And the rest of the story....from Salt Lick, Kentucky & Beyond

Okay, let's see if I can get Illinois finished in this blog!

After visiting the Old State Capital, we went to the "building" where Abraham Lincoln worked in his law office with partner Herndon. He practiced law in these quarters from 1843 to about 1852. We toured the building, but the back part of the building where the original office was has been torn down. It was then turned into other office buildings. It now has been taken over to refurbish & house the law office, post office & federal court rooms where Lincoln worked before becoming president. It is said that when he was elected president, his partner was going to remove his name & sign from the building but Abe stopped him saying he would return. We all know that never happened.
Outside of building

This is one of the rooms I wanted to take a picture of in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. It had him laying on the couch in the corner with both of his young boys standing on the tables throwing ink & paper at each other & laughing. Ink was all over the walls. It was so funny. Abe looked like he was unaware of what was going on. Boys will be boys. Renee, I wanted to take that picture soooo bad! Even the boys laugh sounded like Nick & Noah!

Next we went to Abe & Mary Todd Lincoln's home. Very nice. Here we could take all the pictures we wanted. The area we walked around reminded me of the residential areas of Williamsburg, VA.

This was the original handrail going to the upstairs of the home. Something that Mr. Lincoln's hands had touched.

This was Tad & Willie's room.

This picture is rather dark, but the unique heating stove was beautiful. Most of the furnishings are not original, but some are. Each room had some of the originals in them.

The stove and the iron on the stove were original to the home.

The cake plate was original.

In talking with another couple from Indiana, we found that the outhouse came from Indiana! Now I've used a couple of these in my day, but I've never seen any like this! But then, I guess I never wore hoop skirts either!

Self explanatory plaque.

Arnold's Home

This is the church that now holds the Lincoln Family Pew. Lincoln himself never worshiped in this particular church, but his wife did.

The Family Pew

After we had spent all day in Springfield, we went to a Subway to eat. Since it was a beautiful day & we had read our brochure, we found this was the week of the Carillon Festival at the Rees Memorial Carillon, Washington Park, in Springfield. We took our blanket with us, but discovered we were early enough to claim a bench in the park. There was a beautiful rose garden there too that we took turns walking around. Didn't want to lose our seats. In case you don't know what a carillon is it is a chromatically-tuned set of bronze bells (one-half step apart in pitch). It is a manual instrument played by a musician called a carillonneur. There are no electronics involved in a true carillon. The tower is 132' high (8 floors); the 67th bell, the B flat, weighs 8,800 pounds. The open deck showcases the 8 largest bells, the total of all bells is 82,753 pounds & the largest bell weighs a whopping 7-1/2 tons & the smallest only 22 lbs. The bells are 80% copper, blended with tin & a small amount of lead & other alloys. The keyboard is set up similar to a piano or organ. The keys (levers) are arranged according to the white & black keys of the piano. The pedals look similar to an organ. When a lever is struck with the little finger of a closed fist, it depresses a wire connected directly to the bell clapper. The carillonneur plays with both hands & feet.

This is where we sat. This is the Angel of Hope. All the names on the wall are of children who have gone to be with the Lord at a very early age. This garden was built so that any who had lost a child could come & sit & meditate & gain strength from the Angel of Hope.

A beautiful lavender rose.These pink climbers were exactly like the ones out my back door at my previous home! We called them Aunt Grace's roses, because that's where they originally came from. My mom had one in her front yard too. They have the most beautiful sweet fragrance!

Another picture of the Carillon. The program was divided by two players. The first one was Laurel Buckwalter from Alfred University, Alfred, NY and the second was Mr. Jan Bezuijen of Goedereede, The Netherlands.

That ended the first busy day in Springfield, IL.

On Tuesday, (June 2) we did our supply shopping at the local stores. Then the weather forecast was not the best. They were calling for severe thunderstorms throughout the day. Since it was so hot & humid, we knew we were going to get it. The sky was really dark & thick with clouds. Now remember, we are in Tornado Alley still. I'm not scared, just a little nervous. We kept watching TV all day & they kept scrolling across the counties. I got the map out & yup, we were in those counties. Fortunately the campground did have a storm shelter if needed. We really wanted to attend the 7PM flag ceremony at the Lincoln Tomb. We were about not to go. Well it rained hard for about 10 minutes. We got no hail (northern Springfield did though). Linda stopped in (we didn't realize she was home. They got home on Mon. but they had commitments to attend to on Tues.). While she was at the trailer the sun started to come out a little so we decided to grab our chairs & get on the road. Since we didn't really know where we were going, we wanted to have time to get there.

