Lincoln Home National Historic Site

After our hike at Starved Rock State Park yesterday, we continued south to Springfield, Illinois where we spent last night. This morning we awoke excited to continue our spring adventure. We headed to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site to see the only home our 16th president ever owned.

We stopped by the visitor center to get tickets to tour the home. Sierra picked up a Junior Ranger book and we headed over to the Arnold Home for the start of the tour.

It was a short, but interesting tour of the home.

We saw the parlor,

Lincoln's desk,

and the living room where Abe liked to wrestle with his children.

When the tour was over, we spent some time walking around Lincoln's neighborhood, see homes like Dean House.

There was also a very interesting log cabin carriage that I believe is a replica of a political advertisement for Lincoln.

Sierra and I even tried our hands at "old time photography".

Finally, we returned to the visitor center where Sierra earned her Junior Ranger badge.

Not wanting to end our exploration of the "Land of Lincoln" we toured around Springfield a bit.
First, we walked past the old Lincoln Law Office building,

over to the Old State House.

It was in this building that Lincoln served his final term as a state lawmaker in 1840–41

and in the building's house chamber and that he made his House Divided speech in June 1858, announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. It was to the same chamber, in May 1865, that the assassinated president's body was returned.

We had lunch at a brewery near the National Historic Site, Obed and Isaac's. To be honest it was a bit of a disappointment. The beer was okay, but the food (soggy brussels sprouts that were supposedly sauteed, a goat cheese BLT with razor-thin slices of bacon) was overpriced and not that great. Finally, we headed over to Oak Grove Cemetery and Abraham Lincoln's final resting place.

We wandered around a bit and found the location of where Lincoln's body originally sat, before the current monument was built.

Then we headed out of town, south, detouring on a brick section of Route 66

as we headed towards Collinsville, IL where we are spending the night before heading into St. Louis tomorrow.