Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana: Oh, my!

We finally pulled ourselves away from Springfield and Lincoln and headed toward Kentucky in search of Bonnie's ancestors. To avoid an 8 hour drive, we decided to check the Harvest Hosts Directory for a convenient stopover. Harvest Hosts are wineries and farms (and a few museums) that invite RVers to "camp" for free on their property overnight. Free is a relative term because you usually end up buying some of their product...but it's still a great deal. We usually select a winery and this time was no exception. We found the Ertel Cellers Winery located only 1 1/2 hours from Covington, KY. Of course, we enjoyed tasting their delicious wine offerings and bought a couple of bottles, just to be polite! What was unique about this experience was the fact that they told us to drive a couple of miles back to the main road, turn left and then pull into their vineyard. They even had an electric outlet for the RV. Just us alone with the grapes - how cool is that??!!

Among the grapes at Ertel Vineyards

Great, great grandfather

In the morning, it was on to the local history section of the Covington Public Library to research Bonnie's ancestors who settled there in the 19th century. We didn't find a whole lot of new information, but we did unearth an excellent 8X10 picture of her great, great grandfather who had immigrated from Wales in 1870 and served as the mayor of Covington from 1904 to 1907! How's that for an immigrant success story?? We collected the names of a few distant ancestors we didn't know about (there may still be some living relatives in the area, but we didn't pursue that avenue of inquiry). We did, however, visit the impressive gravesite of the "Beach clan" and found it quite interesting.

 But enough of old, dead ancestors. We gathered enough information to add to our collection, but wanted to get through Cincinnati, across the river, before the traffic made the trip north  more difficult. We spent the next three nights at Wright Patterson AFB outside Dayton, where our primary purpose was to visit the National Museum of the US Air Force, the world's largest aviation museum. From the early flying days of the Wright Brothers and World War I to the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries, the museum had a phenomenal collection of aircraft and memorabilia. We were thoroughly exhausted after a day of walking around this museum, and still didn't see everything. (Lew will share more about this museum and a few car museums in Indiana in a separate post.)

An added bonus that I hadn't remembered would be part of our Dayton experience was all the information about the Wright Brothers, who had hailed from Dayton. I had recently read David McCullough's book, and enjoyed seeing some of the places he talked about and revisiting the dawn of flight that happened right there in Dayton.  We enjoyed the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center that explained all about their early experiments, as well as the Wright Brothers Memorial and overlook. (that looked over the original field where they first tested their heavier than air flying machine).

Wright Brothers Memorial

 From Dayton our itinerary took us to Decatur, Indiana, to the Fleetwood RV factory. We spent the night at their RV Park (parking lot) where RV owners waited their turn for maintenance and others of us waited for the 9 am tour of the factory.

The tour was fascinating. We saw how an RV is put together, from start to finish: how the walls are constructed: the wiring added: the flooring laid: the cabinets constructed: the finishing touches added. It was all very hands-on, customized when possible, not mechanized - an interesting assembly line. From the time the chassis is rolled into place until the rig is ready to be painted - a mere 7-10 days, depending on the size. The painting itself was all done by hand and took almost as much time, also interesting. We were impressed with the workmanship of the Fleetwood line - but since we were seeing the really big diesel RVs being built, how could we not be impressed? I didn't understand all the jargon - especially when it came to engines and electricity and other "esoteric" subjects - but I got the drift, and was glad we stopped to visit. Sorry, no pictures allowed.

This was just our first taste of Indiana (and vehicles). My next blog (and Lew's) will share more about the 9 days we spent touring this part of the country.

All Things Lincoln

After enjoying our time at the FamCamp at Scott AFB, it was on to Springfield to visit “All Things Lincoln”. What a great couple of days we had, despite the rain (we’re becoming accustomed to rain in the mid-west). Once we settled into our campground outside the city, we headed into Springfield to visit the Old State Capitol (and the new). It was inspiring to stand outside the one-time Illinois Supreme Court room, imagining a younger Abe Lincoln arguing a case; he appeared as council 175 times before the Illinois Supreme Court! He also served briefly in the Illinois legislature – there was a stove-pipe hat sitting at his former desk. Later, after his assassination, his body laid in state in that very same chamber, under the picture of George Washington that still remains. The new Capitol, built in the late 1800s, was so much more elaborate and spacious, but its halls were still haunted by the presence of Abraham Lincoln.

Friday was our long day. We drove up to Bloomington, about an hour away. En route, we stopped at Funk’s Grove to sample (and buy) some maple sirup.

Next up was Lew’s Alma Mater, Illinois Wesleyan University. I had never been there, in all our years together, so it was great for me to get a look at where he hung out for the five years before I knew him! The rain held off and we were able to walk around the campus, see how much it had changed in 50-some years, and enjoy a relaxing, somewhat nostalgic (for Lew) time together.

On our way back we took a slight detour to New Salem. This town, restored to its original appearance, is where Lincoln lived for six years before moving to Springfield. This was Lew’s favorite part of the “Lincoln Experience”. We could walk around this 18^th century village and feel what it must have been like for this 20-year old, trying to find his way in the world. His neighbors (re-enactors) were impressed that he spent all his free time reading, an indication of his prodigious curiosity. They explained to us that he basically taught himself to read, having had less than one year of formal schooling when he was 6. We saw the general store he tried and failed to maintain and learned how the years in New Salem were formative years for Abe Lincoln, affecting the man he was to become. One example – he witnessed a slave market in New Orleans shortly before settling in New Salem and the experience had a profound affect on his ideas about slavery and Negro rights.

