LAND OF LINCOLN

Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library

Presidential Museum

Presidential Museum

Replica of  Lincoln's childhood home

Lincoln Family Home

Our first stop in Illinois was Springfield, the capital of the state but its real claim to fame is that President Lincoln lived, worked and is
buried here. 

The magnificent Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library opened in 2004 and houses an unbelievable amount of Lincoln papers and artifacts. Steven Spielberg spent months here researching Lincoln so that his movie would be as accurate a portrayal of the 16th  president as possible. 

As nice as the museum is, it is especially moving to walk down the street where Lincoln ands family lived before he was elected president. The entire street has been preserved as a National Historic site. Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd bought their home here in 1844 and lived there until moving to Washington in 1861. Homes on the block appear as they did when Lincoln lived there.

Lincoln, his wife and 3 of their 4 sons are buried in Springfield. This year marked the 150th anniversary of the assassination. 

We spent some time in the Chicago area to visit our good friends Anne and Scott and see my niece Caroline, her husband Nick and their 6 year old daughter Clare. Seeing people you love is always the best part of our travels.

We are now in Wisconsin and will be moving around the state for the next 3 plus months. 

If you would like to read interesting things about Lincoln's funeral click this link or paste in browser: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-singh/8-things-you-didnt-know-abraham-lincoln_b_7062044.html