The last national park site we visited on this trip was Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana.  Abraham Lincoln lived on this farm along Pigeon Creek from the time he was 7, in 1816, until 1830 when the family moved to Illinois.  The years at the homestead along Pigeon Creek were instrumental in …

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Tom and I headed for George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, Indiana the day after hitting the Missouri parks along the Mississippi River.  Tom was especially interested in going there because it is a revolutionary war park.  He had also heard that they did living history there and thought it might be a …

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St Genevieve National Historical Park is one of the newer national park sites, established in 2018.  It is located just down the Mississippi River from St. Louis, so Tom and I decided to check it out.  It was not our intention to see it on the same day as Lincoln’s Home, Gateway Arch, and Ulysses …

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After our brief stop at Gateway Arch, Tom and I traveled the ten miles to Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site.  Ulysses Grant was born in Ohio to abolitionist parents, but he fell in love with his best friend’s sister when he was stationed in Missouri.  The National Historic Site preserves the home of his …

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When people complain about places that are designated National Parks and shouldn’t be, one of the top places on their list is Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, Missouri.  Gateway Arch is not one of those spectacular natural areas like Grand Canyon.  It is also not a place where history is preserved like Boston …

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The first national park site Tom and I visited in October was Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois.  We visited there once before, in 1988 when John was six months old.  Because of his age, we did not take a tour of the house.  All I remember doing is standing outside the house …

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