This is the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery where President Lincoln, his wife Mary Todd Lincoln & 3 of there 4 sons are buried. Their oldest son, Robert, is buried at Arlington Cemetery. With the exception of Arlington Cemetery, this one is visited by the most visitors.

This is the back of the tomb.

Front

Every Tues. night at 7PM during June, July & August, the 114th Regiment Illinois, a volunteer infantry activated Civil War unit, performs a stirring flag ceremony in front of the tomb. A representative of each family is asked to come up to the table maned by these ladies & sign your name, city & state. Of all the names signed, one person is randomly selected to receive the American Flag that flew over Lincoln's Tomb. This evening there was probably about 150 in attendance (75 families).

Most of these ladies are wives of the regiment or the auxiliary.

The music of the regiment.

The last time the US Flag along with the Illinois flag will fly over Lincoln's Tomb.

Because this was the first ceremony of the season, a Representative of the Illinois State Government presented the regiment with new flags for their use, thereby retiring their old ones.

The muskets were fired 3 times. A small canon was fired once.

The lowering of the flags.

Now don't faint like I almost did!!! You got it! They called Peggy Bullock to be the one to be presented the American Flag. My mouth flew open & then I cried all the way up to receive it & all the way back to my seat! What an honor!!! Many people stopped me afterward & said how nice it was to see someone who really appreciated it! Also, the next day a during a tour, a man said, aren't you the lady who received the flag yesterday? I didn't even have the same clothes on! The 114th Regiment Illinois in the plaza of the tomb.

Me & my friend Abe. Now you know why I said in the last blog to remember how close Mr. Lincoln & I were! If you notice Mr. Lincoln's nose is very shiny. It is a tradition to rub the nose of Lincoln's bronze visage for luck. Just to let you know, I didn't rub his nose until after I received the flag!

The people of the auxiliary & some of the regiment.

That concluded a very exciting night. I couldn't wait to call Mark & Renee to let them know, I was so excited. Bill said as he sat there/stood there, during the ceremony, wouldn't it be great if Peggy got it. He must have had ESP.

On Wednesday, (June 3) Linda picked us up at the trailer park at 8:30AM & took us back to her house for a home-cooked breakfast. It was great to sit around & talk with a very dear, old friend. We hadn't seen each other in probably about 10-12 years. Because it was a rather dreary day, we decided to take in some of the points of interest that would take us mostly inside. Besides being rainy, the temperature took a nose-dive too! From 90 deg. down to about 65! I had to wear jeans again!

Since we didn't get to see all the memorials at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Jay took us there first. This is us in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The names listed are only from Illinois. It is so hard to comprehend the number of lives lost just in one state!

This is from the Korean Memorial

This is from World War II. Here you can see there were more than 22,000 Illinois veterans who gave their lives in service for our country! THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VETERANS, NO MATTER WHERE YOU WERE OR WHERE YOU ARE NOW!

Following our trip to the cemetery, we went back to where the carillon was, Washington Park. There is a botanical garden arboratum there that we went in to see. Not very big, but it did have a display of Ed Martin's Botanical Infusions. Now I didn't get to Phoenix, Arizona's Botanical Garden display of the Chihully Glass Sculptures, but here is what we saw in Springfield, IL.

No, this isn't glass, this is a real pretty little bird.

Now were are into the glass sculptures.

Oops! This is real! Linda is holding this gigantic cactus flower!! Gorgeous!

After leaving the Botanical Garden, we went to see this home that was built by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902-1904. Now if you have seen any of his architecture, you know it is very, very different! At one time they were going to tear this house down. But with many people's encouragement to keep such a landmark, it was taken over by the state as a historic site.
Again, we were not allowed to take pictures in here. In fact, they make you check your camera in until the tour is over!

