With a wave of his hand, magician Rick Fisher turns several uneven lengths of rope into even pieces. He has me tug on the ropes to verify they are taut. With another wave of a hand, the ropes are back to being uneven lengths. Read more
On Saturday, May 2, 2015, exactly 150 years after Abraham Lincoln was laid to rest in Springfield, Illinois, his funeral was reenacted. Six years in planning, the monumental historic Abraham Lincoln funeral reenactment included a replica funeral train, replica coffin and replica horse-drawn hearse.
A funeral procession commenced at the very train station to which Lincoln’s body was brought in 1865. It ended on Saturday at the site of the Old Capitol, where Lincoln served early in his political career, before he was elected 16th President of the United States of America. Read more
Spring is beginning to emerge following a hard winter during our mid-May visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, situated on the northwestern shore of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Young green grasses are poking out from the drab browns of winter, trees are beginning to leaf out, and the warm sun cuts through the chilly air.
From the time Abraham Lincoln left his family at the age of 22 until he went into law and politics, he ran two general stores, was a surveyor, a postmaster and a captain in the Black Hawk War. During this time, he lived in New Salem, about 20 miles north of Springfield, Illinois. Today you can visit the reconstructed New Salem and explore over 20 recreated log buildings in the area that Lincoln called home at the Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site. Read more
Drop by drop sticky sweet sap falls into the metal bucket hanging on the spout inserted into the maple tree. On a good day a bucket fills in 10 to 12 hours. It takes 30 to 50 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple sirup, something the Funk family has been doing since the 1820s. They began selling it commercially in 1891, 35 years before Route 66 was commissioned. Located near the midpoint of Illinois’ portion of Route 66, you can visit the Funks Grove farm and pick up some sirup for yourself if your timing is right. Read more
Dinosaur Park. The name says it all. It’s a park with dinosaurs—seven dinosaurs, to be exact. Seven life-size cement dinosaurs. Is it worth stopping at this kitschy Rapid City, South Dakota, roadside attraction? Absolutely. Here are six reasons why: Read more
