Lincoln in IL, Caves in MO

We started the morning with visiting the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The museum complex is so beautiful. There is a visitor center in the old Union Depot and then two beautiful buildings - one is the museum and the other is the library. The library houses both Lincoln's papers and the papers of the Illinois state historical society.

Lorie was still not feeling well, so we only visited the museum. However, it was unbelievable and, if we could only do one thing, that was a good choice. They have integrated technology in such a way that it really supports the telling of the Lincoln story. One of my favorite things was the presentation of the 1860 campaign in today's terms -like it was being reported on a news show. Tim Russart (?), the news commentator who passed away in 2008, was the commentator. It was well-done. If you have the opportunity to visit this museum, be sure to take it. There were so many more things we could have done in Springfield, but we had to move on. I said we gave it just a lick and a promise.

Lorie slept in the back as we continued down the road. We crossed the border into MO and saw the St. Louis arch. Elizabeth was snapping pictures like mad and hopes that she got a good one.

As we were driving down the road, we kept seeing signs for the Merramac Cave. We decided that we needed to stop. It was late in the afternoon (around 4:30 PM) and Lorie was not feeling well, so we chose to not take a tour - we just looked around. It was so much fun. You go into the mouth of the cave when you go to the gift shop and visitor center. There is a display of rocks and some history of the cave. The cave was used by Jesse James as a hideout. It was used in the 1930s as a ballroom. The map of the cave shows many routes and rooms. The cave tour is 90 minutes and one mile in length. There is also ziplining, canoeing, and riverboat cruises on the lake. There is a area for camping and a motel. Lorie thought it would be a fun place to bring Randy and her family to in the future.

We continued down the road and saw a sign for the "World's Largest Rocking Chair". We are trying to take pictures of as many "giants" on Route 66 as we can, so we turned off and saw the rocking chair. It was large! We chatted with the girl at the little store for a while.

We stopped for the night in Rolla.