First, on our agenda today were the Lincoln Sites. To start with we headed to the Lincoln Home. All I can say is . . . WOW! It was a haunting experience. The house and furnishings have been so exquisitely cared for, it was easy to imagine him writing letters in his room or laying on the floor in the living room while Mary sewed in the chair. Fun fact the kids got a kick out of -- Lincoln's toilet was a barrel! The entire section of town where Lincoln lived is slowly being returned to accurately show what it would have looked like when he lived there (sans the muddy dung-filled streets).
From his home, we traveled to his tomb. What another unforgettable experience. Just to drive up the cemetery road and see his massive tomb gives you the chills. We all rubbed the nose on Lincon's bust which is supposed to give you good luck. We sure need it to get back on track for our trip! After reading the plaques outside about the significance of the external features of his tomb, we entered inside. When you walk in, it immediately brings tears to your eyes to know you are in the presence of this great man. We stopped to read every sign and Riley insisted on rubbing the shoes of each Lincoln statue as we walked through. When you enter the room where he and his family are laid to rest, your breath is taken away. I don't know how to describe the moment, the experience, the emotions.
If you walk around the tomb you will see behind it, a granite marker where he was temporarily buried for a few years while they were building his current tomb. Even further down the hill is the crypt where his body was held immediately following his assassination.
I wanted to visit his law office and the Lincoln Library, but it was almost already 2:00 by that time and we had to get back on the road. We moved on to the town of Chatham, through the neverending corn fields, to find Sugar Creek Covered Bridge, and picnicked there. We enjoyed it until we had spiders crawling on us and some of the biggest flying insects I've ever seen attacking us. We packed our things and continued on with our day.
We continued on to Henry's Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, but alas they were closed already. We walked around for a few minutes and moved onto the Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi River and the border of Illinois and Missouri. We walked for at least a half hour and didn't even make it to the other side of the bridge. We took some pictures and headed back to our car.
From here we were headed to St. Louis to see the famous Gateway Arch. Parking here was only $5. Thank you St. Louis! We walked to the base of the arch, touched it, discovered that it was crawling with little roaches (yuck), and wimped out at the thought of traveling to the top. Standing at the base and looking up Jade and I both said "Nope! We're good!". On the way back to the car, the kids were able to see fireflies for the first time in their lives. Riley found two mating in the grass and gently picked them up to show his sisters. They spent quite awhile trying to catch some more in the park after that.
By the time we got to our car, it was already 9:00 and we decided to just eat dinner where we were parked. It was pretty neat. The street was old cobblestone (crazy to drive on, and even crazier to imagine riding on it in a carriage!) and the restaurant had outdoor seating in between two other buildings.
After dinner was over it was already 10:00 and I had to throw in the towel. I gave up the last two stops on our agenda (Riley wasn't happy - one was a Civil War site), put the address into Google, and get to the hotel ... 45 minutes away as fast as possible, on the freeway.
Hopefully tomorrow we'll be back on schedule and will make it everywhere on time (with the luck from rubbing Lincoln's nose!).
Tip for today - Sleep in St. Louis on day 3!
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