Before Heading For Home

on Sunday, we stopped by New Salem. This is a reconstruction of the town Lincoln lived in after leaving his parents' home and before going to Springfield. The first stop was the visitor's center, which has some nice displays and a good introductory video. Of course my eye was caught by the wheels right above the reception desk.

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I loved the gardens, all planted with heirloom varieties.

There were friendly, well informed docents in several of the cabins. One was demonstrating woodworking in the coopers shop, and a mother/daughter team was cooking on a wood fire at the tavern. Alas, no one was tending the loom, but I can see under the cover sheet that there is a work in progress, so they must have a volunteer weaver there sometimes.

At least two of the cabins had more spinning wheels (they have quite a collection).

The building I found most fascinating was the carding mill. Here's the equipment on the inside.

And here's what made it run.

A huge tilted treadmill, all wood including including the giant gears and cogs. An ox would be tethered on the far side near the top and would turn the wheel by walking. I don't know whether this is currently in working order, but I would love to see the whole business in action. I suppose there would be issues, safety and the treatment of animals are two that come to mind, but it sure would be fascinating to watch.

I would have liked to walk all the way down to the river to see the lumber mill, but we needed to hit the road back to Wisconsin. Next time....

On Saturday

We visited the new Lincoln Presidential Museum and the adjoining Presidential library.







The museum is state of the art in terms of it's presentation with lots of multimedia, and even some startling special effects - all very high quality technically, and in fact it turns out that much was designed by Disney. That sounds as if it could be awful in terms of either dumbing down or romanticising/mythologizing the content. But that wasn't the case. The content was high value, placing Lincoln in context (or rather the several historical contexts over the course of his life and career). Particularly during the section covering the Civil War period, it stressed the complexity and variety of contemporary responses to the situation and to Lincoln himself. It was informative and often very moving.



It took us about three hours to go through, and there are areas I would like to return to. Just one example: one room had a wall of photographs of people from the Civil War period: men, women, Black, White, northerners, southerners, the cross section was very inclusive. On touch screens, you could pick a photo, and then read more information that individual. I could have easily spent an hour in that area alone.



The library next door is a major archive, and appears to be very open to almost anyone wanting to do research on the period.



In the afternoon we went to the Lincoln home.

This is part of a small but wonderful national park - just a couple of blocks in the middle of the city. There is a good visitors center, the street has been restored as closely as possible to it's appearance during Lincoln's day, with what original buildings remain in place maintained (though not open). We had walked down the street on Friday evening after dark - the only people in the place. On a warm summer evening with fireflies flickering the effect was almost magical. Our actual tour through the house on Saturday was a bit crowded and rushed, with a young guide who seemed just a bit too bored. I'm glad we had done this once before, a few years ago, with a much better guide. But it was still wonderful to be there.

We also went out to the tomb/monument. I'm sorry I don't have pictures of that. The monument is quite immense. You enter at the base into a small rotunda, walk quietly around a circular hallway to the actual burial place at the back, then continue around again to the rotunda. A volunteer is posted there, so far as I know always a veteran, who is willing to answer questions, but the emphasis is on the immediate experience, quiet and reverential, rather than informational - which seems as it should be.

More Springfield

Friday evening, we took a walking tour of downtown Springfield. A lot of the original structures of note during Lincoln's time there are gone, of course; but the guide gave an overview of Lincoln's time in Springfield, did his best to paint a word picture of what it would have looked like at that time and pointed out significant locations. This is the centerpiece, the old state capitol, where Lincoln served as state representative, beautifully restored inside and out.



Doubly historic, President Obama announced his candidacy from those front steps.

Just across the street, this also still stands.



A modern addition.



This last has nothing whatsoever to do with Lincoln, but I took the picture during the walk because I really love that art deco building on the right.

Retro

We've just returned from a weekend trip to Springfield, Illinois with some dear friends from California. The focus of the trip was on visiting Lincoln sites, but the motel turned out to be a rather delightful surprise from a different era. It's the "youngest" building with an historical designation in Springfield, restored to it's 1960's glory.








Of course, it's a little scary that I remember the period so clearly.

Fingers Crossed

I have about 1/4 inch to go before starting the toe decreases on the first sock.



I think the yarn might hold out. Sweatin' it out in the home stretch, and not just because the weather has been almost too hot for knitting.

Sometimes I Just Love Our Local Paper

You can, if you are so moved, click on the picture to make it big.