Land of Lincoln 7/3/2013

I knocked on the front door of Abraham Lincoln's home, but he wasn't there. :-( Seriously, I visited the only home the 16th President of the United States ever owned, and it was an unbelievable experience to take a tour inside the place where one of our greatest Presidents lived a significant part of his life! Springfield, Illinois is the location of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, which includes just about everything Abe Lincoln. The Lincoln home is the main attraction, though, and the 25 minute tour takes you back in time to when Honest Abe and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, purchased the home in 1844 and lived there for 17 years until 1861, when they moved to a much bigger house in Washington, DC. Everything in the house is fascinating, but here are 3 things that caught my attention: 1) a sitting room where Lincoln read books and discussed philosophies...I can only imagine him discussing his ideas about the Emancipation Proclamation sitting in that black leather chair believing that one day slaves would be freed; 2) a type of viewfinder to look at pictures, which the tour guide says was a technologically advanced toy for its time...he likened it to having a new Xbox and that all the kids would want to come over and play with it; 3) the outhouse in the backyard...it had 3 seats, which the tour guide said was for Abe and 2 of his best friends! This was an amazing place to visit, and I could see coming back here with Logan when he's older.