Day 81 (August 3). Springfield, IL

Miles today: 0

Today is Monday, August 3, the first day of Sturgis.  Google Maps tells me I am 966 miles away.  For the most part, I am glad!

I took another needed day off today.  I slept most of the morning, did some laundry, and finally got out to explore downtown at around 3 pm.  I resisted the urge to go to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, instead opting for the Illinois State Museum (both were walking distance).   I am really glad I did.

Large museums, I find, tend to come in one of two styles. The older one, less common now, is a vast display of interesting collected objects.  These objects are always identified, but it is up to the viewer to determine their significance. The Black Hills Institute museum I visited in Hill City, South Dakota, was of this format. The other style, which has largely taken over since I was a kid, is one of story-teller. It tends to display a much smaller number of objects, but arranges what it has with informative descriptions that it expects (or at least hopes) the viewer will read, and follow from one display to the next. The Illinois State Museum is of this format, and it does it as well as I’ve seen.  The unofficial theme is “What happened in the past to make Illinois, Our Home State, what it is today?”  The natural history exhibits identify not just where North America was at each major era (Devonian, Jurassic, Ice Age, etc.), but where specifically Illinois was.  Then it shows fossils from that era, collected from Illinois. 

Natural History section, Illinois State Museum.  Both photos are of one display. Left: I like how they show where Illinois was during this era.  Right: All fossils are from Illinois.  

Other exhibits discussed anthropology in a similar way – what aboriginals were here, along with displays of artifacts as well as the occasional diorama.  The focus on the coming of the European settlers was also treated in this way. I especially enjoyed the exhibit on how people in the state dealt with the turmoil of the 1960s, and how different generations if Illinoisans view the world.  I thought the whole thing was first rate.  I told this to the guy at the front desk, and another visitor told me that the Governor was trying to close this very museum due to a large budget shortfall.

Hilarious modern anthropology.  Left: Very reminiscent of the houses I knew in New Jersey in the 1960's, including the futuristic wire art.  Right.  Teenagers room from that era -- love it!  P.S. Note the anachronism on the right. Third object down on the closet door is "Rites of Passage" by the Indigo Girls, released 1992.  I know because I own it (on CD)!

After the museum, I walked about six blocks to the house Abraham Lincoln lived in for 20+ years, when he worked as a lawyer and eventually ran for President. Springfield has restored four blocks of houses around it, with gravel streets and plank sidewalks.  It is a bit like Williamsburg, Virginia, except that there are no re-enactors.  While Lincoln’s house itself is no Mount Vernon, it is really a very nice house in a nice middle-class neighborhood – a far cry from the log cabin of lore.  Then dinner in a brewpub located in a converted house of the same era (1830’s). All in all, a really nice day off from riding.

Left: Map of "Lincoln's Neighborhood," Springfield IL.  Right: Lincoln's home for many years.