A Day in Springfield
On Friday morning I got up early, left my downtown Chicago hotel room, walked to a nearby El Train station, took that train to the Amtrak Station and boarded an Amtrak train bound for Springfield. Geography lesson: just because Springfield and Chicago are both in Illinois, that doesn't mean that they're close to each other. The Amtrak ride was four hours long each way (and the train is always late), but I figured I'll probably never be this close to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum again for a long time, so a little bit of bone shaking is no big deal.
The Amtrak station in Springfield is about a three block walk to the museum. I took my camera with me and snapped some pics. (I later noticed in one of the pamphlets that it said there was supposed to be no picture taking of the exhibits, but nobody told me I couldn't and other people were also snapping pics with their iPhone cameras. Hopefully this isn't another case of "forgive me my trespasses"). Behind the cut are some pics of some pf what I saw.
1. On the walk over to the museum from the Amtrak station I noticed this mural on the side of a building on East Jefferson Street. I thought it was very well done.
2. Across the street from the museum is a park that contains some nice statues like this one. It also has a bench where you can sit next to a bronze sculpture of a sitting Lincoln.
3-4. Here are a couple of shots of the outside of the museum.
5-7. Inside the center of the museum are some life-size models of the Lincoln family, John Wilkes Booth, and Generals McClellan and Grant that you can have your picture taken with.
8-9. These are from a display in the museum about Lincoln's boyhood in Kentucky.
10. When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Springfield, he had a law office with William Herndon (called Lincoln and Herndon) where it is said that he let his three young sons run amok inside.
11-12. A couple of works of art showing Lincoln: a painting and a sculpture, both before he grew his beard in 1861.
13. A cartoon about Lincoln and his election in 1860.
14-16. Part of a display about Lincoln's children in the White House, including the death of his son Willie in 1862.
17. Here is Lincoln and his "team of rivals", his cabinet.
18. This is from a display about the Emancipation Proclamation.
19. Here is a pensive Lincoln as president.
20. This is a large mural in the section on the Civil War.
21-23. These photos show how Lincoln aged during the years of his Presidency.
24-25. There is an impressive section about the Lincolns at Ford's Theater on the night of his assassination.
I stayed to watch a 25 minute play entitled One Destiny about the actors at Ford's Theater and how they were affected by Lincoln's assassination. It was very good. Then I walked (about 2 miles) to Lincoln's Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery where I took these photos:
26. This is the Monument at Lincoln's Tomb. It's very impressive.
27. In front of the monument is a large bust of Lincoln's head. Its nose is very shiny because people have a strange tradition of rubbing the nose. Hey, when in Rome...
28. Inside the tomb is the resting place of the 16th President.
I was afraid I was going to miss my train back to Chicago, but a very nice young couple from Dallas gave me a ride back to the Amtrak station. As it turned out I didn't have to worry, the Amtrak train was an hour late.
I would like to go back some day, and give myself more time to see many of the surrounding historic Lincoln sites. It was very moving, and by far the most popular Presidential Museum that I have ever been to.
The Amtrak station in Springfield is about a three block walk to the museum. I took my camera with me and snapped some pics. (I later noticed in one of the pamphlets that it said there was supposed to be no picture taking of the exhibits, but nobody told me I couldn't and other people were also snapping pics with their iPhone cameras. Hopefully this isn't another case of "forgive me my trespasses"). Behind the cut are some pics of some pf what I saw.
1. On the walk over to the museum from the Amtrak station I noticed this mural on the side of a building on East Jefferson Street. I thought it was very well done.
2. Across the street from the museum is a park that contains some nice statues like this one. It also has a bench where you can sit next to a bronze sculpture of a sitting Lincoln.
3-4. Here are a couple of shots of the outside of the museum.
5-7. Inside the center of the museum are some life-size models of the Lincoln family, John Wilkes Booth, and Generals McClellan and Grant that you can have your picture taken with.
8-9. These are from a display in the museum about Lincoln's boyhood in Kentucky.
10. When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Springfield, he had a law office with William Herndon (called Lincoln and Herndon) where it is said that he let his three young sons run amok inside.
11-12. A couple of works of art showing Lincoln: a painting and a sculpture, both before he grew his beard in 1861.
13. A cartoon about Lincoln and his election in 1860.
14-16. Part of a display about Lincoln's children in the White House, including the death of his son Willie in 1862.
17. Here is Lincoln and his "team of rivals", his cabinet.
18. This is from a display about the Emancipation Proclamation.
19. Here is a pensive Lincoln as president.
20. This is a large mural in the section on the Civil War.
21-23. These photos show how Lincoln aged during the years of his Presidency.
24-25. There is an impressive section about the Lincolns at Ford's Theater on the night of his assassination.
I stayed to watch a 25 minute play entitled One Destiny about the actors at Ford's Theater and how they were affected by Lincoln's assassination. It was very good. Then I walked (about 2 miles) to Lincoln's Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery where I took these photos:
26. This is the Monument at Lincoln's Tomb. It's very impressive.
27. In front of the monument is a large bust of Lincoln's head. Its nose is very shiny because people have a strange tradition of rubbing the nose. Hey, when in Rome...
28. Inside the tomb is the resting place of the 16th President.
I was afraid I was going to miss my train back to Chicago, but a very nice young couple from Dallas gave me a ride back to the Amtrak station. As it turned out I didn't have to worry, the Amtrak train was an hour late.
I would like to go back some day, and give myself more time to see many of the surrounding historic Lincoln sites. It was very moving, and by far the most popular Presidential Museum that I have ever been to.