Lincoln's Hometown

This is a local hotspot. It has a full bar, but a nice nonsmoking area, and plenty of families were there.

The wait can be quite long, but don't be frightened away- many people leave instead of waiting, and we only waited about 30 minutes.

This is the best spot for horseshoes, open-faced sandwiches with beef, spicy chicken, turkey, or many other choices, topped with fries and covered with melted white cheese. My husband and our out-of-town guests loved it.

I opted instead for a muffaletta, an Italian sandwich with meats, cheese, and olive spread in a special loaf. They made it right.

The menu has many sandwiches and some other hot items. It is definitely worth a short wait to dine here.

Great Mexican place. I like the chicken burrito, and my husband likes the chimichangas. They have nightly specials, and Thursdays are margarita night, so it is a little crowded then. People say the drinks are good.

Great crowds have been here since its opening, so allow a few hours to see the exhibits, movie, and presentation. One nice feature about the museum is that you get a sticker upon entering, and you can come and go as many times as you choose during the day, giving you time to go out and catch some lunch in the area cafés or tour the farmer's market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. It is a great perk!

The museum features an introductory multimedia movie and a presentation by a museum "historian." These make this museum unique, as it engages you and your senses in ways other history museums do not. Kids seem to really enjoy them, and if you are not familiar with Lincoln's life and times, I definitely recommend seeing them first before the exhibits.

The displays are life-size and cover his life, from humble beginnings to election to assassination. There are multimedia, multi-sensory exhibits throughout, and a few scenes of slavery and political tension that may even scare youngsters. There is a dress-up room, but I recommend taking school-age children and above, because it seems like they at least need to know who the man was to appreciate the exhibits.

There is a nice gift shop and a restaurant in the complex. Touring exhibits will occupy the third gallery. Currently, "Blood on the Moon" fills this space, focusing on the assassination. It even has the actual bed Lincoln passed away in (the one in D.C. is a reproduction!) and the carriage he used, plus blood-stained articles of clothing from the evening.

Admission is $7.50 for adults, and you can preorder tickets online to avoid long ticket lines at the museum. But be prepared if you go during the summer to stand in line to get into the exhibits and films. It is not a long wait, but it was the first time I've ever stood in line at a history museum (it is great that people are so interested!).

Visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for an interactive, balanced look at the nation's 16th president. Next, go to his restored home, a National Park Service site, then the tomb where his body was interred after his assassination in 1865. You can also tour his law offices, the "old" state capitol that he helped to secure for Springfield, and the reconstructed frontier village, New Salem, where he first lived as a single young man. Also in Springfield, see Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture at the Dana-Thomas home, then admire the beautiful "new" state capitol rotunda.

For water-sports enthusiasts, Lake Springfield is a large lake popular with boaters and skiers. Motorcyclists converge on the city several times a year for race events, and the state fair comes in August, with agricultural and other shows year-round on the grounds.

The signature dish in Springfield is the horseshoe, an open-faced sandwich topped with fries and cheese sauce; D'arcy's Pint is supposed to be the best. Capitol City Steakhouse downtown serves fine cuisine. Xochimilco is a good Mexican place, and Monty's offers good sandwiches. There are numerous lunch and dinner cafés in the downtown area near the museum complex, such as Z Bistro and The Feed Store. Check out Bentoh's for a fancy lunch, but this place is only open at lunchtime.

Springfield is a nice place to spend a day or so if you plan to go to St. Louis or Chicago. We're conveniently located off I-55 between the two major cities, and the attractions within the city are all free or reasonably priced.