Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial

[Gene C]

Rob, Joe and I met up at the Memorial this past Saturday, it was a bit hot with temperatures in the low 90's and high humidity. We had a great time at the park, one of the docents was a 35 year old man who is an attorney, but has put that career to the side and works for the Park Service now, something he has always wanted to do. He does some of the farming (the old hard way, no tractor) and it was all a new experience for him. He really enjoys it. He was a pleasure to talk with, and he gave us all some squash seeds. In a few weeks he will be going down to Plains, GA to work at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and work at their farm. At the park welcome center we were able to see their research library, and spend some time looking through their collections.

We also visited the Lincoln Pioneer Village in Rockport, about 15 miles away. While all the buildings are reconstructed, it was interesting to look at the how different life must have been back in the early 1800's in a small town or farm. Especially the first two years when if you didn't get a crop in the ground and if it didn't yield enough you and your family could easily starve to death during the winter months.
Having just read "Lincoln in Indiana" (see the post in the books section), and visiting these sites, I came away with a little more respect for Thomas Lincoln and what he and Nancy did to provide for their family, and the conditions they lived in.

https://lincolnpioneervillage.com/

This year we did eat at the Log Inn. I was a little disappointed they didn't have a Lincoln Burger (you could order just a regular hamburger) but other than that the food was very good. We didn't even say anything to each other for about 10 minutes after they brought our food, we were to busy eating. It was a nice day trip, and will try not to wait another five years for the next visit.

I stopped by at the Rockport Library, very nice old Carnegie Library that has been added onto and updated. A very nice facility for this size of town. They have a nice Lincoln Collection of books and materials I was able to look through. I was looking for something specific, but more on that later.