Road Scholar Trip - Day 2

We took our very first Road Scholar Trip titled "Mark Twain and the Mississippi, Lewis and Clark and The Civil War".  The draw was Mark Twain but all of it was wonderful.

Day 2 was a visit to WhiteHaven, home to Ulysses and Julia Grant and then after lunch to the Jefferson Barracks, the oldest military installation west of the Mississippi River.

Here are the photos I took this day.

Looking out at the house after the movie screen lifted.

The Park ranger was a fount of information on Grant, his wife and her family.  It was her family's home and they were slave owners.

Road Scholar group of 24 listens intently.  

The color was researched and it was painted that color when Julia and Ulysses came to own it.

There are very few furnishings since there are none in the Park Service possession that belonged to the Grants.

You can see that it was a gorgeous day.

Back view of house gives a sense of the many additions over time.

[I took no photos at the Jefferson Barracks.]

Road Scholar Trip - Day 1

We took our very first Road Scholar Trip titled "Mark Twain and the Mississippi, Lewis and Clark and The Civil War".  The draw was Mark Twain but all of it was wonderful.

Day One was spent in St. Louis, a city we've never spent any time in.  We visited the Old Courthouse and re-enacted the Dred Scott case, had an extensive behind the scenes tour of the Campbell House with all its original 19th century decor, went up inside the Arch and scanned the horizon east and west, and ended the day at St. Charles County Community College with a buffet dinner and lecture/slide show about the Louisiana Purchase.

Here is the day in photographs.

The Old Courthouse

Dan was the judge for the re-enactment of the Dred Scott case.  We ruled in favor of Dred Scott and freedom for slavery.  He wasn't so lucky when the Supreme Court ruled against him but much later got his freedom just before he died.

Scenes of downtown.  Can you see the arch reflected in some of these photos?

The Campbell House - 7 floors.  Filled with antiques.  No photos taken inside.

The Arch

To ride up inside the arch you enter a door like this.  We were assigned #8.  Only 5 people per pod.  4 minutes to go up and 3.5 minutes to come back down.

View from the arch - looking into Illinois - east.

Looking down and seeing its shadow.

Looking west.

Here we are inside the arch.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Views from the Car on Interstate 70

Cumberland, MD - lots of spires

Springfield, IL - a long way from the Chesapeake Bay.  And don't they know there are no lobsters in the bay?

One of many river crossings.

Springfield, IL - Lincoln's Town

Last week we traveled west to join a Road Scholar trip in St. Charles, MO.  More on that in future posts.  On the way we stopped over in Springfield, IL to see Lincoln's home, Library and Museum.  The former is a National Park and free while the latter is a private entity with admission that was well worth it.

Lincoln's home - originally a single story had a second story added with very high ceilings.  It's draped with mourning bunting.

The Park Service owns the entire two blocks which is closed off to vehicular traffic.

The front parlor.

Lincolns law practice was very lucrative as you can see from the way these rooms are decorated.

Mrs. Lincoln's sewing desk below.

Lincoln's bed

Adjoining room for Mrs. Lincoln.

Lincoln's shaving mirror mounted rather high.

The kitchen where Mrs. Lincoln became an accomplished cook with assistance from servants.

The stove was a gift to Mary from Abe.

Lincoln's law office behind statues.

Old State capitol.

Lincoln's tomb.

It was pilgrimage weekend for the Boy Scouts.  Here the honor guard is entering the tomb to stand guard.

At the Lincoln Museum photos were limited to the plaza.

If you go plan to spend a good two hours in the Museum.  It is well worth the price and the visit.