Day 1295: Abe Lincoln

I've been mentioning in blog posts for days that you don't need to travel far from home to find some really spectacular sights, and for me, Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois is one of those sights! Over the past few months, we've had more than one discussion about Springfield and the Lincoln Tomb, so when we realized we could swing an extra day on our trip, it wasn't hard to come up with where we would go! 

Springfield, Illinois is actually a wonderful city, and I enjoyed our time there thoroughly. We pulled in Sunday evening and stayed at a local house nearby the tomb so we could get an early start the next day, which was a great idea. Even on a Monday morning, there was a whole crowd of visitors at the National Park Service Visitor Center for the home. Tickets to tour the house, which is the only home Lincoln ever owned, are free thanks to his son Robert, who sold the house to the Park Service for a dollar with the promise that no one would ever be charged to see it. 

Much of the home is original, with the main floor featuring the original doors and banister, among select furniture throughout the house that the Lincoln's added over time. If you look closely at one of the below pictures, you can see Lincoln's original desk in the corner! They also have a great visitor center and various other historic buildings bought out in the area, all a part of the National Historic Site that celebrates Lincoln's path to the Washington D.C.

Nearby, you can also visit the Lincoln Museum and National Library, both of which we were unable to see due to time restraints, as well as the Lincoln Tomb, where Abraham Lincoln himself is buried along with much of his family. The tomb is beautiful, and while pretty much the only thing to do there is pay your respects, it's still an extremely important location for all of us. I'm a fan of Abraham Lincoln myself; he's my favorite president, so visiting seemed extra special to me. Here I was, standing only feet from someone I look up to, and that, if nothing else, was worth the stop in Springfield. 

Although, I guess touring Lincoln's house with Lincoln himself was pretty great too. This man works as an Abe Lincoln impersonator and just happened to be touring the house the same time we were. What a spectacular way to end our trip! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1294: Marceline

When you mention Disney, most think instantly of Walt Disney World or Disneyland, frequently mixing the two up if we're being honest. Beyond that, they may think of a favorite animated film, character, or song, maybe a priceless family memory, or launch instantly into a rant about how expensive everything is becoming or how terrible it is that Disney now owns Star Wars (because believe it or not...those people do still exist). Whatever they think of, I can almost guarantee that a little town in central Missouri is far from their first thought, if it occurs to them at all. 

For fans of the man behind the company, Marceline is a familiar name. It's a period of Walt's life that many disregard, when in reality a little town in Missouri provided us with so much more than we realize. From 1906 to 1911, a young Walter Elias Disney called Marceline, Missouri home, and he would return more than a few times to visit the closest thing he ever had to a childhood home. Born in 1901, Walt spent the first years of his life in the bustling city of Chicago, which his parents later decided was no place to raise a family. With relatives in the area, the Disney family, with all five children in tow, moved to Marceline, where they'd stay until moving to Kansas City five years later. 

Learning many of the lessons he would take with him throughout life, Walt loved the little town. He returned in 1946 to refresh his memory for an upcoming project, which we'd later realize to be Disneyland. Marceline also inspired the 1948 film So Dear to My Heart, featuring a barn drawn up by Walt from memories of the barn that was on the family farm in Marceline. In 1956, Walt and Roy, along with their wives, would return to Marceline again, this time to help dedicate the Walt Disney Swimming Pool and Park. It was during the same trip that they held the Midwest premiere of The Great Locomotive Chase at the Uptown Theatre in town, where Walt would individually greet every child through the door. Four years later, in 1960, Walt would return once more to dedicate the Walt Disney Elementary School and provide the town with a flag pole from the Squaw Valley Olympics and an artist to decorate the interior of the school. 

While Walt died in 1966 and never again returned to Missouri, he still relocated the Midget Autopia Ride from Disneyland to Marceline just months before his death, making it the only Disney Attraction to ever run outside of a Disney Park. Following his death, Marceline is chosen out of four cities to issue a commemorative stamp in honor of Walt, and the Santa Fe railroad brings the Disney family to Marceline for the celebration of his life. 

