Two Beers and a Pretzel

There are a surprising number of quality attractions in Springfield, Illinois. Many were even open on Sunday.

The old state capital building is pretty nice, and is surrounded with Lincoln statues.

The Frank Lloyd Wright “Dana” house was quite impressive.  I took a tour (no cameras allowed).

The Abraham Lincoln presidential museum and library were also pretty good… I saw the museum.  It was kind of ‘Disney-fied’ with animatronics and visual effects.  I think the best part was the “Civil War in 4 Minutes” exhibit.  It shows a map of the USA with a timeline (1860-1865) along the bottom of the screen.  You watch as states secede to the Confederacy by changing color.  Then the line between North and South starts fluctuating as major drives and battles are highlighted.  Morgan’s Raiders and the Push to the Sea were both made very vivid to the viewer.

After realizing that is was almost 4 PM (central time), I got back on the road to St Louis.  This stretch of Route 66 is pretty dull.  After arriving in St Louis, I drove around in the rain for a bit looking for a Motel 6 (still not willing to break in the tent in the rain).  In the process of searching, I ran across about 4 totally different roads on different sides of town claiming to be Route 66 from various time periods.  Confusing at best…