WORST ROADS IN AMERICA

Saturday, April 9 – We pulled our of freezin' Springfield, IL, this morning heading east towards Ohio. We are watching the weather very carefully. We don't want to get into any of the white stuff.

Having commented on how nice the roads have been so far on our trip from Texas, I must say that Indiana wins with some of the worst roads in America (goodness….maybe worse than Louisiana!). Man did we hit some bone jarring holes in the road! By the end of the day, Marsha commented this was the worst results of bad roads she's seen in the 5^th wheel. Things were thrown all over the place.

Our day's journey was a bit longer than planned. We had a planned to stop at the County Fairgrounds in Van Wert, OH. Upon arriving we found no one at the office, no one to answer the phone numbers, and no electrical power at the pedestal. With COLD weather predicted for the night, we decided to push on towards our final destination of Canton, OH, another 3-hours drive. Paul reported feeling pretty good, and felt he would have no problem extending the drive. Bella, our cat, was not too happy. She is not a fan of LONG drives.

So we continued our drive east on US-30. This road in Ohio was a welcome relief to our day's drive in Indiana. It's not often that Paul makes positive comments about Ohio roads, especially in early Spring. We cruised right along, and before we knew it, we were pulling into our driveway in Canton, OH. We did pass through some snow showers but nothing bad and especially nothing sticking to the roadways.

This is what our house looked like in Ohio on April 9. Maybe we arrived a bit too early.

We decided to wait until morning to move things from the RV to the house. Only a few necessities for the night. Paul did take the time to drain the water lines in the RV to prevent any freezing over night. The predictions were for temperatures to reach the low 20's by day break.

So we have arrived at our summer home in Canton. Bella found her nice warm spot in front of the furnace vent. Marsha has busied herself rearranging her life from RV living to the comforts of home. Paul is planning all types of summer projects.

We'll blog occasionally on summer doings and a couple trips we have planned. If you pass through Northeast Ohio give us a shout out and we'll try to meet up. Be safe with your summer travels.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

OUR LAST DAY IN SPRINGFIELD

Friday, April 8 – On our last day in Springfield, IL, we visited the  First Presbyterian Church that Lincoln attended while living in Springfield. Marsha checked the website before we left and it said that we could visit the pew that the Lincoln family sat for Sunday services. She is so easily thrilled. Unfortunately, the church was locked, and we were not able to view the Lincoln Pew. Add to your notes, the church is only open during the summer months.

We then visited the Great Western Depot, AKA the Lincoln Depot. This is the train station where Lincoln gave his famous farewell address to the people of Springfield as he was leaving for Washington DC to be inaugurated as the 16^th President of the United States. We viewed a video reenactment of the goodbye speech and enjoy the many antique displays.

The Lincoln-Herndon Law offices are being renovated, so we just walked by and tried to image what it would have been like to see Mr. Lincoln enter this building.

Our last stop was the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon. The Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon is one of the largest and finest of the world's carillons. The Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon is the gift of Senator Thomas Rees, publisher of Illinois State Register. Rees provided a $200,000 bequest to build the carillon and left very specific instructions in his will regarding the number of bells and the location of the carillon. The Rees carillon boasts 67 cast bronze bells covering a range of 5 1/2 chromatic octaves. The total weight of the bells is 82,753 pounds; the largest (bourdon) bell, a G-flat, weighs 7 1/2 tons, while the smallest weighs 22 pounds.We arrived early and were treated to the beautiful sounds of the bells.

That was enough for today. Marsha has been taking it easy on Paul since we extended our stay, so we returned to the State Fairgrounds RV Park. This is our last post from Springfield, IL. We had a wonderful time. What a clean, historic town.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

EXECUTIVE MANSION AND GARDENS

Thursday, April 7 – We started our day here in Springfield, IL, at the Executive Mansion and Gardens. The Illinois Executive Mansion is one of the oldest residences in the state. Located in downtown Springfield, this red brick Italianate mansion has been the home of Illinois Governors since 1855.

Lovely gardens.

Restored in 1971, the building houses many treasures. Immediately inside is the elliptical stairway which leads to the upper floors. No photos are permitted inside the residency. All inside photos are taken from the Internet.

