact, if you ever decide to visit: most of these locations are absolutely free to tour. We made donations in a couple of spots, but this is a very affordable activity if you're on a budget and/or have kids!

We started at Lincoln's tomb:

You'll notice his shiny nose on the bronze bust. No, he doesn't have T-zone issues. :) People rub his nose for good luck, and it's become quite shiny over the years. Behind that bust is the front door to the area actually containing the tomb.

Just inside the door is the location where his casket was last open (so said the tour guide) and now it holds a smaller version of the statue found at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Once you enter the building, you walk around a circular hallway filled with bronze statues that depict Lincoln at different points in his life. Here's an example:

In the back is his actual tomb:

Ryan and I did a few photo opps outside, too:

The similarities are astounding.

The tour guide also told us about a spot down the hill behind the tomb where Lincoln's body rested while the final burial site was being prepared, so we went to see that, too.

We weren't sure the appropriate face one should make while posing with a vault. This is probably not it:

(Actually I think we look that American Gothic couple. Sigh. Fail.)

After leaving the cemetery, we went into downtown Springfield to see some historical sights there. First of all, allow me to say they have a public parking garage underground, and it is seriously the nicest parking garage I've ever seen. They usually freak me out as creepy places that might land you on Dateline, but this was spacious, well-lit, and very nice. Props to Springfield.

We toured the Old State Capitol Building, which is set up inside to resemble what it would have looked like back in the day. Here are a few of the bazillion pictures I took.

The official Lincoln Ledger is on display at a bank downtown. People had such nice handwriting back in the day.

Ryan found some statues:

Before we left, we went to tour the Lincoln home. I actually had never been through this before because back in 1987, it was undergoing extensive renovations, and it was closed to the public. Fun fact (that you already know if you heard the podcast): This area is a national park! So park rangers serve as the tour guides to go through Lincoln's home. I always think of national parks as being areas with lots of trails and trees (and possibly bears) so this kind of threw me!

It's absolutely free to go through (thanks to Lincoln's son who donated the home with the stipulation that no one would ever be charged to walk through it) but you do have to get a ticket. They have to take people through in small groups because homes of this era were not exactly open concept. It's a tight squeeze! So your ticket ties you to your group of a dozen or so people, and you go through when the time on your ticket says it's your turn!

(Totally random fact for you: In our group was a couple who road tripped from Brazil to the United States. Yes. Brazil the country. Someone asked them how far they went and they said ALASKA! Can you imagine riding in a car from Brazil to Alaska??? They were in Springfield because their current adventure involves driving Route 66, and Springfield is part of that.)

Anyway! Lincoln's home:

The bedroom above was the master, and the ranger told us Mrs. Lincoln suffered from horrible migraines. Someone in our group muttered, "I see why with this wallpaper!" (It made me giggle.) The ranger said the interior includes some pieces that were original to the home and the rest have been recreated based on drawings of the home. Back in Lincoln's day, reporters would send artists to draw the interiors of homes for newspapers and such, so they used the artists' renderings to know what the rooms should look like. The only thing the drawings didn't tell them? Color.

Here's a little treasure for you as we part ways today. I'd unearthed some of my pictures from my original visit with my parents. You know what that means! PHOTO RECREATIONS!!!

When I pulled out my phone to ask a park ranger to take that last photo with the house, she got SO EXCITED. Apparently she's not seen many pictures of the house mid-renovation. She called other rangers over to look at it and then helped me recreate it!

We didn't get to everything on the list, because we were the last tour before the Lincoln house closed for the day. We didn't get to the train depot or the family pew in the church and a couple of other small photo opps, but we felt we made the most of the time we had, and we learned a lot!

(Again: we totally recommend this as a great, affordable location to visit if you live in the Midwest!)