2025 PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY ADVENTURE - IT'S ALL ABOUT LINCOLN

 

Well, today is day #6 of this little Midwest adventure and it is off to a rocky start. I spent the night at the Comfort Inn near Route 66 here in Springfield, Illinois, and while the hotel was just fine, I can’t say the same for some of the guests.

When I was checking in yesterday, I noticed there were a lot of kids in the hotel, which is never a good sign. It seemed most of them were somewhere around 11-12 years old and were players on a couple of youth baseball teams that were playing in a tournament here in Springfield.

Thank goodness I was on the top floor of the hotel, and they were all on the lower floors. So, thankfully noise was not really a problem. But this morning, a little after 6:30 a.m. I was awakened by the hotel fire alarm.

I was tempted to ignore it and just stay in my room but all of the other guests on my floor seemed to be taking it seriously and were leaving their rooms and heading downstairs. So, I joined everyone else and made my way out through the lobby and into the parking lot.

The fire department was already on the scene and was in the process of resetting the alarm and giving all clear. It seemed on of the kids had left a waffle in the waffle iron and it burnt, setting off the alarm.  It took the Fire Department about 15 minutes to clear everything and give the ok for us to return to our rooms. 

Once back in my room, I packed up and prepared to check out. The breakfast area was nothing but chaos as it was overrun by a herd of kids, making it almost totally impossible to even get a cup of coffee. So, I decided to check out and hit the road.

I pulled out of the parking lot at 7:55 a.m. I need gas so I headed to a nearby Casey’s to fuel up and grab a much-needed cup of coffee. I had planned on making Oak Ridge Cemetery my last stop before heading out of town.

But it was only 8:15 and none of the other sites that I wanted to see here in Springfield were open. So, I made the 10-minute drive to the north side of town to visit the tomb of President Abraham Lincoln.

Contrary to what many people think, Lincoln’s Tomb is NOT a National Historic Site and is NOT administered by the National Park Service. Rather, it is a State Historic Site that is administered by the State of Illinois.

The tomb was dedicated on October 15, 1874, and is the final resting place of President Lincoln, his wife Mary Todd Lincoln and three of their children, Eddie, Willie and Tad. Robert Todd Lincoln is the only child that reached adulthood and he is resting in Arlington National Cemetery.

At the front of the tomb is a bronze recasting of President Lincoln’s Head that was created by Gutzon Borglum. It is said that if you rub his nose, you will encounter good luck. From the looks of the shiny nose, a lot of folks have tried it, including me. What could it hurt. The Borglum's original marble bust is in the U.S. Capitol, in Washington D. C.

Inside the tomb's ground level entrance is a rotunda, visitors are greeted by a reduced scale reproduction of the statue by Daniel Chester French that is in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.

A connecting hallway of the rotunda leads you to the burial chamber where President Lincoln is resting in a lead lined casket that is encased in concrete some 10 feet beneath the red marble monument.

Entombed in the wall across from the President’s Burial Monument are the remains of Mary Todd Lincoln, and their Children, Eddie, Willie and Tad.

Before leaving the Cemetery, I made my way down the hill, behind the tomb to the receiving vault where the bodies of President Lincoln and his son, Willie rested from May 4,1865, until December 1865 when their remains we moved to a temporary tomb that was constructed about halfway up the hill. That temporary tomb was demolished after the Current tomb was built.

After leaving Oak Ridge Cemetery, I made the short drive back into Springfield to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. I have been here once before, but it was late in the day and I was kind of rushed to finish my visit before closing time. Today, I am going to be able to take my time and enjoy the visit.

Once again, most people think that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum administered the National Archives. It’s not, it is controlled and administered by the State of Illinois.

Upon entering the Museum, visitors are greeted by life-size wax figures of President and Mrs. Lincoln along with their children, Willie, Eddie and Tad. Behind these statues is a façade of the White House which contains the exhibits pertaining to the Civil War and his life in the White House.

