What a fun day! Last night, we decided to make a detour through Springfield, Illinois. We knew that we were headed from Columbus, OH to Nauvoo, Ill with an extra day in the middle. So, we looked at the map and found Springfield. As a teenager, I was fascinated with Abraham Lincoln so it seemed natural to go ahead and add Springfield to our itinerary. Since we had plenty of time today, we decided it would be a great day to stop and see whatever might be interesting. Fortunately, we were mostly on small highways through beautiful agricultural country. Sure enough, we saw a sign--"Veteran's Memorial Garden, Next Exit." We looked at each other and decided to check it out. Knightstown, Indiana was about 20 minutes off the highway. The Veteran's Memorial Garden was beautiful.
This was apparently a community effort with many bricks around the garden dedicated to servicemen and servicewomen. We even saw one mom who had 8 sons who had served in the military. It was very touching.
A shout-out to The Ivy Wreath in Knightstown. The kind ladies in the shop let us use their restroom and sold us some delicious fudge. Mmmmmmm.
We made our way to Springfield and downtown to the visitor's center. We were able to catch a tour of Abraham and Mary Lincoln's home in Springfield. They lived here for 17 years prior to living in the White House.
We were fortunate to talk to a knowledgable ranger who gave us some great recommendations for tomorrow. It's going to be great!
Your story about the mom with 8 sons who have served in the military moved me. Sometimes those little hidden gems are the best, most surprising parts of a trip like yours. Keep up the good work with the blog. I am enjoying reading about your adventures!!!
ReplyDeleteYay a new post! I'm looking forward to hearing what you learn about Abraham Lincoln. I just finished reading a book that was set in Civil War time. Lincoln was an accessory character in the book.
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