I'm coming at you today from Springfield, Illinois, where Matt and I are spending few days visiting our soon-to-be hometown. Matt was accepted in to the University of Illinois-Springfield political science graduate program, and we're on a mission to get to know the town.
Admittedly, from Lincoln, it's a pretty dull seven hour drive straight across Missouri. The weather yesterday was incredibly dull and gray, too, which didn't help. But I had good company, and the excitement of getting there kept us upbeat.
We got to Springfield around 5 p.m., checked into our hotel, and promptly headed out to discover the town. We drove around UIS campus (I'll post pictures of that later; we'll go for an official visit on Tuesday), drove around, and eventually ended up at a very nice mall. We weren't looking to buy anything, but it was great to stretch our legs.
We didn't get much sleep last night, thanks to some rowdy St. Patty's day revelers in the room right above ours. We woke up early, wished our upstairs neighbors well with their hangovers (kidding), and walked to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for Mass (I didn't snap any photos, sorry!). Our hotel is right in the thick of Springfield's historic downtown, and so today we spent nearly the entire day on foot checking out the sights.
We visited Lincoln's home, which was a really cool experience. We didn't get to go in, since you had to go on an official tour with tickets to do that, but we spent a long time walking around the neighborhood, which was sort of like a living history museum.
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| Me hanging at Abe's house. |
After that, we visited the old state capitol and Abe's law practice, where Matt was caught photobombing a statue of Abe and Mary Todd Lincoln.
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| When you see it... |
We caught lunch at this charming little cafe (wish I had taken pictures for you), headed back for a much-needed nap, and decided to end the day with a trip to the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Matt, the resident Civil War history guru, thought some parts were a bit too theatrical for his taste, but I enjoyed it.
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| Hangin' with the fam. Robert doesn't look too happy to have Matt standing in front of him. |
One thing was certain by the end of the day: We wanted to watch the movie "Lincoln" again, so we went out to buy it. Unfortunately (or maybe not so unfortunately!), our trip to Target yielded nothing but some Mike and Ike's and some Cool Mint Oreos. Turns out "Lincoln" isn't on sale on DVD until March 26. Bummer.
Tomorrow, we'll be apartment hunting. Wish us luck!
When we get back to Lincoln on Thursday, it'll be all about French culture and cuisine (my favorite!).
Until next time!
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