The other side of the statues is a log cabin which highlights Lincoln’s early life as a “Rail Splitter,” and Circuit Lawyer.

The museum contains life-size dioramas of Lincoln's boyhood home, areas of the White House, the presidential box at Ford's Theatre, and the settings of key events in Lincoln's life, as well as pictures, artifacts and other memorabilia including the original hand written Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, his glasses and shaving mirror.

I have been to several of the Presidential Museums, and this one has to rank right up there as one of my favorites.  I still think that the Eisenhower and Truman Museums are my favorites but this one along with Bush 41 and Bush 43 are a close second.

After Finishing up my visit to the Lincoln Museum I started to make my way back into downtown where I had intended to revisit the Old Statehouse and the Current Illinois State Capitol. But for some reason traffic in downtown Springfield was basically at a standstill.

I pulled over into a Casey’s for a closer look at Google Maps which should solid red throughout the downtown area. After grabbing a cup of coffee, I quickly decided to leave Springfield Behind and begin my trek back east.

Back on Interstate 74, I am once again reminded just how bad Illinois roads actually are. Leaving Springfield, I have no Idea just how far I will make it. It’s just a little after 12 noon when I head est on I-74 and there is a remote possibility that I could make Indianapolis tonight, which is almost 250 miles away. Bust a more Likely destination will be Crawsfordsville, Indiana.

It’s a little after 2 p.m. when I stop at the Love’s Travel Center in Oakwood, Illinois. From here to Indianapolis is only about 100 miles. So, I decide to make a hotel reservation at the Drury Inn & Suites on the Northside of Indianapolis.

I was happy to leave the horrible Illinois Roads behind, only to find that Indiana Roads are just as bad. But despite the horrible roads and loosing an hour when I crossed from Central Time back to Eastern Time, I arrived at the Drury Inn at about 5:15, Just enough time to check in, and get settled in my room before heading down for supper at the Drury 5:30 kickback.

The Kickback tonight was especially good, featuring pulled pork sliders, baked beans, coleslaw and a baked potato. Like I keep saying, I have yet to have a bad experience at a Drury Inn.

Today was kind of a hit or miss day. The Misses were getting woke up by the fire alarm at the hotel, the heavy traffic in downtown Springfield, and the horrible Illinois and Indiana roads. The hits were Lincoln’s Tomb and the Lincoln Presidential Museum. Even though I have been there before, I enjoyed visiting again.

Today’s journey from Springfield, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana covered a total of 223 miles, bringing the total miles for this trip to 1,490 miles.

Tomorrow I will continue my trek east and start thinking about bringing this adventure to an end.

2025 PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY ADVENTURE - HISTORIC AUTO ATTRACTIONS

             

 Today it the day that I have been looking forward too for a few Years. A friend of mine who is a full time RV’er first told me about a museum near Rockford, Illinois call Historic Auto Attractions. He told me that it is one of the most amazing museums he had ever been to. In fact, he said that it was on par with the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D. C.

After talking to my friend and doing a little Research I put Historic Auto Attractions on My Bucket List. And today, I will be able to scratch it off my bucket list. Based on what I have read, and on the advice of my friend, I have set aside the entire day for my visit. That’s right, I have nothing else planned for today, other than to explore Historic Auto Attractions.

The Museum didn’t open until 9 a.m. and I wanted to be there right at 9 when it opened. The Candlewood Suites does not offer any kind of breakfast, so I checked out of the Hotel at 8:20 a.m. and made a quick stop at the stop and go store for a cup of coffee.

It was here at the stop and go that I realized my mistake.  This morning, I have been going by my Fitbit watch and computer clock which were on Eastern Time. But yesterday when I crossed into Illinois, I changed to Central time. The clocks on my Phone and in the car changed automatically.

When I got back into the car and set google maps for my short drive to the Museum it showed that the museum would be closed when I arrived. I then looked at the clock on the phone, and it showed 7:30 a.m. while my Fitbit showed 8:30 a.m.

