Springfield Tour

[Gene C]

Great post Anita.
This was a good visit. Getting to personally meet another Lincoln fan who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic was one of the highlights for me.
Scott (STS Lincolnite) out did me in book purchases, he can share with you his great finds. I did have a pleasant surprise at the Books on the Square book store (they had a great selection of books about Lincoln and the area), where I was able to meet and talk with James Cornelius. A very nice gentleman, and another unexpected pleasant experience on this trip. My reading stack at home is a bit high, so I limited myself to only 3 books.

The town of Lincoln's downtown area seems to have declined from our last visit four years ago, with a few more vacant buildings, but the town itself seems to be a nice community.
For those of you interested and want to own a piece of real estate with a connection to Lincoln history, the Rustic Inn is for sale. The Rustic Inn was a meeting place in Lincoln IL where those who planned to steal Lincoln's body met. It was for sale last time we visited about four years ago. It's a bit of a fixer upper, but has some potential.
https://merealty.com/idx/mls-20190219-41...n_il_62656

I mentioned to my wife what a wonderful investment this could be.
You can probably guess what she said.

New Salem was great, as always. There is always something new to learn here.
Having Joe, Scott, Dave and Anita sharing information and then having Terry Jones give us his personal attention was the icing on the cake.
On our visit there were docents at almost every building, which added a lot to the experience, even a fiddle player at the Rutledge Tavern (no cover charge) I learned a little about medicine in the 1830's from the lady at Dr. John Allen's home and doctors office. No appointment necessary. I think Dr. Allen helped and influenced Abraham at a critical time in his life that has gone almost unrecognized. More on that later.