More Springfield

So, now that I can upload pictures, you can see the Paul Bunyon that I talked about in the last blog.  Also, we got to Springfield by 3:30pm and were able to walk around the capitol building

and then go to Lincoln's home and catch the last tour through the house.  Can I just say that there were some out there wallpapers in the past...

 but you can't even see the Electric Blue that was in this one by Lincoln's bed with our Ranger Ronnie leading the tour.  He was very helpful about places to eat that included a microbrewery, which I think he had already been too.  It was a little awe inspiring to touch the rail up the stairs that the Lincolns' did and see the whole block pretty much as it was in Lincoln's time in Springfield. 

We had to leave the pretty little neighborhood for food because I made the major mistake of thinking that we could have a big breakfast, have some almonds, fruit, and pretzels for lunch, apple for a snack, and have dinner in Springfield.  John's migraines do not respond well to a diet like this, but we were able to find a great Italian place that the gift shop woman recommended and gain some sustenance. 
    On to Lincoln's tomb which is not open to go inside on Sundays or Mondays and see if we needed to go inside.  Oak Ridge Cemetary is the second most visited cemetary in the US behind Arlington apparently and it had some great monuments in it.  The Lincoln monument was very nice with an obelisk, the bronze head

that you rub the nose for good luck, and we got to take our picture by some home states that run around the monument,

but there was a governor of Illinois named Tanner whose monument took the cake for us.

It looked like some neolithic, early rendition of the Pantheon and it was awesome...  All and all a good first day in Springfield and way more productive than I expected.  We got some of the hotel coupons that you get at filling stations and found a Baymont Inn that we were going to stay at because of my fond memories of the one in Benton Harbor that was our first night in Michigan, but Jo turned on the ramp leading back onto the highway instead of the frontage road, and that meant another 4 miles back toward town.  Turns out there was a comfort suites with jacuzzi tubs in every room in the coupon book at the exit, so the decision was easy.