The governors residency is on the 3^rd floor and is not open to the public.

The basement is used as administrative offices, and the first and second floors are furnished with period antiques and open to the public. Included are four formal parlors, a state dining room, a ballroom, four bedrooms (including the Lincoln bedroom), and the library handcrafted from native American Black Walnut.

One of the several parlors.

This mirror was left by the first Governor that lived in the house.

The dining table seats 44 people.

This is the third oldest continuously occupied Governor's Mansion in the country. Seven presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, have been received at the Mansion. Abraham Lincoln spent many hours here during meetings with politicians of the time.

The Mansion is beautiful and free. The tour takes about an hour. Our docent was very informative and shared several personal stories with us. Put it on your list.

Our next stop was the Amtrak Station. This is the station where Lincoln's funeral train arrived back in Springfield. His body was placed on a funeral wagon and transported to the Old Capitol Building where he laid in State.

Click on any photo to enlarge it for better reading.

This station is still in operation today. Curiously, we checked on the train to Chicago.....$40 one-way/person. It is a three-hour trip. May be a nice way to visit Chicago!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

ILLINOIS STATE CAPITOL

Wednesday, April 6…continued – Our final stop for the day is the current Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, IL. This building was opened for business in 1877 and has been renovated several times. It was raining all day, hence the drab outside shots.

The Capitol is topped with a 405-foot dome. It is a combination of Renaissance Revival and Second Empire style.

Beautiful stairways.

There are four floors in the Capitol.

Marsha loves taking photos of the ceilings in any building. The Capitol had very colorful ceilings throughout the building and beautiful architecture.

And of course the dome.

Visitors can watch politics in action from balcony level seating and can explore three of the five floors freely. Pictures are permitted except in the Senate and House of Representatives when business is in session.

House of Representatives.

We were able to watch the Senate in action, but the real action was taking place in the Rotunda Hall. There was a fairly rowdy demonstration taking place by mostly school age children and parents in favor of funding for Public Charter Schools.

We stumbled on another demonstration outside where a group was marching on the Capitol in support of Private Gun Ownership. This group had police cars blocking intersections, and TV crews reporting on their progress. An area in front of the Capitol building was reserved so the demonstrators could voice their opinions to their representatives. We were the last truck to get past the blockade.

Being wet and cold, we called it a day and headed back to the State Fairgrounds campground.

NOTE: We remain very impressed with Springfield, IL. The people are very friendly, the city is neat and clean, and the majority of Lincoln sites of interest are free or at a very reasonable cost.

Yes, yes, yes we know that we are very far behind in our posting. Since we arrived in Canton, Ohio, our summer home, last Sunday, we have been so busy visiting with family and setting up the house for summer, blogging has come last. We hope to finish our post from our Springfield, IL, trip very soon, and maybe catch you up on what we are presently doing.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

OLD STATE CAPITOL

Wednesday, April 6…continued – After the great tour of the Dana-Thomas house, in Springfield, IL, we then drove over to the Old State Capitol.

Beautiful wooden staircases.

The building served as the seat of state government from 1839-1876. President Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech, “A house divided against itself cannot stand...,” in the Representatives Hall. On May 3-4, 1865, Mr. Lincoln’s body lay in state in Representatives Hall as a crowd estimated at 75,000 filed past to pay their last respects.

House of Representatives.

The Senate.

President Lincoln used the governor's rooms as a headquarters during his 1860 presidential campaign.

He tried several hundred cases in the Supreme Court. During this time period, there were only four judges on the Supreme Court.

He borrowed books from the state library, and read and swapped stories with other lawyers and politicians in the law library.

Law Library.

State Library.

This flag was carried during the Civil War by the 95th Illinois Infantry Regiment Volunteers. Ignore all the glare in the picture from the glass….it’s the meaning that matters.

Ladies Occupy the Senate Chambers

Beautiful ceilings.

Visitors are free to roam throughout the building at their leisure. The rooms are full of displays and pictures are permitted at any time. You should allow about an hour to tour the building.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!