Out and About: Our Field Trip to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library

Visiting the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum was one of the grand highlights of this week.  The girls, my dad, and I trekked to Springfield, IL. This trip was a total surprise for the girls.  I don't always share my plans for the day with them so they didn't find out until we were in the car headed to Springfield.  We haven't visited any history museums before so this was a new environment.  As I sit and think about it, most of the museums we have visited are either science or children museums.

Even though I don't have anything the compare the museum to, I found it really impressive. The curator has done well with ensuring that everyone will learn something during their visit.  The museum had two journeys .  The first path was of President Lincoln's early life including childhood, marriage, and the years before presidency.  The second path focuses on the Presidential years up to his assassination.

There were also two short length video presentations, but we did not view either of them. Maybe next time.

The one video we were able to see was Tim Russert's commentary of the 1860 candidates. It was a play on today's elections. It was very entertaining to say the least.

We all learned new facts about the Lincoln family.  Our history lovers, Grandpa and Dania, had a great time recounting the knowledge they have gained over the years.  Dania gave us a synopsis before we headed into the exhibits, and she was on point as we read the displays.  Ramya went through and read most if not all of the plaques. Her favorite was Tad and Will at Mr. Lincoln's law firm creating a huge mess!

I found the life-sized figures of the Lincolns and others to be amazing.  It felt as if I was there with them during these historical moments.

We had a limited amount of time for this visit so we were not able to visit the library or his house.  I am hoping that we will make it back to visit in order to see all that we missed.

2015 marks the 10th anniversary of the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library, and as part of the celebration every 10th day of the month the museum will have a special activity planned.

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