The history of this little town goes on from there, and for its size, you'd never realize just how much has happened there. A museum dedicated to Walt opened in 2001 as a memorial of his 100th Birthday, bringing 13 members of the Disney family on a special train right to the depot where the museum is located. In addition, a recreation of Walt's barn is built as a memorial near the old Cottonwood Tree Walt referred to as his "dreaming tree." The tree, sadly, died a number of years ago after being struck by lightning, but a direct descendant of the tree still sits in Marceline today, growing from the soil of Magic Kingdom and water of the Rivers of America. 

I could go on forever about this little town, but I'll try to keep the rest of this short. There's so much history in Marceline, and if you're a fan of Walt Disney, I can't stress enough how wonderful of a place it is to visit. The museum staff were amazing, especially our tour guide Inez, who hosted Walt in her home when he came to Missouri in 1956. The town, which we visited on a Sunday, is quiet and quaint, but the original Main Street U.S.A. really allows you a glimpse into Walt's life, and into what he envisioned in the Disney parks we know and love. The museum itself is stunning, especially for such a small town, and it took us more than a few hours to barely scratch the surface of Walt's legacy in the Midwest. Other than that, all I can say is that I can't believe it took me 21 years to visit Marceline, because I should have done this a long, long, time ago.

To learn more about Marceline and the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, take a look at the official website and have a magical day!

Day 1292: Santa Fe

"Santa Fe, my old friend, I can't spend my whole life dreaming." 

 It's been a couple of years now since I first moved to college and my my freshman roommate, who was just as obsessed with Newsies as I was pretty much everything else Disney. Despite the fact that Newsies is indeed a part of the Disney Universe, I'd never actually seen the film or the listened to the music from the Broadway Smash Hit. She taught me well though, and two years later I ended up smack dab in the middle of Santa Fe, experiencing everything Jack knew it was. 

On a day excursion from Colorado, we made the two hour drive down to Santa Fe, New Mexico, entering a new state for the both of us and ready to explore a city unlike anything we'd ever seen. We were only able to spend a couple of hours in Santa Fe, as we had another stop on the way back up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, but it at least gave us a taste of everything the city had to offer. 

Our first stop, after finally finding a parking space (parking in Santa Fe is sort of ridiculous), was the Georiga O'Keeffe museum. Born in Wisconsin, O'Keeffe traveled all over the United States, from Texas to New York, before ending up in New Mexico, just outside of Santa Fe. Living on Ghost Ranch, which I'll talk more about later, O'Keeffe took inspiration from the beautiful she found around her and created spectacular paintings and drawings. Here are just a few of my favorites from the museum: 

We then took some time to explore the Plaza, which sits at the center of Santa Fe and is definitely the tourist section of the town. I actually have no pictures of the Plaza itself, but its a park lined with stores and churches and definitely feels very different from anything we have around here. We also got a chance to go inside one of the many Chapels of Santa Fe, which are internationally renowned. If you're there for a longer period of time, there are various tours available that showcase more of these stunning buildings. 

I wouldn't say that Santa Fe is my favorite city in the world, or at least not on a Jack Kelly level, but I did enjoy the entire state of New Mexico. It's a far cry from little old Wisconsin, and I highly recommend stopping there if you're in the area! You won't regret it! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1292: Mesa Verde

Time for another National Parks Adventure! 

Previous to only a few weeks ago, I'd never really thought much about Mesa Verde. I'm actually embarrassed to say that I hardly knew anything about it, and probably didn't even realize it was a National Park. After all, when someone says National Park, you probably recall some of the more famous locations: The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, or Yosemite. Still, when we planned our trip to Colorado and we realized that Mesa Verde would fall on my birthday, I had no qualms about the idea. 

For my fellow vintage Epcot Center fans out there, you might just remember a connection to Mesa Verde in a lost attraction: Horizons! Essentially a continuation of the Carousel of Progress, the family has now split up between various futuristic colonies, one of which is located in the desert, or more importantly: Mesa Verde. Daughter Patricia has found her home in Colorado, working as a farmer on a desert colony. I will say that Disney's Mesa Verde looks a bit more rocky than the real Mesa Verde, which is pretty flat. They did get the dry part right though. The area is frequently devastated and leveled by fire. It takes decades for the vegetation to grow back, and it's never more apparent than driving through Mesa Verde National Park, where they leave much of the natural area alone to regrow on its own. 

