Lincoln Pilgrimage - The Final Full Day

Today was our final full day in Illinois, and right away I wanted to see the Lincoln tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery.  We went on Sunday, but it was closed, so we returned early this morning and were the first ones to arrive.  There are many things that I enjoyed seeing and doing here in Springfield, but this is the visit I wanted most of all.
This was probably the most moving part of the whole trip--actually seeing Lincoln's tomb.  On election night, 1876, graverobbers actually attempted to steal Lincoln's body out of the previous tomb.  To prevent this from ever happening again, Lincoln's remains are now 10 feet underground, under more than 6 tons of steel and concrete.  His head faces west, fitting for a man from the frontier wilderness of Kentucky.  The monument inside is beautiful, and inscribed above are the words uttered by Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, just as Lincoln breathed his last on the morning of April 15, 1865:  "Now he belongs to the ages."
Springfield is on historic Route 66.  After leaving the Lincoln tomb, we decided to travel north on Route 66 in search of Lincoln, Illinois.
While traveling along Route 66 headed for the town of Lincoln, we drove through a "charming" little town named Elkhart.  I say "charming" because in spite of the signs luring us off the main highway with the promise of shops and food, everything was closed!  Perhaps its for the best, though.  I'm a little suspicious about a place that is both bakery and archaeological center.  Hmmm . . . 
Sure there are plenty of cities and towns in America named after the 16th President, but this one is the only one named for Lincoln BEFORE he died.  The story goes:  in 1853, Lincoln (who helped survey the town and provide railroad service to it) was invited to a naming ceremony.  Once there, he jokingly grabbed a watermelon off a cart, split it in half and squeezed some of the watermelon juice on the ground, thereby "christening" the town.  So they named the town after him.

One of the things you can see when you visit Lincoln, IL, is the world's largest covered (er, well OK uncovered) wagon.  I'm 6'2" and I fit comfortably underneath it standing straight up!
The highlight of our visit to Lincoln, IL, was our trip to Lincoln College.  Lincoln College was founded in early 1865, just after Lincoln had won re-election and near the end of the exhausting Civil War.  Unfortunately, President Lincoln would not live to see construction completed on the college that bears his namesake.  The good news is we had a great visit!  The library and museum was wonderful, and I got a couple things from the bookstore.  Go Lynx!
So that concludes our Lincoln hunting!  Later today we had dinner with our friend, Richard, and his wife at a steak restaurant called Alexander's.  I got to cook my own filet mignon.  It was great!  Tomorrow we are off to St. Louis and back on a flight home so that I can be ready to teach my students bright and early on Thursday morning.

OK, so I promised to give a shout out to my Period 1 class, so "Hey, Period 1, shout out to you!"  And not because I enjoy any other classes less, but they actually requested it, so there you go.  Also another special shoutout to my good friend, Tyler.  You can see photos of my beautiful two-year-old daughter by clicking here.  Good to talk to you tonight, buddy.  :-)

RVI