Illinois

November 14, 2019 - November 19, 2019

From Grosse Ile we drove over several days, to Meredocia, IL to see our friend Sandy.  We saw field after field of beautiful farmland with lots of corn and soybeans as yet unharvested due to the wet weather.

Our friend Sandy

While Sandy was driving us around the area we decided to check out a cemetery she had never visited before.  The cemetery was located on a hill up a steep incline with a lot of loose gravel on the road up.  The wheel's spun and dug in. We went nowhere.  Sandy tried backing up.  Here's the result in three pictures.

Car + 

Local farmer with his cool new tractor =

The car made it up to the cemetery but we didn't!

Sandy took us into Springfield, the capital of Illinois, where we visited the Lincoln museum.

Beautiful bronze statue of Lincoln and his wife Mary in downtown Springfield.

Abe Lincoln lived in Springfield for about 25 years prior to becoming President.  He was elected to the Illinois General Assembly, later worked as a lawyer there and was brought back to Springfield in a casket to be buried there.  The museum does a fabulous job portraying Lincoln's life.

Young Abe outside the family's log cabin.

Young Abe reading by the light of the fire.

Lincoln and the 8th Judicial Circuit.  The information at the bottom of says:
"Over the course of twenty years, the lawyer Lincoln my bi-annual, two-and-a-half-month trips around
the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Illinois.  The area covered  fourteen counties and over 10,000 square miles.
Lincoln traveled by horse, and later by buggy and train, to fourteen county seats.

Lincoln and his family at the White House.

One by one the southern states leave the union.

Lincoln presents the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet and later to all the citizens.

Lincoln ages dramatically in 5 years.

John Wilkes Booth - about to shoot President Lincoln.

Lincoln lies in State at the Capitol.

Lincoln long route home to Springfield