Still in Illinois and Then Home!!

I went to church with Elaine and Jim on Sunday.  They are both very active in their United Methodist Church.  I am sorry that I didn't get pictures inside, because the church is a stunning older building with stained glass windows.  Here is the outside...

Jim is a hunter and built a blind on a friend's property a while back.  He learned just before I arrived that a tree fell on it during a storm, and it looked like a huge loss.  While Elaine and I were off having fun, Jim was reconstructing his blind, and he was able to get it back to nearly new.  We all celebrated that win!  While he was out there, he was able to 'harvest' some mushrooms.  He cleaned them and froze some, we used some, and he gave some to a neighbor.  I've never seen mushrooms like these, but they were very good!  This is just one batch...

Jim and Elaine have three sons.  They are all successful in their own fields (and all are brag-worthy), but I want to brag on the youngest.  Jon is an artist and lives in Asheville, NC, with his long-time girlfriend.  He worked for years at the Blue Spiral Art Gallery.   He is now doing his art full-time and is making a name for himself.  He was featured on the cover of the Asheville magazine.  I took these photos of the magazine and article, and HERE is a link to his website and more recent work.  The second page has his self-portrait...

On Monday, we were up and about, ready to head back to Springfield to explore the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and his homesite (where they lived for 17 years, before moving to Washington).  There was so much to see and experience!!   I have three times more photos than I'm sharing here.  It was so interesting! 

Lincoln's bed looks short but was actually 6' 9" long for his 6' 4" height.

Our tour guide...

  

I had to take a picture of the luxurious outhouse!  Three seats!!  

I am so glad we ladies don't have to dress like this now!

The White House Kitchen...

Lincoln's casket...

We didn't travel to his tomb, but I snapped a photo of the photo...

This band was so interesting to watch and listen to.  There were two over-the-shoulder instruments that would be called baritones today.  Back then, they were called Saxhorns.  The bells of the instruments go backwards over the musician's shoulder so marching troops behind the band could hear them.  I've never seen that before. 

We traveled back to Quincy for dinner at The Tower Pizza & Mexican Restaurant.  Another yummy dinner out.  I neglected to get a photo.  

On Tuesday, I was out and about with Elaine, running a few errands, and she was acclimating me to Quincy.  There are so many beautiful mansions (my description) in many neighborhoods.  HGTV decorators would have a field day in Quincy!! 

Elaine and Jim have a beautiful garden that was producing lots of tomatoes and pickles while I was there.  Elaine cans garden produce and made some jalapeno pickle relish while I was there.  They also have strawberries, and she made jam from them earlier in the growing season.  I would say I helped with the relish, but I really only chopped a few cucumbers, tightened the lids, and put the filled jars into the boiling water.  I did get to bring home some relish and strawberry jam...

Wednesday was my last full day with Elaine and Jim.  Elaine wanted me to see the  Quincy Art Center, so we went there and stayed for nearly two hours.  

Here is a link about this exhibit.  I really enjoyed it!

We went out for dinner at The Abby Restaurant.  It is another favorite of theirs, and we all enjoyed our meals!  Kind of sad to be heading home the next day.  I neglected to mention that Jim is a great grillmaster and Elaine is a great cook.  Meals eaten at home were all also delicious.

We got up early enough to visit The Village Inn for breakfast on Thursday, before heading to Springfield and my trip back to Grand Rapids and on to Lakeland Friday.

I will add that it wasn't quite that easy.  To make a long story short, I flew American Airlines to Chicago, and was to take another flight with American to Grand Rapids, where I had a room reserved at the Grand Rapids Airport Holiday Inn. There was a pretty bad lightning storm in Chicago that grounded and canceled many flights, mine included.  There were stand-by lists and an actual seat on a later flight.  I didn't make any of the stand-bys.  The 10:30 p.m. flight,  on which I had a seat confirmed, kept delaying.  I finally got on board at nearly 12:30 a.m., arriving in Grand Rapids at 2:30ish.  The hotel shuttle stopped at midnight, and there were no taxis after 1:00.  I used my Uber app, and he arrived in less than 10 minutes.  I was checked in by 3:15ish. Twelve hours bounced around from gate to gate to gate at O'Hare took its toll.  I got about two hours of sleep and was happy that my luggage followed me and wasn't lost!  A shower felt good.  I had breakfast at the hotel, and the shuttle got me to the airport in plenty of time to make my Avelo flight back to Lakeland!  Praise God!

Neighbor and friend, Susan, was there to pick me up.  Her smile and hug were so good!  She and her hubby invited me out to dinner with them at Cracker Barrel.  So very blessed by wonderful people in my life.  Praise God!

That's it for my vacation, and I thank you for getting this far!!  It was so much fun, and was a getaway I really needed, despite the glitches getting home.  

Thank you again to Mari and Bob, and Elaine and Jim.  

It was amazing, dear friends!

Watch for my Whimsical Fashion Fun post tomorrow!  Back to normal going forward!!

Peace and Hugs!

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

--Abraham Lincoln