Flashback Friday

Originally posted | July 9th, 2012 | My Time with Abraham Lincoln
     It was a nice little trip. My kids seem so small for this to have only been three years ago.

Last week was a blur.  The husband was on vacation from work all week and we were busily doing things around the house.  I had a "Honey-Do" list a mile long.  With it being the week of July 4th and the holiday falling right smack in the middle of the week, we decided to kind of just hang around the house.  Of course the price of gas and the oppressive heat played a large role in that decision as well.  (It finally rained here last night and as I'm typing this... it's overcast without even the hint of a ray of sunshine!)

We woke up on Thursday and decided we'd had enough housework.  A mini road trip was planned.  A picnic lunch was packed.  A gas tank was filled.  Off we went!

There are a few things people from Kentucky are really proud of:

• University of Kentucky basketball (EIGHT National Championships y'all!!),
• bourbon,
• horses,
• and Abraham Lincoln.

Since it's not basketball season, we don't have any horses (or even know how to ride one), and this was a family road trip so no drinking, we opted for a trip to learn more about our 16th President in Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Did you know that Lincoln was born in Kentucky?  He lived at Sinking Spring Farm until he was two when his family moved about 10 miles East to Knob Creek where he lived until he was seven.  

Our first stop was at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace.

Not really thrilled to have to sit in the hot Sun for a photo op.

The actual Lincoln family bible.  It was huge.

An old cabin typical of the area serves as a symbolic cabin of the Lincoln's in the spot where their cabin stood.  Did you know... Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father, purchased 300 acres that was known as Sinking Spring Farm for $200 in 1808?

The marble and granite memorial building surrounds the old cabin.  The cornerstone was laid in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt.  It was dedicated in 1911 by President William Howard Taft.

The Sinking Spring.  It was at least 20 degrees cooler near the spring.  Abraham Lincoln drank from this spring y'all!

We traveled about 10 miles down the road to his boyhood home at Knob Creek

This cabin looks just like the first.  This cabin was constructed by the Howard family in 1931 using logs from a cabin that once belonged to the Gollaher family, friends and fellow farmers of the Lincoln's.

It's hard to imagine a family of four living in this small cabin.

There are hiking trails located at both places, but the temperature alone was over 100F.  The oldest daughter and I did venture just down one path to see Knob Creek (above).  We've gone so long with so little rain and too hot temperatures that the creek is dry.  I asked the Park Ranger how long the creek had been that way.  He told me that until two weeks ago there were a few places further down the hiking trail that still contained small pools of water, but that those too were now dry.

Next and last stop was back in Hodgenville at the Lincoln Museum.

For the most part it was a great way to spend time with the kids and just get out of the house.  We had a picnic lunch and a scenic drive.  I look forward to returning, possibly in the Fall, when the temps are cooler and we can check out the hiking trails.