A Morning in Springfield

When planning our vacation this year I realized if we went down there Illinois instead of Iowa, we could stop in Springfield. It added only an hour to our drive and Springfield was really halfway between home and Kansas City. The hubby never saw the sights in Springfield and he wanted to see them.

We actually only spent about 2-3 hours or so in Springfield which is not really long enough but long enough (if you time it right) to see three key places.. Lincoln's Home, Lincoln's Tomb, and the Old Capitol.

Lincoln's Home
Our first stop was Lincoln's Home which turns out to be his entire neighborhood. Either I forgot this minor detail or they have added to it since I was there in 1999 or 2000. You need a ticket to actually get inside of Lincoln's home but you can walk the entire neighbor and visit some of the other houses without a ticket. Tickets are free and they limit it to about 10 people every 10 minutes or so. I was told they sell out quickly during the summer. We got lucky and the next available tour was about 30 minutes after we got there.

Lincoln's neighborhood is a cobblestone, wooden plank sidewalk neighborhood like it was in the 1850's. It is about a 2 block area that you can explore. They are several plaques telling what the important buildings are. Some of them you can go in and they provided more details about the building or the life in Lincoln's time.

Lincoln's home honestly was too restored. Yes, I'm glad the National Park Service has done a great job restoring and keeping up the house, however when I touch actual banister the Abraham Lincoln touched 150+ years ago, it's shouldn't be polished to a high shine. Our tour guide was very knowledge and somewhat of a Lincoln geek. I thought she was very interesting but the hubby wasn't impressed. He'd rather go through the house on his own and have some available for questions if need be.

Old State Capitol
This is a short drive from Lincoln's home. Both are right downtown. The capitol was very interesting.

You saw how it was back in the 1800's and how small the actual legislature was.

The hubby especially liked the old maps of the territories and states back in 1800's. The staircase was magnificent. We didn't get a picture because the hubby thought the camera batteries were dying. It is worth checking out if you like looking at old government buildings.

Lincoln's Tomb
Lincoln's Tomb is actually a bit farther outside of actual downtown than his home or the old Capitol. It's probably about a mile from his home. Once you get to Oak Ridge Cemetery, you can't miss Lincoln's Tomb. It towers above everything else (and there are signs pointing you to it too).

The tomb is not only the final resting place of President Lincoln but his wife and 3 of his sons as well. It is very somber as you walk through the tomb to his actual resting place.

Outside the tomb, you can rub Lincoln's nose for luck.

There is plenty of other things to do in Springfield. We just hit the three major attractions. It was wonderful sharing the history of Springfield with the hubby. If you are driving through and have an hour or two, I would suggest stopping at checking out at least one of the sites. It's definitely worth it.