{Spring Break} Cool Times in Warm Springs

Spring Break started at approximately 2:45 yesterday afternoon, and we were off early this morning...  The final destination being my daddy's old stomping grounds on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we stopped in Warm Springs, GA on the trip down for a very special ceremony.

With my mom as my travelling buddy (Hubby had to stay behind and work), we made it to Warm Springs in time to stop at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park to have a quick breakfast picnic at FDR's favorite picnic spot, Dowdell's Knob...

It really was a beautiful view, and I can now understand why FDR had a grill constructed on the site.   

The grill has since been filled in for preservation, but it was pretty neat to see such a concrete (literally) piece of history right there that FDR visited, used, sat around and enjoyed with family and friends...

From there, we headed over to Roosevelt's Little White House to tour the site and enjoy a very special program, with today being the anniversary of FDR's death right there at the Little White House...

We toured the home...

{the living room, left very much untouched, where FDR was sitting for his portrait (in the chair) when he experienced pain in the back of his head and slumped forward, never to regain consciousness}

explored the museum...

and found South Carolina along the Flag Walk & State Stones path...

 

Lastly, we attended a special ceremony with one of FDR's granddaughters, Nina Roosevelt Gibson, as the special guest and speaker...

She was just delightful and was kind enough to pose for a photo with the littles and sign B's program as well...

I think that she favors her grandfather quite a bit!

On the way out, we stopped by to see the famous "unfinished portrait"...

From there, we enjoyed a late lunch off the beaten path at Oskar's Café...

before stopping at the Alabama State Capitol building in Montgomery...

and, again, finding our beloved South Carolina represented on the grounds...

We arrived in Mississippi a little after dinner...  

and stopped in to visit with my sweet grandmother briefly before retiring to our hotel...

Another adventure on tap for tomorrow!

More FDR sites that we have visited...

 FDR's Springwood in Hyde Park, NY

 FDR's Cottage on Campobello Island in New Brunswick

{Weekend Adventure} Day 2 - President Abraham Lincoln Birthplace and Boyhood Home

Continuing on our quest to visit as many U.S. Presidential sites as possible, after a quick (drive-through) tour of Fort Knox for our resident Lieutenant Colonel, we started off bright and early with a visit to the birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln...

Though the cabin inside is a replica, Abraham Lincoln is said to have been born on this hill, here on Sinking Spring Farm near the current town of Hodgenville, KY...

There are 56 steps to the top ~ one step to represent each year of Abraham Lincoln's life...

I visited here with my family as a child, and I credit that visit as the reason that I've always known that Abraham Lincoln was NOT from Illinois!

The sinking spring for which the farm was named (and where the family members more than likely gathered their water)...

From Sinking Spring Farm, we continued on to Knob Creek Farm, where President Lincoln recalled his earliest moments, to take a look around...



We grabbed a late lunch at Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn in Owensboro, KY...

 

before crossing the Ohio River and into Indiana...



We thought it'd be a pretty quick visit to the Lincoln Boyhood Site in what is now Lincoln City, IN, but this turned out to be our favorite park of the day and we literally closed it down...literally...

We decided to go ahead and hike the (not strenuous at all) 1-mile loop that included the gravesite of Lincoln's mother, a working farm site, the bronzed foundation of the Lincoln family cabin and the Trail of Twelve Stones...

They were making maple syrup at the farm site...

 


The place where Lincoln's family home once stood...

They evidently discovered it, excavated the site and bronzed the existing foundation...

The loop concluded with the Trail of Twelve Stones which included stones, bricks, logs, etc. from important buildings and sites of Lincoln's life...

 



 
 


concluding with a memorial to his mother made from leftover material from Lincoln's gravesite in Springfield, IL...

The littles completed the Junior Ranger program, and by the time we got back to the visitor's center, it was about time for it to close.  The park ranger asked if we would help her take down and fold the flag...

Well, we couldn't exactly say no!

 
 
 


Well, we could use a little bit of practice on the folding, but it was a BIG flag!


 


Though we left Indiana a few hours behind schedule, it was well worth it.  We continued on to Louisville, KY and stopped at a couple of sites related to our 12th President, Zachary Taylor, including one of his homes (currently a private residence)...

 


and his gravesite...

before grabbing a superquick dinner and hightailing it on home.

Again, I'm quite thankful that all 3 of our littles fall asleep easily in the car, so Hubby and I enjoyed a very quiet ride home (and ended up being the only two in our family lacking a good solid night's sleep)! 

It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend, and Hubby and I were (understandably) quite tired on Monday, but we had a blast.

I'm really looking forward to our Road Trip this summer!