Day Three-St. Louis to Chicago

After the ordeal of packing up the car we headed out of St. Louis towards Chicago.

We had to stop for gas just as we crossed the Mississippi into Illinois. I took a picture of the sign so we could remember what we paid for it!

There was no "Welcome to Illinois" sign, much to Scott's dismay. You all know how he loves to drag us all out of the car for a picture. So, when we passed the visitor's center several miles later, he had to stop. There was no welcome sign there either, so when I came outside after getting some info on Lincoln's tomb, there he was with them all lined up in front of the recycle bins.

He said it was the only place that said "Illinois." Yeah....that's a picture I want to frame.

We headed straight for Abraham Lincoln's house once we hit Springfield. They don't do advance tickets, so I was worried we wouldn't be able to tour it, but the storms worked in our favor and there was hardly anyone there.

The National Park Service owns the entire block of houses and the street is closed off to any thru traffic. Abraham and Mary Todd lived in the home 17 years while he worked as an attorney in Springfield. They left in 1860 after he was elected President. While in Washington he rented it out. His son Robert Lincoln gave house to the U.S. Government in 1878 with the stipulations that it always be cared for and preserved and that it always be open to the public. You get to see every room of the house and lots of the furniture was actually owned by the Lincolns.

On Mr. Lincoln's front steps.This is the desk that he used upstairs in his bedroom. He and Mary had separate bedrooms as was custom of wealthy families back in the day....so she could get dressed in private. Dressed in private??? Seriously?? The woman had 4 kids...I haven't so much as gone to bathroom alone since 1999!!?? And, speaking of bathrooms...there are none in the Lincoln house. Just chamber pots under the beds and of course the "privy" in the backyard...

Of course the kids were disgusted and had to take a picture of it.

Afterwards we drove around the state capitol for a bit. I know....you're all shocked that I didn't make everyone go in. At that point I was suffering from what I am calling "humidity exhaustion." It wasn't that hot, but the air was so think you couldn't breathe, so I opted for refrigerated air and a picture of the capitol from the car.

At this point it was almost 2:00 and we were starving. We really like to try out local places whenever possible and avoid the chains. We had just about given up and were headed to a fast food joint when I spotted this...Maid Rite Sandwiches. I had seen this place on Food Network...(last summer on Alton Brown's "Road Food" for any other Food Network junkies out there). So, we stopped. They were awesome! It's a loose meat sandwich..hamburger meat browned with spices, mustard, relish and onion. Very simple, but very good. They also have homemade root beer which was a huge hit for Thomas and Scott.

Anyway...Scott starts talking to the guy running the joint and it turns out they have been there, making sandwiches in the same spot since 1924. AND, they are on the National Register of Historic Places as the first drive-thru in America. You should have seen Scott's face! He said of course of all the places I could have spotted to eat in Springfield, Illinois, I would pick the site of the first drive-thru! I am the drive-thru queen. In fact, I get annoyed when we go to one and Scott's driving...he's seriously drive-thru impaired. I know they are spitting in our food and we are being called names by the people behind us because he waits till they ask him what he wants to then read the entire menu. Yes...he's THAT guy.

We drove just a couple of blocks to the cemetery where Lincoln is entombed. It's pretty hard to miss...

I assumed this was all there was to it, but it turns out that you go inside the base and it's really a mausoleum. You are asked to be quiet, but you can take pictures.

The kids had a great many questions about this. Scott explained to Thomas and Grace about it being a tomb, and how the caskets are not put in the ground. They kept asking where his body was, then one of them said, I forget who, that it wasn't important because he was in heaven. Then Mandy asked if we were in Jesus's house. We said no, that Abe was in heaven with Jesus, but still several miles down the road someone said something about Lincoln's tomb and she said, " You mean back there at Jesus's house?" So, I'm sure for several years to come she'll think that what she saw today is where Jesus lives!

On the road to Chicago, in Atlanta, Illinois, we passed Paul Bunyon holding a giant hot dog....

Apparently, it's some sort of symbol of Route 66. You wouldn't believe how many people were stopping to take their picture with it...of course I guess that includes us!

We finally made it to Chicago about 5:30. Traffic was pretty slow coming into downtown even though it's Saturday. We got all checked in and then headed out for some Chicago-style pizza! I'd never had anything like it before!

It's truly a pie. It has a crust on the bottom, about six pounds of cheese and your meat and veggies in the middle and another crust on top. The sauce is spread on the very top of the pizza when it comes out of the oven. I couldn't even eat one whole piece!

We took a leisurely stroll back to the hotel down Michigan Ave., stopped for ice cream and walked out on the Michigan Ave. bridge. The forecast for tomorrow shows rain. Thankfully we have tickets to the Shedd aquarium, but we're hoping the rain clears so we can see Navy Pier and a few other outdoor sites as well.

Thomas's Top 5

1. Seeing Lincoln's house 2. Getting ice cream 3. Seeing Lincoln's tomb 4. Putting my stuff in my scrapbook. 5. Walking around town.

Grace's top 5:

1. The tour of Lincoln's house 2. His tomb 3. Getting ice cream 4. Scrapbooking 5. The pizza!

Blessings,

Leslie