One last thing…

One of the best things we did on the trip was see a movie at the Lincoln Museum.  When I was googling today, I came across the official website:

http://www.alplm.org/

And here is some information about the movie.  This doesn’t really do it justice, you have to see it to believe it!  If you’re ever in Springfield, you HAVE to see this:

http://www.alplm.org/museum/ghosts.html

This is the last of the vacation entries for a while.  I mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again:  we’re taking submissions for the next history tour.  Where do you guys want to go next????

 

Day one

I’m trying to be clever, but Mike is vetoing all my funny suggestions.  So, instead I will just give you a recap of the day. 

We got underway just a little later than planned and headed off to Fort Snelling.  It wasn’t open yet, so we just stood near the round tower.  Mike told us about the events leading up to John and Almon joining the Fourth Minnesota with 82 others from Freeborn County.  They thought they were going to do frontier duty but after General Grant’s success in Tennessee on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers they were quickly ordered to Corinth, Mississippi.

I know I’ve posted quite a few photos of Fort Snelling recently (since Mike and I made at least three visits there in preparation for this trip).  Here’s another one anyway:

From Fort Snelling, we headed over to the Capitol

There were two things we wanted to see at the Capitol.  The first was the battle flag the Fourth Minnesota carried.  Unfortunately it had just been sent over to the Minnesota History Center for restorations so we were unable to view it.  Here we are gazing into the empty display case:

The second was this painting of the Fourth Minnesota entering Vicksburg after the surrender of the city.  We got to the Governor’s office just as the tour guide stopped outside the door.  At first we thought we were out of luck since the door was closed and the lights were out, but luckily the tour guide had a key in his hand.  So we became a part of the tour long enough to view the painting and hear a little of the history of all the paintings hanging there.

From the Capitol, we headed south into Iowa.  Burr Oak was on the way so we made a quick stop for photos and then we were off again.

We were a couple of hours from our hotel.  Once we got there and everyone had checked in, we decided we needed dinner so we headed into town.  I’m not sure what kind of a sign it was to find National Lampoon’s Vacation on TV when we got back.

 

The White House

I’m not going to get all political… just posting a picture of the White House on Inauguration Day.

 

Civil War Encampment

Civil War Encampment

Originally uploaded by michelewithonel

This was taken in 2001. This was the trip we took with Jim. This was at President Rutherford B. Hayes home, called Spiegel Grove. I’ve posted pictures of the house before, and I believe there’s a link about President Hayes along the right side under Stuff About History.

 

The Executive Building in DC

This was taken three years ago when we went through Washington DC with Mike’s family. I just like the design of the building.

 

Oregon

This was taken back in 1992. I think this was the weekend I surprised my Mom with a long weekend visit to help her peel wallpaper and paint. We did find some time to sightsee. But I don’t recall exactly where this was taken. Perhaps Bandon. I really liked it there!

 

NY City Public Library

NY City Public Library

Originally uploaded by michelewithonel

This is from our trip last year. We went through New York very early on a Sunday and traffic was still nuts. I just had to have the Ghost Busters shot!

 

Leavin on a jet plane (albeit a tiny one)…

I spent today in the air and in North Dakota. You know I hate to fly and I did this pretty much under duress. Okay, so no one really pressured me, but I’m supposed to make at least one trip to the plant in North Dakota every year and I wanted to get the first one out of the way (so to speak). It wasn’t horrible – the pilots were great – but it was like flying in a long metal tube. I had no idea that thing would be so small inside. It seats seven passengers and you really have to like each other!

I’m back on the ground and quite happy to be here. I think I’ll keep driving or taking the train, thank you very much!

 

Monticello

Thomas Jefferson’s home in Charlottesville, Virginia. We’ve been here a couple of times. This particular picture was taken in 2005 when we went on the first trip with Darlene, Dennis, Bev and Barb.

 

Queechee Gorge

Queechee Gorge

Originally uploaded by michelewithonel

I think this is in Vermont. This was taken on our trip to the East Coast last year. I made Mike pull over so I could run back and get this shot, but I think Bev refused to look down when we drove over the bridge. Actually Bev, I don’t blame you. This was pretty high up!