Monday, October 5, 2015

Springfield, IL

We had originally planned to visit the Indiana Dunes National Park but it was pouring rain and we figured a beach is a waste in the rain, so we changed plans and headed to Springfield, Illinois.  Abraham Lincoln lived and was buried there AND my dad lived the majority of his childhood there, so we decided it was a good Plan B.

We stopped at Lincoln's tomb and were pretty disappointed that they weren't letting people inside, but we rubbed his nose for luck and continued on our way to the Lincoln Museum in downtown Springfield.  It was so great to have my dad along...he'd call us and we'd put it on speaker and he'd give us the tour of the town, complete with childhood stories (which we've all heard all of our lives).

 

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential museum is without a doubt one of the very best museums I've ever been to in my life.  I'm said it's kind of out of the way, making it hard for people to visit.  Lincoln is an inspiring man, no matter what, and what Disney (the creators of the exhibits) have done there is moving and interesting and beautiful.  We all loved it.  (Except Levi, but saintly grandparents took him on walks so that we could enjoy the exhibit.)  Seriously:  GO if you are anywhere near it.










After the museum, we drove by my dad's childhood home and that was so neat.  I've heard SO many stories about that house and it was really special to be there.  We decided to go visit the spot (behind a house on a lake) where my grandma Paula was baptized and became the first Sherrill to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saint.  We tried to knock on the door, but no one was home and we decided to take our chances quickly walking down to the spot where she was baptized.  Bad move:  the homeowners drove up and caught us.  Embarrassing at first, but he was so gracious and actually shared a few stories about the family from whom he'd bought the house.  Neat experience, fun story.







We finished that day by driving into Nauvoo and getting ready for our 2 day stay there.












1 comment:

missy said...

What a great family vacation! I live 2 hours from Springfield in east central Illinois and I agree, the Presidential Museum is pretty fantastic! I'm glad you and your family were able to see it. And Nauvoo. Oh, we love Nauvoo! It's been a few years since we've been, but what a great place and so family friendly.