I also spent quite a bit of time marveling at the fact that civilizations built and lived in the cliff dwellings that seem rather impossible to enter, at least from a distance. Today there are stairs and man-made pathways that get you into the dwellings quickly and safely. When the builders lived there, on the other hand, they'd climb down using footholds along the side of the cliff, and I can't help but wonder how many fell rather than hanging on. It seemed rather dangerous to me, although when you include the idea of safety, it makes more than enough sense as to why they built there. 

And speaking of the farming that takes place in Horizons, that isn't actually all that far off. Another reason the civilizations moved to the cliff dwellings was to increase the available space to grow crops, which mostly consisted of foods easy to dry: corn, peppers, etc. I'm not sure they would have been growing oranges like Patricia was, but she lives in the future, after all! 

I'll say this one more time though: if you haven't visited one of our many glorious National Parks, do so soon! There are tons of special events and discounts going on for the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and it's one of the greatest times to visit! And for those of you saying "Yes, but Lizzie, there aren't any National Parks in my state," all I have to say is go out and find one nearby! We don't have any in Wisconsin either, and yet in the past couple of weeks I was able to visit two National Parks, two National Monuments, and a National Historic Site! They're all out there, waiting for you to explore, so get started and find your park! 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1291: Bed and Breakfast

If the house behind me in the picture above looks a bit familiar, I'll give you a hint as to why: Look at the mailbox and my hat. 

I distinctly remember Father's Day this year. My family went out to eat at a local railroad themed restaurant, housed in an old train depot. It's a popular restaurant in our area and the food is really great, and since my Dad adores trains, it's a natural fit. It was there that we sat discussing the upcoming trip to Colorado, which, at the time, I wasn't even officially going on. The trip, as a whole, was intended to be my parents and my brother, we me staying behind to take care of the house and the cats. When they planned it over my birthday, I ended up going along, lugging Megan with me (alright, she volunteered), and this was the first place that really caught my interest. 

My Dad mentioned, in passing, that night at dinner, the Indiana Jones Bed and Breakfast. I was skeptical for a few seconds, because of course it could just be any other bed and breakfast that happens to be themed to Indiana Jones. And then he explained that this wasn't just any old house. It was Indy's house. Frantically, I searched the bed and breakfast online, coming to find that this wasn't, indeed, just any old house. In a little town called Antonito, one little house sits, and that house has been seen many more times than you might imagine. 

Drive by unknowingly and you'll never even notice, but this is actually the very house used to portray the childhood home of Indy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They picked it thanks to the close by location of the Cumbres and Toltec railroad, which is also based out of Antonito and also in the film during the opening scene. That means that back in 1988, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, and the entire cast and crew of Indiana Jones made their way to this little town most of us haven't heard of, and now, you can sleep where Indy did. 

The bed and breakfast is run by an older gentleman and then a housekeeper and her husband, plus a little dog named Teddy. The house itself, in the film, looked relatively small. Even standing outside of it, you wouldn't believe everything that's inside. It looks pretty different from what you see in the film, but you can definitely tell where you are standing, especially if you watch the film in the living room like we did. There's something special to be said about sitting where everything happened. A young Indiana Jones would have received his trademark hat right where I stood, and you really can't beat that. 

Still, there's an amazing five bedrooms in the house, each with their own bathroom. Four are available for reservation, as the last is the room of the owner, each with a different themed name. Megan and I stayed in the downstairs bedroom, The Holy Grail, while my parents and brother stayed upstairs. In addition, there's a living room, a study area (which serves as the office of Henry Jones Sr. in the film), a full dining room and full kitchen. Seriously, this place is huge. The living area has pretty much every piece of Indiana Jones memorabilia you could think of, with additional decor that gives you that authentic Jones household vibe. 

You can see more of the house in an upcoming YouTube video, but I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was to stay here. It's a bit expensive, but if you're an Indiana Jones fan like I am (lifelong...in fact, it was probably my first real obsession), definitely check it out. You can access the website HERE, and even if you don't want to stay, be sure to contact about at least seeing the house if you're in the area. It's well worth a stop! 

Oh, and did I mention that we happened to stay in it the night of Harrison Ford's birthday, July 13? It didn't occur to me until we were actually there, but seriously, you can't make this kind of thing up! In fact, I loved staying there so much that if I'm ever headed back to Colorado, it'll be number one on my list of things to do. All I want now is to go again! 

Have a magical day!