Lincoln Bicentennial Photos

What an excellent trip! Here are the photos from the venture into Springfield, Illinois to honor Abe:

• Lincoln Bicentennial Photos
  

Lincoln Bicentennial

Peter and I are about to start day three in Springfield, Illinois. We're both thoroughly enjoying the Lincoln Bicentennial. Lincoln's 200th birthday was yesterday and it's been a celebration like none other. So far in Springfield, we have:

• Attended the wreath laying ceremony at Lincoln's Tomb
• Visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum
• Explored the Abraham Lincoln National Library
• Took in Ron Schramm's Lincoln statue photography exhibition
• Listened to two fantastic round table discussions with Lincoln Historians on the topics of The Breakup of the Union & Lincoln and the Civil War
• Walked all throughout the Old State Capital building where Lincoln delivered his House Divided Speech in 1855 ("A house divided against itself cannot stand")
• Visited the law office where Lincoln worked

Its amazing that 200 years ago yesterday, a man was born who made it possible for Obama to be in the position he is today. I think that's so cool. Last night, at the Birthday Banquet & Symposium we even got to listen to Obama give an amazing speech. He was in a room upstairs with 900 guests while we were in an overflow room of 300 guests. His speech was phenomenal! He emphasized, as did Lincoln, the importance for a union - that people can't do it alone. He also called for the people of our nation to rid themselves of the anti-government way of thinking which has been so prominant these last 10-20 years. It was a great speech.

Today Peter and I will visit Lincoln's home, the Lincoln Depot and the Grand Army of the Republic Museum. Then we will drive 3 hours north to Chicago to visit my wife's sister, Becky. Her boyfriend has secured a bicycle for me and we're going to go riding around the city tomorrow morning/afternoon. It'll be Chicago deep-dish pizza for dinner and then Sunday morning we'll fly out of Ohare. I'll be home in NY Sunday evening and I'm off on Monday for President's Day. (woohoo!)

Lincoln

I'm off to Chicago this morning, where I'll rendezvous with my father in law, Peter, and drive down to Springfield. We're headed to the Lincoln Bicentennial. I've been looking forward to this trip for a while now here are a few things we will probably do:

• Visit Lincoln's tomb
• Attend a symposium (topic: The Age of Lincoln)
• Attend the Abraham Lincoln Association Banquet
• Check out the Photo Exhibit Lincoln in Illinois by Ron Schramm (the image above is his)
  
• Listen to a couple of lectures

I'm sure I'll learn a ton about the man and Peter and I will undoubtedly get into some sort of adventure along the way. I'm on a quest for some Lincoln-esque cheesy-ness in Springfield: Like an Emancipation Omelet at the local greasy spoon. We'll see. Pictures for sure.