what about the plastic animals?

The World's Tallest Man

Alton, Illinois was the last stop on our July 4th trip.  Alton was the home of Robert Wadlow, the tallest person to ever live.  Wadlow was a normal-sized baby but grew very fast.  At 13 he was over seven feet tall and was 8' 11", and still growing, at the time of his death at age 22.  Those are size 39 shoes, putting Shaquille O'Neal's size 23 to shame.

Ponyshoe Time

Believe it or not there's an open-faced ham sandwich beneath that mound of cheese and fries.  This is a ponyshoe sandwich, little sibling to the better known horseshoe sandwich.  There's nothing quite like a 5,000 calorie lunch on a hot July day.

The horseshoe sandwich dates to 1920s Springfield.  In classic form the sandwich consists of white bread toast topped with horseshoe-shaped slices of ham.  In turn the ham is under a mound of french fries and Welsh rarebit cheese sauce. The particular sandwich above is in the little cafe just south of the square in Carlinville.  The diner, which is called either Dick and Judy's or Abella's, may be the most perfect example of a small-town Midwestern cafe in existence, but the cheese sauce on the ponyshoe was more melted velveeta than an actual cheese sauce.

A Mel-O Good-bye to Springfield

A glazed donut from Mel-O-Cream seemed like a fitting way to say good-bye to Springfield.  Our schedules did not mesh so I sadly was not able to meet Springfield correspondent Marie.  Next time!  All the Lincoln sights were given Marie's seal of approval, as was Frank Lloyd Wright's marvelous Dana-Thomas House.  As we were warned, the house was closed for renovation (since re-opened) but was fun to see from the outside.

It was time to hit the mother road to St. Louis.

Lifetime Dedication to the Accordion

Visitors going to Lincoln's tomb have no choice but to pass by Mr. Accordion, Roy Bertelli.  As the story goes Mr. Bertelli was pleased as punch when he was able to buy the triangular plot near the entrance to Oak Ridge Cemetery.  A couple weeks after his purchase he got a letter from the cemetery saying they had sold him the plot in error.  What set Mr. Bertelli off, though, was the letter that followed from the cemetery's lawyer.  The lawyer demanded that Bertelli return the plot, otherwise the cemetery would take him to court.

Well, the crypt is there in the cemetery today so we know how that story turned out.  Bertelli purchased an above ground crypt and a tablet with an accordion engraved upon it.  Apparently Bertelli would entertain cemetery visitors by climbing on top of the crypt and playing his beloved accordion.  Mr. Bertelli chose to be buried elsewhere when he died in 2003, but not before arranging for perpetual care for his Oak Ridge crypt and tablet.

The Flintstone tomb is the final resting place for John Tanner, Illinois governor from 1897 to 1901.  I don't know anything about Illinois governors except that the last few have wound up in jail.  Tanner had integrity!  He was the first governor to not send in state police during a strike, he eliminated Illinois' deficit, he set up the Western Normal School in Macomb, and sent ten regiments, including one African-American regiment, of state militia to Cuba for the Spanish-American War.  I don't know if he played the accordion.

Lincoln's Tomb

Abraham Lincoln, along with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln and their sons Edward, Willie and Tad all rest in the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery.  The oldest son, Robert, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Inside the tomb is a smaller version of Daniel Chester French's sculpture for the Lincoln Memorial.  The big Lincoln head outside is a bronze version of the marble head that's in the Capitol in Washington, DC.  I don't know if I took that photo in black and white on purpose or if I accidentally switched settings.  Lincoln himself is a couple feet behind, and ten feet below, the red granite cenotaph in the burial room.

The receiving vault where Lincoln's funeral took place is not too far away behind the tomb.

The House of Lincoln

The Lincoln family home in Springfield is, of course, a national historic site.  In fact, everything within a block in every direction is part of the historic site.  The house has been restored to its 1860 appearance.  The underexposed chair and sofa in the parlor belonged to the Lincolns.  That parlor is where a delegation from the Republican National Convention asked Lincoln to be the party's candidate for the presidency.  I wonder if the Republicans would offer Lincoln the nomination today?

I think I have to decorate my apartment with over-the-top 19th century wallpaper.

Finally, I was happy to see that I had at least one picture of Springfield's most prominent building.  Not only is the Hilton the tallest building in Springfield, it's also the tallest building in Illinois outside of Chicago.  I feel like I've shortchanged the Hilton by only having it in the background of a couple of photos.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum

Two blocks up 6th Street from the Old State Capitol is the excellent Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.  Marie loves it and so will you if you're ever in Springfield.  Donna and I were especially impressed with the wild Whispering Gallery.  My words can't do it justice so you're going to have to experience it yourself.

That's John Wilkes Booth on the left in the second photo.  Generals Grant and McClellan are next to the door of the White House.  Partially obscured on the right are Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass.

Subway seems like an odd choice for a restaurant inside the museum but old Abe loved their Spicy Italian $5 footlongs.  We skipped Subway and had a very tasty lunch at Cafe Brio. 

I spent the night in Springfield back in 1997 on a trip from Saginaw to Albuquerque.  I may have eaten dinner at Cafe Brio on that trip.  The details are fuzzy but I remember eating at a casual cafe with mismatched vintage silverware not too far from the Old State Capitol.  The silverware was matching this time, however, so maybe not.

The Old State Capitol

The old State Capitol in Springfield.  The Land of Lincoln doesn't get more Lincolny than right here!  The Lincoln's lived a short walk away (more on that later), the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices were across the street, Lincoln served here as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas had after-hours pillow fights in the rotunda, and this was the last place Lincoln laid in state before his interment.

The Donner Party started their trip west from pretty much right in front of the Lincoln-Herndon law offices.  Well, sort of.  The Donners left from Springfield but they met up with a whole group of other westward venturing pioneers leaving from Independence, Missouri.  I wonder if Abe was there to see the Donners off?

In other Lincoln related news, the trailer for the upcoming movie Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is now out.

Save The Zoe

Pittsfield is a town that Abraham Lincoln frequently visited during his days riding the circuit as an attorney in Illinois. 

Two of Lincoln's private secretaries while he was president were from Pittsfield.  John Hay and John Nicolay later co-authored a definitive ten-volume biography of Lincoln.  Hay would also serve as Secretary of State to president's Hays, McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.  I learned that by taking the talking the Abe Lincoln talking house tour while in Pittsfield.

The Zoe Theatre is just off the courthouse square in Pittsfield.  It has been closed since 1986 (or 1987 or 1975, depending on the source).  The Zoe Preservation Society has been formed to save the theatre.

The Pike County Courthouse is an impressive limestone structure, don't you think?  It's actually much smaller than it looks.  The building is roughly eight-sided rather than rectangular so it doesn't have much of a footprint.  While it isn't large, it is one of the prettier county courthouses I've seen.  Maybe it's all the Masonic symbolism.

Happy Birthday Abe!

Abraham Lincoln is 203 years old today.  Here he is posing with his extended family at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.  There have been a lot of books written about Mr. Lincoln and you can see all of them at Ford's Theatre.