So rather than have on 30 minutes before the Museum opened, I had an hour and a half. I couldn’t go back to the hotel since I have already checked out. A quick google search showed that there was a Cracker Barrel nearby, so I decided to head there and have breakfast.

After a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel, it was time to make the 15-mile drive north to Historic Auto Attractions in Roscoe, Illinois. I arrived right at 9 a.m. Central time and was the first visitor of the day.

Historic Auto Attractions is a huge museum, consisting of more than 86,000 square feet. The museum is broken down into several themed exhibit galleries, like Gangster Land, the Hall of Presidents, and extensive exhibits pertaining to both President Lincoln and Kennedy.

In this post I am only going to cover some of the galleries and exhibits that I was able to move through rather quickly. In future post I am going to explore the larger galleries individually.

Galleries like, The Hall of Presidents, Gansterland, World Leaders along with the Kennedy and Lincoln Galleries will have their own blog as their artifacts and exhibits are simply amazing.

While those are the most popular galleries, today I am going to highlight some of the smaller galleries.

FRONTIER LAND

The first gallery that I came to after paying my admission fee is called Frontier Land. This gallery features artifacts from some of the wild west most iconic figures including Frank and Jesse James, Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill.

There are also exhibits from many of the most Popular western TV Shows. Things like the piano used in the Long Branch Saloon from Gunsmoke and Marshall Matt Dillons Hat, shirt, vest and boots.

Growing up I loved to watch “The Lone Ranger,” and was glad to see the Lone pistols, gun belt and silver bullets were on display, along with a revolver owned by Cole Younger and a rifle used at the Battle of the Little Big Horn by Chief Spotted Elk.

THE MONEY CAR

One of the more unique artifacts on display at Historic Auto Attractions is the 1976 Bicentennial Money Car. It is actually a 1976 Cadillac limousine that is covered in over 120,000 U.S. Bicentennial coins. Mostly pennies, quarters, and Kennedy half-dollars The car was created by a man named Hal Woods and it took him over 2-years to create his unique masterpiece. The coins added more than a full ton of weight to the vehicle, making it permanently undrivable.

 MISS BELVEDERE

Another Unique vehicle on display is the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere which was buried in a time capsule in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The car remained buried for 50 years before being unearthed in 2007.

As you can imagine, after being buried for 50 years, the car suffered significant damage and was nothing like the brand-new car that was buried back in 1957.

What was buried with Miss Belvedere back in 1957 ask? Well, some of the items recovered from her trunk and glovebox were a five-gallon container of gasoline, a case of motor oil, a case of Schlitz beer and items that were considered typical contents of a woman's purse, which included a bottle of tranquilizers, an unpaid parking ticket, 14 bobby pins, a compact, cigarettes and matches, two combs, a tube of lipstick, a package of gum, a plastic rain hat, pocket facial tissues, and $2.73 in bills and coins. 

Some of the items placed in the sealed steel capsule, welded shut and painted white, behind the car included a 48-star American flag, letters from various state and city officials and documentation for a savings account valued at $100 in 1957, A copy of the Daily Newspaper and a copy of Life Magazine. Some of those Item are on display with Miss Belvedere.

TV AND MOVIE CARS

One of my all time favorite TV shows was and still is “The Andy Griffith Show.” One of the cars in the TV and Movie Cars Exhibit is an actual Mayberry Squad Car used on the show. The Ford Squad Car is unique in the fact that a number of people who were featured on the show have autographed the car.

Some of the cast members whose comments and signatures appear on the car are, Howard Morris who played Ernest T. Bass; Betty Lynn who played Thelma Lou and “Fun Girl Daphne” played by Jean Carson.

 Another famous mover vehicle on display is The Griswold Family Truckster which was featured in the 1983 movie, “National Lampoon’s Vacation.

The last vehicle of not that I saw was a 1925 Ford Model T that was used in the Laurel and Hardy Movie, “Big Business.

