Greetings From The Land Of Lincoln

Greetings from Here...  We  are Here?

Land of Lincoln.

 Greetings from Springfield, Illinois!   Home of the Birth place and Final Resting Place of our 16th and one of our Greatest Presidents.  ( Not Obama!)  I'm talking about Abraham Lincoln! (Ok, Technically born in Kentucky...  I know, I know)  First Republican President,  Ender of Slavery,  Savior of the Union, Gettysburg Address, And hater of all things Opera... At least in his final days. Not a bad effort for the First Republican President... and they killed him for it.    Sounds about right for an ungrateful society.   You can read more about it in just about ANY history book in America... But I digress.

One of the GREATEST PRESIDENTS!  ( Not Obama.) 

The Coveted Finisher's Medal.

Only one thing can possibly bring us to this historic and otherwise un-notable city in Illinois... The Lincoln Presidential Half-Marathon!   Celebrating it's 55th year of running traditions,  It has come out with a new and exciting finishers medal:   A 5 dollar bill with five shiny copper pennies along the bottom.    Cheryl is very excited!

Visiting Lincoln's Tomb.  Try Stealing
the Body NOW.....

The trip here was rather uneventful.   Pleasant temps and a nice, overcast sky made the drive easy.   So easy,  we arrived several hours before the Expo and the Hotel were open.   What do we do with several extra hours? 

His final resting place.  I forgot to
remove my hat....  Stupid!  Stupid! 

Visit Ole Abe's Grave.   Great history here for anyone who is curious.   Grave robbers tried to steal Lincolns body way back when; and as a result,  they buried him in a mountain of concrete and marble!   Try getting his body now!   There was a guy telling the story to some kids,  but I used to be an addict of the History Channel.   I knew the story very well and will refrain from telling it again here.  ( I already told Cheryl everything.... several times!  Even though she watched the same episode with me!)

It was cool.... And full disclosure:  I forgot to remove my hat when I entered the tomb.   I guess there was a sign there asking politely.   No one called me on it, but I feel bad about my formal mishap after I discovered it.   Typical American... No formal tradition in mausoleum etiquette.

Killing time at the Souvie Shop.

Cheryl checks out the hats and beards. 

With still more time left to kill,  we headed to the souvenir shop to look at the touristy trinkets.  Cheryl bought something... And they had pretty cool things there.   But eventually,  we had wasted enough time to sign into the hotel.  And from there,  travel to the expo.

On to the Expo....

Now to Donuts!  (Wait!  What about
the Expo?  Is it over already?) 

It seems like it is getting smaller each year.   I remember the first year when they had beer samples and sticker vendors.   This year they only had one small room with only one vendor.  We did not need to purchase anything..so we simply picked up our packet and bib and headed to Cheryl's next planned stop....

Fresh Donuts are the BEST!

Lemon filled glazed!  My new favorite.

Krispy Creme Donuts!    They sponsored the event last time, and are doing it again this year.   Cheryl wanted to sample some fresh donuts  direct from the bakery.   And several various colors and flavors while we were at it.  I really enjoyed the Lemon filled glazed donut.   Fresh trumps everything!

Splash of Hops!  The Local Brew is
awesome!

Origami for the Hotel staff.  Hope they
Like them.

After a brief walk to burn off those extra calories,  ( as if a walk could possibly do that without walking out of the state!)  we finally are in our hotel room and preping for tomorrow's race.    I have to sample the local beer.  (VERTEX IPA.   Crisp and hoppy!)  and se up some Origami for the clean-up crew to enjoy after we are gone.   Hopefully they will not throw them away.

Cheryl's shirt standards.

Loose and baggy is better than too
small and tight.

So,  At least Cheryl's race Shirt fits this time.   She is very picky when it comes to race shirts.   No short-sleeves.   Not too tight.  And it can not be cotton or some other "Non-Tech" fabric.     She thought that the sizes form females are a little snug... so she chose a "male/unisex" version.   I think she likes the fit.   Who knows?   She may actually wear it in her normal attire.   We shall see.

Wish us luck tomorrow.   Cheryl will have her sites set high as this is the third time we have run this race.   Being a veteran and injury free has to add up somewhere.    Hopefully it will shave off time for a new PR and possibly an award or something.   Fingers crossed.   At least the temps are supposed to be nice and cool tomorrow.   An early race with runner's favorite temps should be a plus as well.   And..  Free beer and Krispy Cremes!   Who would not want that?!?!  And that is one of the reasons we love this race.  See ya tomorrow!