Back before Thanksgiving, Andrew and I thought we would finally visit Springfield, IL. We live so close and yet never bother to go! It seemed like a perfect time. We’d be on our way up north to see my family for a week for Thanksgiving. We always pass through so we figured we would drive that far Friday night, see the sites on Saturday morning, and then keep going the rest of the way! Little did we know that things wouldn’t quite go as planned. An early winter storm had it in for us!
On Friday night we made it to Springfield as planned. We spent the night at the Baymont located just south of town. Very inexpensive but they had awesome service and a really nice pool area, and it was right next to Cracker Barrel! Yum! That night we hung out at the hotel and just enjoyed some time relaxing. We knew a winter storm was moving in, but it was forecast to last the morning, so we figured by the time we left town things would be clear.
I’ll split this post into 3 parts just because there’s so much to say about just the few things we saw! Part 1 will cover Lincoln’s Home. Part 2 The Old Capitol and Law Offices and Part 3 The Lincoln Presidential Museum and Lincoln’s Tomb.
We started our Saturday morning with a visit to Lincoln’s Home. This is the house that his family lived in while in Springfield. Many of the artifacts in the house belonged to the Lincoln family. Lincoln’s home is maintained by the National Parks System. They give guided tours every twenty minutes (if I remember correctly.)
When we arrived at the site shortly after it’s opening, it was somewhat rainy. By the time we entered the building where our tour would begin, we were experiencing our first snow of the season! Needless to say, we seemed to be the only people brave enough to take the tour in this weather. At least most of it was indoors. They do have a few city blocks made up of buildings that were nearly all around while Lincoln lived in the area. It was pretty neat! I only wish that the weather had been nicer so that I would have felt like exploring down the streets, but wet snow is not conducive to that!
Sites & Bites 