When I arrived at the museum early this morning the young lady told me that the museum would be closing at 3 p.m. so that they could begin setting up for a private event.  I thought that I could still take my time and come back tomorrow and finish up my visit.

But she told me that the Museum would also be closed tomorrow. So, I tried to take my time in the exhibits that I really wanted to see while hurrying through some of the smaller exhibits.  

I finished right at 3 p.m. and considered returning to the Candlewood Suites but found that it was sold out as was most of the other reliable hotels in the area.  I spent a few minutes contemplating my options and decided to hit the road and head south toward Springfield, Illinois.

My plan was to drive south and just find a hotel along the way and then spend most of the day tomorrow in Springfield.

The distance from Roscoe to Springfield was a little over 200 miles and about halfway I decided to make a reservation at the Comfort Inn in Springfield by cashing in some of my Choice Privileges point for a free night.

It took me a little over three and a half hours to make the drive from Roscoe to Springfield. I arrived and checked in at the hotel about 6:45 p.m. After a quick supper at a nearby Applebee’s, it was time to call it a day.

And what a day it was. Historic Auto Attractions was simple amazing and if you want the truth, it was a little overwhelming. Tee number of historic vehicles alone was staggering and when you add in the other historic artifacts, I must admit that I was a little overwhelmed at times. I could have spent two full days in this museum and still not truly comprehended what all I was seeing.

This post only contains a small part of what I saw and as I have said, I intended to cover several of the larger galleries in their own individual blog in the coming weeks.

I am now almost two full days ahead of schedule. So, even though I have been to Springfield a few times before I do want to revisit the Tomb of Abraham Lincoln at Oak Ridge Cemetery and visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum again.

Tomorrow, I will probably leave Springfield and head east and spend the night somewhere between here and Indianapolis.

Todays 227 miles between Roscoe and Springfield were totally unplanned that will bring the total miles for this trip up to 1,267.

2025 PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY ADVENTURE - TOUCHDOWN JESUS

 

After another great stay at the Drury Inn in Grand Rapids, Michigan, it was time to hit the road. By skipping the stops that I had penned in Lansing yesterday, I was able to get to Grand Rapids and spend the Afternoon visiting  the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum, I am now just about aa full day ahead of schedule.

Today’s plan is to head down to South Bend, Indiana and then head west and make my way around Chicago. I last visited Chicago back in November 2018 when I changed trains at Union Station during my Amtrak Vacation to Arizona and Back.

Back then there were areas of Chicago that tourists dared not venture into. But the area around Union Station and the Downtown area was reasonably safe. Since then, crime has increased significantly and no part of Chicago is considered safe. 

So, while Google Maps had me going right through downtown to the north side of Chicago before heading west toward my destination of Rockford, Illinois. My plan is to stay to the south of downtown and before angling north and west through the western suburbs out near O'Hara Airport.

After breakfast at the Drury Inn, I checked out of the hotel at 8:45 a.m. and started making my way toward South Bend, Indiana. Instead of traveling back through Downtown Grand Rapids, I headed south and made my around the south side of the city on Interstate 196. 

I stopped for gas and coffee at Loves in Holland, Michigan. I always use the Love’s app on my phone when buying gas because I get 10 cents per gallon off. Plus, every 5^th coffee or fountain drink is free. The last two fill ups I have averaged more than 41 miles per gallon. Not bad for a Honda with over 100,000 miles.

I use to think that West Virginia and Pennsylvania roads some of the worst maintained roads in the country. But they can't hold a light to the horrible roads in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. 

Due to the overall terrible condition of Michigan and Indiana Roads, It took me almost two hours to make the 85-mile drive from Holland, Michigan to South Bend, Indiana.

One of the reason that I wanted to come to South Bend was to visit Notre Dame Stadium and to see the Touchdown Jesus Mural. I arrived on campus and soon found that I had two Problems. One was that every parking lot on campus was gated and available to permit holders only. The second problem was there weas a massive amount of construction going on throughout the campus. It was apparent that I was not going to be able to get anywhere close to the stadium or to Touchdown Jesus.

