July 24, 2015, Friday, Springfield, IL
Day 85

We began the day with a tour of the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site.  The house (and its interior including the furniture) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1902-1904. The house is a 12,000 square foot prairie home and is magnificent. I have been to several other Wright houses and this is my favorite. A must see. Next was Lincoln’s Tomb, also a magnificent structure and one fitting of its occupant. Another must see. After lunch we visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. We spent the rest of the day there until the 5 pm closing when they kicked us out. A fantastic place. Included was a live two man play featuring the actor, Harry Hawk, who was on the stage when John Wilkes Booth jumped down after the shot, and the theater manager, John T. Ford. Each of the two played many roles in flashbacks questioning if either could have done something different to avoid the tragic outcome. Very informative as to the events leading up to the assassination and thought provoking as to whether Booth left enough clues to foretell his plan. Supper at Galina’s Pizza consisted of eggplant parm and chicken parm dinners. The place was not fancy but the food was good and the bill was only $15.