DAY #4 - JUNE 13, 2021 -SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS TO DAVENPORT, IOWA - CORNFIELDS, WINDMILLS, HONEST ABE & THE GIPPER - 272 - MILES (1,292)

(DAVENPORT, IOWA) Today was all about corn fields, windmills, Honest Abe and The Gipper. I started my day in Springfield, Illinois. Many of the Lincoln sites were closed either due to COVID restrictions or because it was Sunday. I did visit the Lincoln Home National Historic Site that is administered by the National Park Service. I had taken the tour of the Lincoln Home a few years back, so I did do that this time, opting rather to walk around the historical site and seeing some of the other downtown sites that Illinois Capital City has to Offer. I did visit the Lincoln Herndon Law office which is directly across the plaza from the old State House. It was at the Old State House that a young Abraham Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” Speech. From Springfield, I made my way through the farmland of central and Northern Illinois. It was a nice drive through some really nice small towns that still fly the flag and wave at every passing car. About an hour after leaving Springfield, I made a quick stop at the Glendale Memorial Gardens in Pekin, Illinois. Here I visited the final resting place of Longtime United States Senator Everett M. Dirksen. On the way I passed through a lot of small town and saw a lot of Corn Fields and Windmills before arriving in Tampico, Illinois where I stopped at the Birthplace of our 40th President, Ronald Reagan. The Birthplace was and apartment over a bank. Both the Bank and the upstairs residence have been preserved to look as it did back when the future president was born here. The tour was free, so I joined another couple from Indiana and away we went. None of the furniture in the apartment belonged to the Reagans but they are all period pieces. The downstairs bank build is preserved with all the original furniture, including the tellers cage and the 4,000-pound safe. After spending about 90-minute I mad the 26-mile drive over to Dixon, Illinois to the Reagan Boyhood Home. When the Family left Tampico, they moved over to Dixon. The home is not open on Sunday’s, but I was able to walk around the grounds and the neighborhood where the Future President once lived. From Dixon it was time to head west, so west I went and about an hour later I crossed the mighty Mississippi and entered the Hawkeye State of Iowa. Tomorrow I am going to push on west, and we will see where I end up.