Springfield, Illinois

Travel

Aug 19

Lincoln’s Tomb

We started by visiting Oak Ridge Cemetery where there is a truly impressive memorial that serves as the final resting place for Lincoln, his wife, and three of their four sons. The memorial is quite beautiful. It features a small-scale, bronze version of the statue that is in the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. (Rumor has it that rubbing his nose brings you good luck! We will never know if this is true as we didn’t hear about the rumor until after our visit!) It also has several statues of Lincoln representing various aspects of his life, and numerous panels of just some of his most famous speeches. It seemed a fitting tribute to arguably our greatest president.

Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

We next visited the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The library is a resource for Lincoln researchers while the museum is far more engaging and interactive for the population at large. It spans much of his life including his early years in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois and, of course, his years as president. The museum takes a multi-media approach and has some innovative exhibits including a simulation of modern media coverage of his 1860 presidential campaign, and a holographic presentation of the museum and its work. We came away with a much richer understanding of his life and times.

Lincoln’s Home

Our final stop was at the only home Lincoln ever owned. The home has been painstakingly and authentically restored to the state it was in when Lincoln and his family lived there (including the original wallpaper they used in their bedroom…which was fascinating and a bit gaudy!!!) There are numerous original artifacts that the Lincoln’s owned and used. The National Park service owns several blocks around the home and has restored most of the original houses which gives a very good feel for what the neighborhood looked like at the time.