It’s not often I get to be a tourist on my home turf, but that’s exactly what I had the opportunity to do earlier this month, when my friend Cathie Crow of CLCrow Photography visited the area. I had been out to South Carolina a few times since April 2014, and Cathie got to show me around. Now it was my turn!

The adventures began in Springfield, on Sunday, July 10. Cathie is a huge fan of Abraham Lincoln’s, and as she has said on many occasions, Springfield is her Disneyland. I drove down early Sunday morning and picked up Cathie at her hotel, and from there, we had breakfast at a relatively famous place in Springfield- Charlie Parker’s Diner (featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives). From there, we drove into downtown Springfield and began our tour of the Lincoln sites- Abraham Lincoln’s home, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the old State Capitol Building, and the train station that now houses several props, costumes, and the Presidential Office set from Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln.”  All are worth the visit, you get a genuine look at what life and politics were like in the pre- and Civil War eras. Those of you who know me well know that the Civil War era is the period of American history I am particularly drawn to.

The final stop, somber given its nature, was Abraham Lincoln’s tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery (and yes, Cathie and I rubbed Abe’s nose, another “must”). Down the hill, behind the tomb, is the temporary vault where Lincoln’s remains were kept until the tomb was completed. Also in Oak Ridge Cemetery, we visited the Illinois World War II Memorial, the Illinois Korean War Memorial, and the Illinois Vietnam War Memorial.

The visit finished with a stop at the Dublin Pub, where I tried in vain to convince Cathie to try another Springfield institution, the horseshoe. I had one, it’s a tradition! From there, the three hour drive up to the Chicago area, where the adventures would continue!