Thanks for following along with all my posts on our trip to Springfield, Ill. This is part three, and I may have two or three more coming up.

The first morning, Sarah and I decided to head over to Lincoln’s Tomb. We figured there would be a little display and a statue, but this was really an impressive resting place. We were both pleasantly surprised.

The granite structure, featuring several bronze statues and a tall pillar called an obelisk. It’s all much larger in person than you would imagine. The next two pictures will give you a sense of the outside.





Inside, I was asked to remove my baseball cap as a sign of respect (not a problem), and we then headed down a dark tunnel to the back side of the tomb. There, we viewed Lincoln’s actual grave site. It was quite impressive, and you can’t help but feel moved while in that room. On the opposite wall were chambers that held the bodies of Lincoln’s wife Mary Todd, and three of their four sons, Edward, William and Thomas. The eldest son, Robert T. Lincoln, is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.



There are numerous small bronze statues located throughout the building. I asked a guard about the one near the entrance/exit. I was told that it was the actual artist model created for the famous Lincoln Monument found in Washington, D.C. Here’s a picture:



Behind the building, there’s a path that heads down a hillside. At the bottom is the Oak Ridge Cemetery public receiving vault, the scene of Lincoln’s funeral. His body was held in this facility until the fancy tomb was completed some several years later.



Hard to see in this picture, but there are chambers inside the open-air building. See here:



Before leaving, we had to rub the nose on the bronze reproduction of Gutzon Borglum’s marble head of Lincoln (the real one is located in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.). It’s said that rubbing the nose is good luck. From the discoloration, you can tell that many people have done the same thing:





Afterward, we walked around the cemetery for an hour, looking at graves from Civil War veterans and others. Was pretty cool. Then we headed back to the bed and breakfast to clean up. Next, it was on to more touristy activities. I’ll have more here soon.

The first historic place we visited during our stay in Springfield, Ill., was the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. It’s pretty cool. The government purchased a couple blocks, and all the old houses are standing. You can go into a few of them and get a feel for what it was like in the mid-1800s.

We took the tour of the Lincoln home, of course. He lived there up until becoming president. Was interesting to see what kind of living conditions his family was subjected to. And also neat to see some of the actual items from the home.

Below are some of the pictures we took during the tour. It was a rainy morning, so we didn’t use the camera much outdoors.

First, here’s a recreation of the most famous photo of the Lincoln home (see the card Sarah is holding on the bottom left; I blurred the home intentionally, so you know!):




And this is Lincoln’s actual desk (must have been tough to use at 6-foot-4, eh?):



And this is the outhouse (there were three pots in here – probably some interesting sitting time with Abraham and his boys, don’t you think?):

Late last week, Sarah and I got our first extended Oliver-free break in quite some time. My parents came into town to watch the boy, and the wife and I headed to Springfield, Ill. (not to be confused with the hometown of my parents, the Springfield down I-44 in southwest Missouri). It was definitely the Land of Lincoln, as it was the hometown and is the current resting place of our 16th president.

We had a wonderful time, and I plan to write about what we did each day. For now, I’ll tell you about the place we stayed: The Rippon-Kinsella House Bed & Breakfast. Built in 1871, this bed and breakfast was full of charm … and antiques. Yes, proprietor Roger Schmitz is a former antique dealer (“I was terrible,” he told us, with a chuckle, the first morning while we ate breakfast. “I tried to keep the good stuff and sell the crap.”).

Despite the creaky bed, we had a blast there. The inside and outside of the home has so much to look at. Taking photos was a blast. Below are a few to give you a flavor of the place. First, the sign:



Sarah, standing on the wraparound porch (built at least a decade after the building):



Another shot of the porch, on which we tried to spend and afternoon reading but had to give up due to mosquitoes:



The creaky bed:



Our private bathroom:



A cool ship from The Captain’s Room, in which we did not stay:



There were old radios everywhere, including this one:

As I mentioned in a couple earlier posts, Sarah’s brother got married on Saturday. Aaron and Shima had a small wedding/reception at their house. It was nice and relaxing compared to some of the wedding theatrics that I’ve seen in my lifetime.

The day began with a Hindu wedding that honored Shima’s family traditions. It was a really beautiful, interesting ritual. Below are a couple pictures. The first was taken after the Chhedaabandan, or Tying of the Knot, and the second is of their feet as they completed the Mangal Fera, in which the couple circles a fire to symbolize a series of distinct purposes in life.





Overall, this was really, really interesting. I enjoyed it a lot. Sarah, who you can see on the left edge of the first photo, was obviously not in the crowd with me. That meant that I had Oliver for the entire hour. He was surprisingly good, as he sat quietly, then drank a bottle and had some snacks.

After this ceremony, the adults had some snacks of our own and then we headed back outside for a Lutheran ceremony. It started out nice, but Oliver would have none of it. He was being really loud, so I had to take him around to the other side of the house. Unfortunately, I missed 75 percent so can’t give a full report.

Next, our side of the family and a few of Shima’s relatives had ham sandwiches and salad for dinner. Then, Shima’s family cleared the table and her side ate a traditional vegetarian Indian dinner. I must have lingered around the kitchen too long because Shima’s dad invited me to join them. I really enjoyed eating this, and they were great in explaining how to eat Indian food correctly, describing what we were eating and just being the most friendly, accommodating people you’d ever meet.

An hour or two later and Oliver was ready to go. That said, we headed home for the night. Anyway, it was just a great day. We had a lot of fun and are excited to fully welcome Shima and her family into our lives.

Sarah’s brother is getting married tomorrow. His fiancee is a lovely lady of Indian descent (though she has lived in various places around the globe ranging from England to Arkansas). So today, instead of a typical American-style pre-wedding manicure/pedicure/spa day with the ladies, the women all got together and had various parts of their bodies (mostly hands and feet) covered in elaborate henna designs. It’s a neat Indian tradition.

Sarah went with her right hand. Looks pretty cool, in a freaky sort of way. Here are some pictures:

My loyal reader(s) … I’m still here. I’ve just been really busy lately. I’ve had some really challenging, but exciting projects at my day job, and I’ve been wrapping up the three courses that I’m teaching for UMSL. Between all of that, my time tends to be divided between taking care of our son, cleaning things up, maintaining the house, cooking/eating, grocery shopping, planting our garden (see photo below; for those who’ve seen it in the past, you’ll notice that I changed the shape/location this year) or sleeping. Haven’t had a lot of fun, but will soon enough. My classes end this weekend, so I should have the grading wrapped up very soon.

Hopefully I’ll be able to post some good stuff, too. Oliver is getting so big, walking EVERYWHERE, and getting teeth. More to come for sure. Thanks for staying with me.