Back in Springfield, we stopped at the Lincoln Tomb. In life he had been vilified, but in death he was deified. The tomb is a superb memorial to one of the greatest presidents the country has known (some say the greatest). Visiting inside the tomb was a meaningful experience. I was filled with such a sense of loss, of what his death meant to this country and how history may have been different if he had lived.

On Saturday, in the rain, we finally visited the Lincoln Library/Museum. This was my favorite part of the experience. This museum was very different than those we’ve seen for the more modern Presidents. In two separate “journeys” you walked through life-size dioramas depicting different stages of his life – his pre-presidential years and the White House years. This was not just an intellectual experience, it was visceral: you look into the log cabin in which Lincoln was born (in Kentucky) and later homesteads in Indiana and Illinois. You read about his life, of course, but you also feel what it was like to read by fire light or work hard splitting rails or to lose your mother at age 7.  

You see the horrors of slavery at the Slave auction and you watch the 1860 election play out on TV like a modern election. The entire museum, I believe, was designed to immerse the visitor in HIS life, how he might have experienced it.

  

In The White House Journey, one section had a particularly significant impact on me; Lincoln was explaining his decision to make the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet. You walk through the cabinet room and you hear the life size Secretaries arguing for and against, a mind-boggling chorus, knowing that Lincoln, too, listened to the arguments, weighed them, fought with them. And then through the Whispering Gallery with hologram faces you experience a cacophony of sound, gossiping Washingtonians saying brutally unkind words about the President, complaining about and/or praising just about any decision he had to make about the war, about slavery, about everything. I could understand why he aged so much during those 5 long years.

Speaking of aging, in a theater performance entitled “Lincoln’s Eyes” the visitor is introduced to the artist who struggled over the years to capture the sorrow, hope, vision, resolve, and forgiveness one can see just by looking at Lincoln’s eyes. Very powerful.

But the part that fascinated me the most was a performance called “Ghosts of the Library”. Basically it asks, why save all this old stuff, anyway? Why have a library? None of the other presidential libraries we visited actually addressed the “library” part of the building, other than to say it was there for researchers and historians. But here, through a dramatic special-effects presentation – using holographic technology – everyone learns about the archival mission of the library to preserve not just the history of Lincoln, but all the people, places, and things of that time. Very unique, very fun, very educational. We thoroughly enjoyed All Things Lincoln .

Nixon Library

We left the reunion, but before heading back to Illinois, where we had parked the RV at Scott AFB, we stopped at the Nixon Presidential Library to continue our exploration of these museums.

We had no idea what to expect – a museum honoring the only President to have resigned from office? Will it gloss over Watergate? Will it characterize Nixon as a victim, as a hero? Will it blame others for his downfall? Will it glorify a flawed man? We were pleasantly surprised.  

It’s a “low-key” library, but well done, tucked away near his old boyhood home in a quiet Yorba Linda neighborhood. Its emphasis, of course, was on preserving his legacy, some good, some bad, focusing on foreign policy initiatives in the Soviet Union, China, and the Middle East, and the ending of the war in Vietnam. But you get the feeling from the moment you start your tour that in 1968 Nixon inherited a nation experiencing dramatic social and political upheaval while the war was becoming increasingly unpopular. So there was a lot about the socio/political climate of the 60s, the War, on-going negotiations to end the war, the terrible costs of war, his utter frustrations – and finally the Paris Peace Accord and the return of the POWs to an ungrateful nation. There was also considerable time spent on his trip to China and to Moscow – the first President to visit either. There was considerably less about his domestic policy, but you still got the feeling he cared about the environment, women’s issues, health care, and other important domestic concerns. What surprised us was how thoroughly the Watergate scandal was chronicled (you could get into a ridiculous level of detail if you wanted to!). No excuses were made for the excesses that led to Nixon’s ultimate downfall.

Nixon Library Grounds

 As we had with other Presidents, we came away with a more positive view of the man as a public servant.  “Only if you have been in the deepest valley, an you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain,” he said. Nixon saw both. It was clear that he cared deeply for this country and despite his fall from grace, he did some very good things as President.

Nixon's Accomplishments

But enough of Nixon! It’s on to Illinois where we could explore the humble beginnings and tragic ending of yet another President (next post).

We spent a few extra days around the St Louis area in order to visit Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. On the east side of the river are the remains of a once flourishing Mississippian civilization (900-1400), which, at the peak of his power supported 15,000-20,000 inhabitants. That is huge for the time period. Their culture was characterized by rich and complex social, political, and ritual activity and the mounds they constructed, by hand, were used for various purposes and would have had structures built on top of some. 

A Mound

Monk's Mound

The park had an excellent interpretive center and we enjoyed our walk around the mounds, including a climb to the tallest, Monk’s Mound, some 100 feet high. There used to be hundreds of such mounds in the area, but most of them were destroyed as St Louis and the surrounding area grew. As we have learned previously, the Europeans took what they wanted and destroyed whatever was in the way of their progress. We were glad this remnant of Mississippian native culture still survives.

Relaxing at Scott AFB FamCamp