I was getting ready to leave campus but made a wrong turn. but it actually ended up being a right turn. The wrong turn took me into a gated parking lot but unlike the others this one had an actual person inside the gatehouse.

The only way to turn around was to go into the parking lot. I stopped at the gate house and told the man inside that “I was lost.” To which he replied, “No you aren’t, you are on the Campus of Notre Dame.”

Sensing that this gentleman had a sense of humor, I asked him it he had any idea where I could park and get a couple of Quick Photo of Touchdown Jesus. He said if I didn’t mind taking a walk, he would give me a pass that would allow me to park in his lot.

I told him I didn’t mind walking to get my photo so he gave me a pass and told me where I should park in the lot.  After parking, I had to walk back by the parking attendant, and he called me over and gave me a campus map and gave me directions on how to get the best photo of Touchdown Jesus.

Following his directions, it took me about 15-minutes to make the walk to where I could get some awesome Photos of the Touchdown Jesus Mural.

Touchdown Jesus is officially named “The Word of Life Mural” It is located on the side of the Hesburgh Library and depicts Jesus with his arms raise similar to that of a referee signaling a touchdown.

The mural stands 134 feet high and is 69 feet wide. Because the mural can be seen from the Notre Dame Football stadium, the Fighting Irish Faithful refer to the mural as “Touchdown Jesus.”

After grabbing a few photos I headed back towards the parking Lot. I once again thanked the gentleman in the gate house for his kindness and ask him for directions to Cedar Grove Cemetery. He once again gave me directions and a brochure that contained a map of the Cemetery. I once again thanked him for his kindness.  

Cedar Grove Cemetery is actually located on the Campus of the University of Notre Dame. It was founded in 1843 by Reverend Edward Sorin soon after he founded the University. From its founding in 1843 until 1977 it was a Public Catholic Cemetery.

In 1977 ownership was transferred to the University who administers it today. Currently the Cemetery is about 22 acres and available burial space is extremely limited. In order to accommodate the large number of requests, the University is building or has built four mausoleums that will be available to Notre Dame Alumni. The new mausoleums will have space for casket and cremations niches. 

Cedar Grove is the final resting place of a number of notable People. Today, I hope to find the graves of three of the cemetery's most notable graves. Sometimes the GPS Coordinates on Find-A-Grave are spot on and other times they are off by quiet a bit. The Coordinates for the first grave I was looking for were off and it took me almost 30 minutes to find the grave of Knute Rockne.

Knute Rockne was both a player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. As a coach he led Notre Dame for 13 seasons, winning over 100 games and three National Championships.

He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history, He perhaps best remembered for popularizing the forward pass and made the Notre Dame Fighting Irish a major factor in college football.

He is also remembered for his “Win One For the Gipper” speech. On November 10, 1928, the Fighting Irish were tied with Army 0–0 at the end of the half. Rockne entered the locker room and told the team the words he heard on George Gipp's deathbed in 1920: "I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are going wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper." I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy." This inspired the team, who then won the game 12–6. The phrase "Win one for the Gipper" was later used as a political slogan by Ronald Reagan, who in 1940 portrayed Gipp in the movie "Knute Rockne, All American."

Knute Rockne was only 43 years old when he died in a plane crash in 1931

The Find-A-Grave coordinates for the next grave were spot on and I quickly found the grave of another notable Notre Dame Football Coach, Ara Parseghian.

Ara Parseghian coached the Fighting Irish to National Championships in 1966 and 1973. Prior to Coach Parseghian’s arrival, the Fighting Irish were wallowing in futility. It was under Coach Parseghian’s leadership that Notre Dame returned national prominence. Coach Parseghian along with Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy are known as the Holy Trinity of Notre Dame Coaches.

Coach Ara Parseghian was 94 years old when he passed away on August 2, 2017.

