Golden Gang: Ole' Honest Abe's National Park

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Ole' Honest Abe's National Park

Abraham Lincoln is Zach's favorite President. I think he might be half the country's President!

I appreciate and admire this man because he came from a regular, middle class family, that didn't have a lot to prove, but wanted to be people of integrity. Abe was a simple, honest, hard working man that put his trust in the Lord.

He was not voted 'most popular' or 'smartest' or even 'most likely to succeed!' But, he did impact our country 200 years ago, and he is still studied and revered today.

We took an entire Saturday afternoon to visit these two very special National Parks. One, the Birth site of Abraham Lincoln and the other, his Boyhood Home site, are found in Hodgensville, KY., out in the middle of nowhere!

We visited the birth site first and they had a great visitor's center with a movie, artifacts and hands-on stuff for the kids.

Is there an age limit to play with Lincoln Logs?!

The house that Zach built. ;)

Then, we ventured outside to see the actual site where his family once lived and where Abe was born. We walked and counted the 56 steps signifying his age when he died.

This is inside the memorial, the FIRST memorial for Abraham, (the one in D.C. came later), that shows how big and what kind of structure his home would have looked like in 1809.

Then, we saw the spring on the property, that still flows today. Abe's first drink of water came from here! Too cool!!

There were open trails to enjoy the property.

It was a beautiful day to visit such a special place. Have you ever thought if YOUR birthplace will be significant 200 years from now? I wonder if Abraham knew?

We drove about 10 miles to the home site where Abraham grew up as a boy, until the age of seven. Parker was leading the pack!

Here is Knob Creek! It is almost dried up now, but when Abe was a little boy, he almost drowned here. His best friend, Austin, saved him by handing him a branch. Even Abraham commented on that day, saying, that if Austin was not there, he would have surely died.

How would his death, change our country?