Tuesday morning, Sept 21, it's time to hit the road again. We had a quick hot breakfast at the motel - scrambled eggs, sausage patties, sausage and gravy over biscuits - and some healthy stuff, too! Good thing we ate - little did I know that we wouldn't stop to eat again until dinnertime. We didn't have a clue as to what was on the Illinois side of the river - we saw signs for Quincy, so we decided that was as good a town as any for our first stop. I wasn't too crazy about the bridge we went across - way too high for my liking, but we did make it safely to the other side. We stopped at a nice little riverfront park where they had the biggest hibiscus blossoms I've ever seen. (I'm sure they're at least that big in Hawaii, but we have not made it there yet.) We figured we'd wander through the town where there were at least four historical areas of note - drove and drove until we ended up on the south side of town. We stopped to buy some water, and I asked the clerk where the visitor's center was - he had no idea. As it turned out, it wasn't far from where we were, but we found that later after a lot more driving through town. When we got to the visitor's center, at first glance it appeared to be just restrooms with some brochures outside. Off to the left was this "castle" called the Villa Kathrine. It was built a little over 100 years ago by a man named George Metz - he lived there when he wasn't traveling around the world. He later sold it to the railroad - the house and grounds are now owned by the Quincy Park District.
We were ready to move on to more history, so we headed to Springfield, Illinois. This trip and the one from Hannibal were some of our shorter driving trips - I think Mike really liked that. As we were coming into town, we spotted a Travelodge with restaurant attached, so decide that would be where we stayed that night. We drove around downtown for a little bit scoping out the sights, and decided to go back to our motel and get checked in. After not having internet for 2 days, I specifically asked if it was working and was assured that it was. It was early yet, so back to town we went so we could visit Abraham Lincoln's home. This was a guided tour through the only house that Lincoln had ever owned. It has been beautifully restored - even the paint colors and wallpaper were matched as closely as possible to the original. There were several pieces of furniture that had actually belonged to Lincoln and his family. It is a most awesome feeling to walk the floors, climb the stairs, put your hand on the banisters that such a great man as Lincoln had done many, many times. After we left his house, we walked through his neighborhood. The house across the street (the Arnold house) had been added onto and the entire exterior had been changed. In the mid 1990's all of the changes were removed and the house brought back as closely as possible to its original condition. Many of the homes are used for offices - one Illinois senator rents office space in the Shutt house. We left Lincoln's neighborhood and walked to the Old State Capitol and the building where Lincoln's law offices were. Unfortunately, by the time we walked through the neighborhood, it was nearly 4 pm - most of the tourist sights closed at 4, so we didn't really get to see much else.
We returned to the motel, where I decided to check out the internet. Guess what?! No internet - again! I called the front desk, and was told that it should be working. She would reboot and told me I should try again after a few minutes. Should be and working did not go hand in hand - no internet still! So - I stamped my foot, grumbled and told Mike it was time for dinner. We walked up to the attached restaurant where a very friendly waitress took our order. Too bad she was the only waitress in the whole place. I asked for a cup of soup before my dinner. After a very long wait, we finally got our dinners - and a few minutes after that, my soup. Oh well - tomorrow's another day!
We left fairly early the next morning, Sept 22, so we could visit Lincoln's Tomb. Wow - what a huge memorial! In front of the memorial is a bronze reproduction of Gutzon Borglum's marble head of Lincoln - the nose is touched by so many that the tarnish has been rubbed off. We walked through the interior rooms of the tomb - the walls are all polished marble trimmed with bronze. The whole thing is beautifully done - honoring a great president. Lincoln, his wife and children, with the exception of his oldest son are all buried at this site. We walked around the area some and saw other significant sites related to Lincoln's burial.
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