Tags
Capitol Building, Illinois, Lincoln Tomb, Memorial Day, Museum, Pontiac, Road Trip, Springfield, Supreme Court, Travel, USA
Well, Lincoln Tomb turned out to be open after all and it made the visit that extra bit special. Of course I ended up leaving town about thirty minutes later than I’d planned but I seem to have made that up now. Actually, I think by time I finish my rest stop and hit the road, I’ll be breaking even.
So Springfield turned out to be a little gem. The Capitol building was an incredible design, especially for such a young building. I mean it’s old, but nothing here is that old, right? The surrounding buildings which were more recent, were also wonderfully designed and included the museum, Supreme Court of Illinois and a few others. The city itself was completely empty, spare a couple of people going to Lincoln’s home (something I opted out of) and a handful of cars on the road.
Lincoln’s tomb itself is in the main cemetery and is my first visit inside a tomb, let alone such a famously named one. A few other members of the family are also laid to rest here but ‘Honest Abe’ has the main spotlight in the center-rear. As I headed out of the tomb, Memorial day proceedings were happening further down the road, just out of view at the bottom of the cemetery and I emerged, just in time to hear the remains of a gun salute and taps being played, followed by silence and names of the dead from the (current?) war. Perfect timing that really left its mark.
Not much changes in these parts by the looks of it and despite some of the houses being in need of repair, the scene is set not too far from what I’ve seen in the movies, with the whole picket fence and chirping birds aplenty. The people seem happy enough and that’s all that matters really, isn’t it.
Well, I’ll get a couple shots here of ‘historic’ (that tag is on every town) Pontiac, and get back on the last hour and a half of open road. I’m going to miss these long straight roads actually; they’ve done their job and my mind is a calmer place.
