Day 5 The Land of Lincoln

Oh, found out that the corn is alot of popcorn.  Funny.   I have been surprised that there are no roadside farm stands where you can get fresh vegetables.  Perhaps we have not been on rural enough roads yet.  I haven't even seen remnants of where one might be.  I am sure they have a farmer's  market somewhere, but so far I haven't found it.

Today we visited historic Springfield.   Pretty impressive capitol building.

Was what odd, was that being in what I think was Downtown about 10 AM it was like the twilight zone.  No people, no traffic.  Weird.  I sort of reminded of the way Austin was during the summer when the Legislature was not in session in the 70s.  It was not the bustling metropolis that it is today.

 Went through the Lincoln House where he and Mary lived before they moved to Washington DC.

Around the house the Lincolns lived in the parks department has tried to recreate the streets like they were in the mid 1800s.  Board side walks, etc.  I noticed that the paint colors they use are the same as other national historic parks we have visited.  With no color photography, I am not sure how they could come up with the outside colors.

And, I might add, that Lincoln was a well-to-do lawyer, not some poor farm boy.  Mary Todd was the daughter of a banker.  So, they lived in a pretty big house for that time.  Two parlors, a sitting or day  room, a dining room and kitchen downstairs.  A bedrooms each for Mary and Abe and one for their sons, and a maid's room upstairs.  Small, but plenty of room.  (No indoor plumbing, AC or heat other than wood stoves) .

Love the little foot stool!

This is where Mary sat and sewed

I was fascinated that all the furniture had black upholstery.  (Of course if the walls and floors are kind of pattern overkill....) Guide said it was horse hair.  I would loved to have been able to feel it but they tend to jail you for that, so I resisted the urge.

They claim they recreated the place and that the wall coverings and flooring is close to original.  Yuk.  It is pretty gaudy.

Also visited the Tomb of the Lincolns.  It was extremely impressive.  Huge.  Much bigger than I expected.  It was strangely emotional for some reason.  And it takes of a large part of the cemetery. 
 

Did not take any photos inside.  It is pretty and ornate, but I guess I had brain lock.

 

This is where Abe and his sons were buried while the tomb was being built.  It is down the hill from the finished product that you can see in the background.  Robert was going "what the heck"?  Kind of odd, but they wagged the kids who died across the country so they could all be buried together.  Abe's oldest son, however, is buried in Arlington Cemetery. 

Another thing I have notice is the grass.  Or groundcover.  Lots of clover, not a lot of what we consider lawn grass. 

Off to Remington, Indiana tomorrow.  Another adventure awaits.