I have been remiss in my posting duties!

After I left Carbondale, I headed a little north to Springfield, Illinois to visit some friends I hadn’t seen since around 2005! We had a delicious eats and indulged in
The Great Negroni Debate:
Vodka, Gin, Bourbon

I think I liked the vodka one best, and my friend Wade liked the gin one.
Or, the vodka or gin for after lunch, and the bourbon version for after dinner.

I talked my friend into being a tourist with me, and we went to the Abe Lincoln Museum (across the street from the Lincoln Library)

IT WAS GREAT!

Of course, growing up in Illinois for the most part, I had a lot of schooling about Lincoln. In grade school, we even traveled to Springfield to rub Lincoln’s copper nose for good luck! This time, I got to do the full historical tour, complete with a couple of short interesting movies!

We visited the gift shop and saw some fun things like this book

and this t-shirt (I bought one)

I think he impressed upon me so much as a kid because I kinda related to his childhood. Not that I was raised in a 300 square foot log cabin, but that he was an outsider who was also a voracious reader. I guess apart from that, we were pretty dissimilar.

I almost got this magnet, but worried it’d get knocked off my camper fridge and disappear, so I took a pic instead.

On the walls framing the walk through the entrance turnstiles is artwork done by local grade and high schoolers. This one really impressed me.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
~ Abraham Lincoln

This is just inside the entrance to the museum. To the left there is his boyhood – a walk through the log cabin and his young years through to his arrival in Springfield and his early political career.

The center back is one of the two theaters, and to the right you can see the White House. The walk takes you from his childhood, up through the White House years, and on to his death.

Beware, John Wilkes Booth lurks around those parts.

I couldn’t get a great picture with my cell phone, but there was a crooked hallway decorated with words and cartoons from his critics. It was similar to a fun-house with angles all askew. Very well done!

Yikes!

After all that excitement, we went to Obed and Isaac’s Microbrewery & Eatery,
had dinner and a:
Taste test: French vs Campfire smoke
French won. (and I still prefer the peaty single malts)

His dogs and my Argos were very glad to see us.
Or to see us open the door to the yard for them.