Saturday, September 23 -- Lincoln Presidential Museum

This was our day for exploring the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library.  The museum opened in 2005 and uses multimedia displays to give visitors an understanding of the life and work of Lincoln.  In contrast to many other presidential museums, the Lincoln Museum uses almost theme park like theatrics to present the information -- holographic images, whispered voices in a room filled with political cartoons of the day, full scale dioramas depicting scenes such as the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.  We first viewed the two marvelous shows, one an almost magical presentation of the "Ghosts of the Library" and the other the multi-screen presentation "Lincoln's Eyes."  After a short orientation to the layout of the museum, we were free to do our own exploring. For lunch we met in the Subway restaurant in the museum, where we enjoyed our pre-ordered sandwiches.  For the remainder of the day, we had more time to explore the other parts of the museum, or we could choose to return early to the hotel.  There is so much to see -- a full size replica of Lincoln's boyhood log cabin, realistic wax figures of his family and others important events in his life, Mary Lincoln in her stunning gown, many displays of his early life and the events that shaped Lincoln's life and the history of our country, and a collection of original artifacts associated with Lincoln and his family.  One could easily spend even more than a full day at the museum.

Andrea chats with John Wilkes Booth.

Although Ellie did not return to Springfield until Sunday afternoon, Ellie and Andrea went back to the museum on Monday so that Ellie could also enjoy the experience.

Andrea and Ellie join Lincoln's family at the museum.  

Van rides were offered in the afternoon for those who wanted to return to the hotel.  However, Andrea chose to walk back to the Old State Capital to experience the reenactment "Civil War Days" with the 114th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

Dinner tonight was at a very lovely small inn, followed by talks centering on the African American experience after the Emancipation Proclamation.  We had a very full day and did not get back to the hotel until almost 10:00.