Outside

The windows were beautiful from outside.

I'm not good with names of some flowers, but this was growing in the garden. Beautiful pink.

Bill & Jay discussing something or else Jay was getting upset with the woman with the camera!

Welcome to our home. Ya right!

We have to share the home with friends - Jay & Linda.

Next we went to the Illinois State Military Museum

On August 18, 1863, President Lincoln was approached at the White House by inventor Christopher Spencer to test fire his new seven shot repeating rife. He agreed & fired seven rounds from a distance of 40 yards into a pine board. Afterward he offered Spencer the board for a souvenier & approved the rifle for government use. The Navy was the first to purchase the rifle. The board remained in the Spencer family until 1883 when it was donated to the State of Illinois to be placed in the museum. The rifle pictured here is the same type fired by President Lincoln & was carried by W.M. Rogers of Illinois during the Civil War.

Drum on display along with other items from Civil War.

On Thursday (June 4) Jay & Linda again picked us up at 8:30 & we went out for breakfast at a neat little restaurant almost in their back yard. Since we ate a big breakfast, when it was lunch time we could just have a "treat" - you know, like DQ!

This day Jay chauvered us to Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site. This is a reconstruction of the village where Abraham Lincoln spent his early adulthood. The six years Lincoln spent at New Salem formed a turning point in his career. From the gangling young man who came to the village in 1831 with no definite objectives, he became a man of purpose as he embarked upon a career of law and statesmanship.

Here Lincoln engaged in a variety of activities. He clerked in a store, split rails, enlisted in the Black Hawk War, served as postmaster & deputy surveyor, failed in business, and was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1834 & 1836 after an unsuccessful try in 1832.

The reconstruction of New Salem was kept alive for years by the Old Salem Chautauqua Assoc. The first steps were taken in 1906 when they interested William Randolph Hearst in the site. Then in May 1919, they conveyed the site to the State of Illinois. Several log buildings, a road & other marked sites were constructed. Some buildings that were deteriorated were subsequently replaced by the state.

The Onstot Cooper Shop is the ony original building in the village. It was returned to the site in 1922. More than 900 period articles had been donated, a number of which had belonged to New Salem residents, to add to the reconstructed buildings.

An original weaving loom. Upon talking with Linda, found out that former storeowner in Fentonville, Pete, had a weaving loom in his home & he used it.

This home was the Trent Brothers Residence. Each brother & family lived on each side.

This is one of the 2 rooms. Eight children were raised in this home.

This was the New Salem Saw & Gristmill. It operated until 1853. Normally oxen would walk around the top of the large wheel to turn the gears.

This was the first Berry-Lincoln Store. A place not only were merchandise was bought & sold, but stories were swapped. In fact, this storekeeper told Linda & I that we had too much flesh showing with our capri pants on! That was a no, no in the days of A. Lincoln. He showed us some very interesting items that were sold in the store, explained how they were shipped in, etc. Quite an informative man.

Today the chickens & roosters were out. They had been keeping them in because of the buffalo gnats. Last year they killed almost all of the chickens. I took this picture for my friend Camilla in New Mexico. She has her kitchen decorated with roosters & chickens & I thought of her when I saw them all!

The barn

This is Linda & Jay's home in Chatham, IL. Linda had gotten a wheelbarrow & bucket of wood to bring out to the campground for our camp fire. I remember her & I doing that many, many years ago when we camped out!

Ah, finally, food! The guys were starving. Linda was gracious to let me come to her home & do my laundry. (That's 2 great friends that have done that now!) We got a chance to bring out our year books & some old photos to reminese over. You know......"do you remember......" things.

Almost done!

What a great way to end a very special time with friends! We enjoyed our visit very much! It was so much fun to see Linda again. We spent many special times together through church, MYF group, Blackfeet (our own little mission girl group that my cousin's wife lead), trips with her family to special places like the Rochester, NY Lilac Festival, Niagara Falls, & many others. We spent many happy hours playing at her house in Fentonville.

Tomorrow we take off for parts farther East. I think we have done enough sightseeing for awhile & are ready to get to the East Coast & relax.

So, until next time...............The Traveling Cardinal's