Where I ate it was its own story, first told in 2013 (with some edits):
It isn't every day you get to eat lunch with a sitting President of the United States. Or, to be more exact, the sitting statue of a former President.
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, and our country's President during the United States Civil War.
In the summer of 2013 my spouse and I drove from our home in upstate New York to Arkansas for a visit. On the way back home, we stopped for a rest break in Vandalia, Illinois.
Back in the 1830's, Vandalia was the capital of the state of Illinois - the second capital of Illinois, from 1819 to 1839. It no longer is the capital and you may be surprised to learn who is partially responsible for that.
In the city of Vandalia, a young Illinois state legislator got some of his early political experience. His name was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and some of his colleagues wanted the capital closer to the geographic center of the state. Ironically, this particular statehouse was built to try to convince Lincoln and some of his colleagues to keep the capital in Vandalia. It replaced a different building that was torn down while the legislature was in recess. The hope was, the building would so impress the legislature that they would stay in Vandalia.
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| Looks nice, but Lincoln never tried any cases in this room. |
In 2001, Lincoln Park was built near the statehouse. It features a statute called "Sitting with Lincoln".
On this bench, I ate lunch with Abraham Lincoln in 2013- the tuna sandwich we had purchased in Missouri that morning, to be exact. It was a hot sunny day, a day I would later treasure that winter, a harsh one, when below zero wind chills were the order of the day.
I hope Lincoln enjoyed that wonderful Missouri tuna sandwich as much as I did.
Have you ever met a famous person, or a person who became famous later in life?
A few...though not quite as famous as Abraham Lincoln.
ReplyDeleteOne famous person whom I liked, who's still alive, is the writer Julia Alvarez. When I told her I was buying a book as a graduation present for a student called Altagracia, her eyes lit up and she said, "That's my middle name too!"
I'd like to sit and have a sandwich with President Lincoln! And I love visiting historic sites.
ReplyDelete:) gwingal
Wow. I think I ate something while standing, looking at Mt. Rushmore. Does that count? ;)
ReplyDeleteI've never shared a meal with Abe, but if I did tuna sandwich will definitely be my choice!
ReplyDeleteNo selfies with you sitting on the bench? Now, that would be a picture.
ReplyDelete