First was the two-night stop in Fairfield. This allowed us to attend the funeral of Jerry Gray, the husband of one of Byron’s close cousins. While there we got to visit with June Gray and her children before continuing on for a visit with his brother in Lone Oak, just south of Paducah, KY. Danny and his wife, Lynda, have had greyhounds in the past but decided to go for something smaller. The result was the whippet you see in the photo below.
Dan Songer with Petey, a rescued whippet.
We attended services at Grace Episcopal in Paducah with Dan and Lynda then had lunch at a pizza buffet in Lone Oak. Danny is Byron’s oldest brother.
Just in case you can’t tell, Byron is on the left.
On Monday morning, September 15, we headed northward for a leisurely trip to Wisconsin. This took us through farmland all the way from the southern tip of Illinois to the border with Wisconsin. Since fall begins in September, we were able to see the colors change and farmers harvesting corn and beans. The farther north we went, the more apparent it was that the beautiful colors of fall were appearing.
Just south of Staunton we rejoined the Eisenhower Interstate System with I-55 which parallels much of historic Route 66. Along the east side of the interstate near Staunton is a collection of steel pole buildings, some enclosed and some with no walls. The buildings which stretch for 1/4 mile provide protection for the many cars for sale at Country Classic Cars. Some vehicles are in good shape while others need some TLC or other level of restoration work. We had no idea the place existed or we would have planned to stop for a bit. The business was started by a farmer that had worked as a mechanic. The business now has has hundreds of cars available for as well as a gift shop.
Anyone for a car from the 30’s, 40’s 50’s, or slightly newer or older?
If so, you could probably find something at Country Classic Cars
right off I-55 in Staunton, Illinois
We arrived at our campground near Lincoln in the middle of the afternoon during a rain shower. The RV park is probably the smallest at which we’ve stayed with only 20 spaces available. It sits in the middle of farm land with corn and soybean fields all around. Still, the mature shade trees and level parking area provided an adequate place to stay for two nights. We even had 50-amp service as a part of our full hookup situation.
Lincoln is centrally located in Illinois along the famed Route 66. Over one million people live within an hour’s drive of Lincoln. Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Springfield, Decatur, and Champaign-Urbana are within 60 miles. It is midway between Chicago and St. Louis.
Lincoln is also the only city in the world named for and christened by Abraham Lincoln before he became President. Lincoln was serving as a lawyer on the circuit that included the county in which the town sits. When the town was incorporated, his name was selected because of his popularity among the residents. Lincoln is home to a number of historic sites and events associated with the presidential namesake including the new Lincoln College Heritage Museum and the Postville Courthouse. In addition, Lincoln is home to three colleges: Lincoln Christian University, Lincoln College, and Heartland Community College.
On Tuesday morning we got in our Honda Accord to see what the town of Lincoln had to offer. It didn’t take long to find Lincoln College on our drive into town. We found the Lincoln Historical Museum, located on the college campus, with no problem. What we didn’t know was, until arriving there, the museum had been open less than a year. As tourism goes, it is still relatively unknown though it shouldn’t remain so. We’ve been to the presidential library and museum in Springfield and found this one to offer a different perspective on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. It is worth visiting.
Martha poses for a photo opportunity with a statue of Abraham Lincoln
in the front of the building housing the Lincoln Historical Museum.
Lincoln sits in Logan County. Water for the area was originally
supplied by three, nearby creeks which meant that there was also
an abundance of wildlife.
What made Lincoln so desirable to early residents was the future railroad. When the state’s government wanted to connect Springfield to Bloomington by rail they had to address a small problem. Springfield and Bloomington were nearly 60 miles apart and the steam trains of the day required a stopping point every 30 miles to take on water. There was also a policy that a passenger depot be every 30 miles. This water point and passenger depot turned out to be Lincoln.
At that time, however, no town existed. A company called Town Site Company set out to acquire the land, develop a street and plot plan, and arrange for the sale of lots. The officials of the company realized that were need of some legal assistance. As a result, Lincoln was called on to provide that level of expertise. A week and half later after purchasing the land, the proposed town of Lincoln became the new county seat after a bill was passed to move the county seat from Mt. Pulaski to the City of Lincoln.
The next step in the process was to design the City of Lincoln. The County Surveyor, Conway Pence, designed the City of Lincoln around the railroad. All the streets ran parallel and perpendicular to the railroad. In addition, he designed four blocks that were for the county. In these four blocks were to be two parks, one court house and one jail. Now that the city was planned, it was time to bring in the people. On August 27, 1853, lots for the town went up for sale. On that day over ninety lots were sold with prices ranging from forty to one hundred and fifty dollars. The Town Site Company’s proceeds were over six thousand dollars. On this same day after the sale, Abraham Lincoln christened the town by using watermelon juice from a nearby wagon load of melons. There is a statue of a watermelon near the railroad depot, to commemorate where Abraham Lincoln christened the town.
While traveling along the highway through the central part of
Illinois one frequently sees barns of all ages. At this point in the year,
we were also seeing the corn harvest begin. One feature of the
older barns is the raised section in the roof. This was a
characteristic we haven’t seen in other areas. Apparently it
is to provide ventilation to help in drying the hay.
Because we had joined a campground association offering discounts at affiliate locations, our next stop for two nights was Belvidere, where we had stayed earlier in the summer. Our adventure for this stay was to Edward’s Orchard where we enjoyed hot apple cider and any jellies, spreads, cookies, cakes, or pies made with apples plus a whole lot of other yummy stuff.
Byron paused for a moment to take in the September
outdoor air at Edward’s Orchard after eating his fill of
hot apple doughnuts
You can view Byron’s review of the attraction on Trip Advisor. As he points out in the review, be sure to taste your way through the selections available for sale since they supply ample dipping pretzels and snaking crackers for sampling the awesome variety of jams, salsas, spreads, cheeses, and other tasty items.
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