Living Life by Design - with Alan and Mark: Road Trip

Day 3 - Lansing, Michigan - Springfield Illinois

All day yesterday, we kept on saying to each other that it will be wonderful to exchange our boots for shoes and discard our winter hats. We spoke too soon as it seems that even in the Mid-Western States, they are sharing the joys of our Canadian Winter!

Not long out of Lansing this morning, Mark's eyes were drawn to a sign announcing the approaching proximity of a Chocolate Garden. Needless to say, we diverted from our planned route, but lucky for us, it was closed, so our waist-line was saved from threatened expansion!

Chocolate Bacon did not sound appetizing!

I was looking forward to getting a glimpse of Lake Michigan, and we were not disappointed by the charm of the small town of St. Joseph - quaint homes and decorative streets, lined the shoreline of the lake.

Clear skies everywhere, except for over Lake Michigan

After briefly touching the State of Indiana, we bypassed Chicago and made our way south through very flat scenery - mostly farmland and shrubbed areas. The snow seemed to be disappearing, and the blue skies looked very promising.

After a sense of disappointment with Michigan's capital, Lansing, we were enthralled by the sheer charm and beauty of the town of Springfield, Illinois. After checking in to the hotel, we put our time pieces back an hour and headed down to the home of Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln's Home

The street - preserved and restored

A political 'band-wagon' from which rallies would be presented

Lincoln's desk - at which he wrote several of his political speeches

The town has preserved four blocks around the heritage house and have restored the whole area to the time period, with several of the original Lincoln artifacts to add authenticity. It was awesome to walk where he had walked and to behold the simplicity of the family home.

We were particularly impressed with the story of his son, Robert. Apparently, when he returned to the site years later, he was not happy to see it being left uncared for, and did not like the idea that people were being charged to tour the house. He made an agreement with the authorities that it would be preserved according to the time period, and stipulated that tourists would never have to pay to see the inside of this historic building.

We also visited the impressive Illinois State Capital Building, and the old Capital Building - the one with which Lincoln would have been familiar. These buildings looked even more impressive at night time.