Five Years

May I start this post with a disclaimer: All pictures here were taken from their respective websites, and not on my camera. I hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws here...

This past Friday marked our five-year wedding anniversary. It's gone by so fast!

One week before our anniversary, David blindsided me when he backed me into a corner and said, "I want you to pack for yourself and the kids for the weekend." He would tell me nothing else, only that we could leave that night if I wanted to. Of course, I was extremely curious and said, "Let's go tonight!"

So we got packed, climbed into the van, and headed out I didn't know where. I actually thought we might be going to Lydia's graduation, but we didn't go west; we went south. Scratch that idea.

David finally did tell me that we were going to stay with Charles and Melissa overnight, then leave the kids with them in the morning and continue our travels. We pulled into their driveway around 10 pm and everyone went to bed without trouble.

The next morning, we helped the kids get dressed and gave them hugs and kisses goodbye, and set out. We drove a while and stopped at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I'd never been to a Cracker Barrel before, so David wanted me to see what it was like! :-) We ate heartily and got back in the van.

Our next stop was Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield. I have always been interested in Civil War history and Lincoln's life, so this was a fun surprise! We toured the house and the surrounding neighborhood, then drove over to the old state Capitol building. We were close to the Lincoln museum as well, but since we were so close to the capitol, we decided to see if there were any tours going on inside. We caught a tour group that had probably started five minutes earlier and joined them.


It was neat to be in a place that was so full of history. These were rooms that Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and Ulysses S. Grant worked in. It was a magnificent
building. We stood on the front steps and fairly gawked at the size of the stone pillars that lined the front.




After the Capitol, we walked a couple of blocks to the Lincoln Museum. I have to say, that was a really neat place. The museum was set up in two main sections. In the main lobby, you looked to the left and you could see a log cabin in the woods, with a young Abe sitting on the fence with a copy of Aesop's Fables in his hand.



On the right was the White House, with Generals George McClellan and Ulysses Grant standing on the front porch on one side, and Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass on the other. John Wilkes Booth stood leaning against the porch railing, watching the Lincoln family who were standing a short distance away. (He's on the left in the picture.)



I say all these people were there, but I should clarify: these were all wax statues. They looked so lifelike and real that at first we thought the Lincoln family were reenactors. I didn't want to stare or get too close (if you were a reenactor, would YOU like that?) until I realized that none of these people were blinking. Then I started to look a little more closely. Sure enough, they were only statues, but it was incredible. They looked so REAL. As I look at these pictures, they don't seem so lifelike as when we saw them up close, but here you go anyway.

So after we passed the Lincoln family in the lobby, we entered the cabin, where Abe was sitting by the fire, reading. In the next room, there was a heart-wrenching scene of a slave family being torn apart and sold. I mean, it was really tough to look at.




We walked through the general store where Abe was pointing out something in a catalog to a young lady.

Then there he was, on the settee with Mary Todd. Again, in debates with Stephen A. Douglas, and in his home office with his boys running wild. Every room next to the cabin told the story of his growing up, becoming a lawyer and a politician and everything that led up to his election as President.

Then we found ourselves back in the lobby, just behind the log cabin, with the White house before us. We walked past the generals and Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, and found Mary Lincoln in a splendid ballgown. There were 5 or 6 other dresses set up in the room, replicas of actual dresses other "leading ladies" of the day had worn; some even had photographs of the ladies in the dress on display. Pretty neat.



As we walked through the White house rooms, it showed how much Lincoln was up against with the Civil War and the issue of slavery and abolition. There he was, leaning over his desk wearily with the voices of criticizm and contention ringing in his ears (you will have to go yourself to find out how they do that; it would just take too long for me to explain here.)

There were newspaper articles, photographs, army uniforms both North and South. There was another heart-rending scene of young Willie sick in his bed with his mother leaning over him, and the President looking in the door, carrying Willie's toy doll. In the background a polka was playing. It was supposed to be a celebration going on but the Lincolns kept excusing themselves to check on their son, who later died. I can't really describe it, but having a visual picture made the event so much more sad.



There were posters proclaiming the victory of the North and the end of the war. There was the celebration on the White House grounds at the announcement of Lee's surrender. There was, of course, the Presidential box in Ford's Theatre, with John Wilkes Booth pushing the door open in the background.





After walking through the White House, we went into the little theatre in the center of the museum, where there was a show that told Lincoln's life story in about 20 minutes. As the sign in the entry stated, there were indeed loud noises, strobe lights, and vibrating chairs! I don't want to spoil the surprise, but just say that we wouldn't have lasted past the first sound of shattering glass if we had had our kids with us! Nothing inappropriate, just loud.

We played disc golf in Douglas park after that, went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and fairly dropped, exhausted, after that. We had talked about finding an ice-cream place for dessert but it wasn't going to happen.

On Sunday, we went to the new state Capitol building and took a tour there. And I'd thought the old Capitol building was magnificent. This one made our jaws drop when we looked up the dome in the center of the place. There was scrollwork, carving, inlaid gold, marble, stained glass,

bronze statues, a 40-foot painting on the wall, and crystal chandeliers in the Senate and House of Representatives that about took my breath away. Now I've never wanted to own a chandelier, and don't know what I would do with one if I happened to own it, but I'd probably just stand there with my eyes as big as saucers and mouth agape. That's what I did then, anyway! Let me tell you, this picture does not do them justice! The myriad rainbows and flashes of light from the crystal don't show in a photograph.

We then went to New Salem, where Lincoln had lived and worked as a clerk in the general store. Only one log house there was original, and the rest were replicas of the buildings that had once stood there. There were reenactors walking around and sitting/working in the homes, and they told us some of the history of the place and what life was like when Lincoln lived there. This is a replica of the Rutlege tavern, which was actually not what I first thought (a place where beer flowed) but rather an inn where you could get a good meal and a place to sleep.










Our last stop was Lincoln's tomb. It is a very stately monument. We didn't stay there very long, but thought that since we were so closeby, we should at least stop there and see it. After looking at the website, I see you can go inside, but it was closed when we were there, so we only saw the outside.

So that is the story of our 5-year anniversary trip! It was a really neat weekend getaway (but we were glad to see our kids again!:-)

I think I ought to stop now; this is a long post.
Oh, and I will call you soon, Grandma! I did get the card you sent. Thank you!