Just a short walk from the Grave of Ara Parseghian is the grave of Notre Dame Alumni and TV Personality , Regis Philbin.

Regis Philbin got his start in television serving as a page on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In 1967 he got his first regular TV Exposure when he was cast as Joey Bishops sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show.

But is Perhaps best known as the co-host of the New York City–based nationally syndicated talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, starting in 1988, which became Live! with Regis and Kelly in 2001.   He is also well known as the original host of the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which was the most-watched prime-time series of the 1999–2000 television season. He also hosted the first season of America’s Got Talent.

Regis Philbin died at the age of 88 on July 24, 2020, from the Complications of Heart Disease. His funeral was held at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Campus of Notre Dame, and he was laid to rest here in Cedar Grove Cemetery.

After finishing my visit to Cedar Grove, it was time to say goodbye to Notre Dame and South Bend and head west. I was not looking forward to this part of the trip. Almost all of the roads near Chicago are known for heavy traffic and loge delays.

 In Gary, Indiana I took a bathroom break at Loves. While there I got a large drink that should do me until I made the long trek around Chicago.

Just after crossing over into Illinois, I encountered my first traffic issue. Traffic was stop and go for about 2 miles which took about 20 minutes. Most of the Interstates and high traffic roads in the Chicago area toll roads.

Last year I broke down and got and EZ Pass Transponder. I have used it a few times on the toll roads in the Tidewater area of Virginia and on a couple of trips up the West Virginia Turnpike. I reloaded it with $100 before this trip just to accommodate the many toll roads in the Chicago Area. 

As I made my way around Chicago, I passed under a number to Toll sensors that stretched across the Highway. I assume that each time the toll was being paid using EZ Pass, which would give me a discount over the pay by plate option.

Rather than following the primary route suggested by Google Map I chose the route that keep me south of Chicago before heading northwest. This route took myby O’Hare Airport before I picked up Interstate 90 and headed west toward my destination for the night in Rockford, Illinois.

I had relatively good luck, and only encountered a few short areas where traffic was stop and go. Right after I passed the busy area around O'Hara Airport I arrived at Interstate 90 and Headed west.  The drive around Chicago and then west on Interstate 90 wasn’t bad and I arrived at My hotel just a few minutes before 4 p.m. Central time.

When I was looking at Hotel in the Rockford Area, I discovered that the Holiday Inn was sold out and the Hampton Inn and the Comfort Inn had well below average reviews on Trip Advisor and their own websites. 

The Hotels in nearby Benoit, Wisconsin wasn’t any better. So, the only hotel that had an above 4.0 rating was Candlewood Suites. I have stayed at a couple of Candlewood Suites before and while they are ok, they really aren’t my favorite place.

After checking in to the Candlewood Suites in Rockford I checked the area and decided to have supper at a Nearby Red Robin. 

After supper, It was still relatively early so I decided to kill a little time at the Hard Rock Casino that is located near my hotel. 

I'm not a big gambler only play the slot machines, or one armed bandits as they were once called. Today they don't have the lever or arm that you once pulled to spin the wheels. They are video games and all you do is sit and push buttons. To me pushing buttons, it's not a much fun as dropping you quarters and pulling the lever. 

I placed a $50 limit on myself. Once the $50 was gone, I would return to the hotel and call it a night. I had been playing for about an hour and had hit a couple of small jackpots that limited my losses. I was down about $20 when I hit a jackpot that paid $140. I was ahead and took the advice that I got years ago from my dad, “Quit while you are ahead.”

So, after playing for just a little under two hours, I cashed out and head back to the Hotel and called it a night. There were two bucket list things I wanted to do on this trip. I accomplished one yesterday when I visited the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. Tomorrow I will cross the other off my list when I visit Historic Auto Attraction about 15 miles up the road in Roscoe Illinois.

Today's journey form Grand Rapids, Michigan to Rockford, Illinois was 319 miles which pushed me over  the thousand mile mark for this adventure.  The miles traveled for this trip now stands at 1,040.