I find it hard to believe that, despite the fact that I've driven through Springfield, Illinois, dozens of times, I'd never actually stopped there for anything other than maybe to get gas. Until this past weekend.
After my trip to Nashville last summer, I realized that there are so many interesting places to see which are not too far from home. I mean, exotic travels are still wonderful, but if you can't spare a week or two, why not just go for a weekend?
T and I drove up to Springfield on Friday night. We were staying at the delightfully Mad Men-mod Statehouse Inn. So mid-century, and so great. I'm not sure I could live in that style, but fun for the weekend.
The sitting area in our hotel room
The new state capitol, just a block or two down the street from our hotel
Saturday morning we set off for the Lincoln-tastic tourist sites. On the way, we stumbled across the Springfield Farmers' Market (Wednesdays and Saturdays, FYI), so we strolled through on our way to the Old State Capitol. We happened to step inside just as a tour was starting, so we jumped in. Sort of a plain building, architecturally-speaking, but so much history!
How quaint!
How awesome!
Fresh local produce at the market
Chillin' with the Lincolns in the town square - and you can see my dress!
Architecture of the old capitol
The State Library? I get the names of the rooms mixed up.
And old hand-drawn map hanging on the wall. So cool, and so not right anymore!
The bench of the Illinois Supreme Court
Storage for government and legal papers, which were literally...
...tied up in red tape. That's where that comes from.
An original desk
A little used state office (executive something or other) which wasn't in use at the time, so Lincoln used it as his campaign headquarters. That carved wooden chain in the corner was sent to him by a supporter in Wisconsin; it was carved from a single piece of wood, so the links have always been together as one piece.
Lincoln's desk in the Illinois General Assembly. The desks were cleared out of this room, which is where his body was laid in state at the end of his long funeral procession. The clock in this room is stopped at 7:22, the time of his death the morning after he was shot.
Our next stop was the building that housed the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices (how could we not?). It was, for a time, also a dry goods store and the home of the circuit court. Talk about redevelopment opportunities!
One of the offices used by Lincoln and his partners. A custom-made couch long enough for someone who's 6'4" to take a nap on is in the far corner. There is a trap door in the floor (intended to allow the dry goods store on the ground level to hoist stock up to the top levels for storage) which Lincoln would prop open to listen to arguments going on in the circuit court on the floor below.
Food for the weekend was 100% inspired by Jane and Michael Stern of roadfood.com fame (mostly because I remembered hearing them talk about Springfield on one particular episode of The Splendid Table). Their first recommended location was Joe Rogers' Chili Parlor. The chili had a good flavor and was heavy on the meat - a good thing - but way too oily.
A little further on up the road (props to you if the song came to mind), we visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, which was fascinating. Best of all, they had so many audio clips of speeches, excerpts on the walls, etc. Sometimes I forget how brilliant Lincoln was. Silly M. How is that possible when he was probably one of the best orators of all time?
With the Lincolns again, this time outside the reproduction White House inside the museum. Unfortunately this main lobby is the only room in which they allow pictures.
We were unceremoniously ejected from the museum (okay, it was closing time, but still), so we headed back to the hotel for a quick workout. Dinner was another roadfood recommendation, Cozy Dog Drive-In. You know what? For all the hype, they're just hot dogs, and not even as good as the Hebrew National dogs at Busch Stadium. But what are good are their french fries. Fresh, hot, crispy. Delish. And they have ice cream sandwiches, so no complaints there.
We had had quite enough culture for the day, so we went go karting after dinner, which I haven't done in forever and is so much fun! We also tried out the mini golf (which I am so bad at T finally stopped counting how many strokes behind I was) and the batting cages. And always remember kids:
Your gas peddle is on the right.
LOVE the mailbox!!
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