Lincolnosity

I really like Abraham Lincoln. I'm not sure why; I just do. Maybe it's that decisively positive figure in American history thing he has going.



But to be honest, in my case it's probably as much that he fits so well into roadside vernacular, as is the case with this giant Lincoln on a Wagon in, of course, Lincoln, Illinois.



Not to be out-done, here's young wood-cutting giant Lincoln just inside the front gates of the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois.



Of course, Springfield has Abe, himself. See Lincoln's tomb and a bit of the tourism industry that has sprung up around it in He Belongs to the Ages (but you can still buy a souvenir)



Last November I visited the cemetery again and found the tomb in which Lincoln was first laid to rest. His residency there was short - from May 4, 1865 to December 21 of that year.



That oblilesque on the hill belongs to Lincoln's current tomb.



I also visited the Lincoln Gift Shop again. It's one of your cooler tourist traps, and I use that term affectionately.



Ever wanted a high-ranking politician - say, a president - to scratch your back?



Or perhaps your other action figures need someone to unite them.



Yeah, I bought a Lincoln's beard. It will probably show up in a picture sooner or later.



Since my previous visit in 2006, the store had added a half pheasant / half jackalope - an abomination of nature, really...not at all like the the perfectly naturally occurring jackalope.



I generally shelter Ace from stuffed jackalopes as I figured he'd find them offensive and disturbing. I forgot about them being here, though, before he ran across this pair, who seemed to have been caught in amour. It's hard to read his expression.



Lincoln is so omnipresent in Springfield that he's even guarding you as you try on clothes in the Meijer discount store. This Styrofoam Lincoln was originally made for a float in the 2003 Illinois State Fair Twilight Parade and won Governor's Sweepstakes Award. See Lincoln sit in Washington DC, Springfield, Denver and in your pants at the same time in Seated in Your Pocket



Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was written to dedicate Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1863. Illinois' Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery was dedicated in 1999. See more of it in A Sacred Grove on Route 66.



Any town named for Lincoln catches my attention. Here's Lincolnville, Kansas.



Check out an independent eatery options in A Taste of Lincoln, Missouri.



Lastly, in my own town, The Kansas Underground Salt Museum displays a New York Post published on April 16, 1865 - the day after Lincoln's death. See more in Dark Day Preserved.