Springfield, IL to Rochester, NY

Abraham Lincoln's Home.

Following on from Ronald Reagan's home, we stopped in Springfield, IL to visit Abraham Lincoln's home, now given over to and maintained by the National Park Service. Its free to visit and though partly restored it has many of the original pieces of furniture making for a great glimpse back in time, especially given the significance of this great man. Springfield is also the final resting place for Honest Abe, who's tomb lies in the Oak Ridge Cemetery which we also visited.

Amish horse and carts in Shipshewana

Putting some more miles on our rental car we stopped briefly at 3 Floyds brewery and brewpub in the town of Munster, to pick up some goodies for our friend, before driving through Amish country near Shipshewana. We've seen several documentaries on TV about the Amish people and it was great to see a few of them in person, with their horses and buggies, and alternative way of life.

Tell almost any American citizen that you are going to Detroit, and they might ask you why ? Well, Motor City may be a shadow of its former self having filed for bankrupcy in 2013, but the Henry Ford Museum on the outskirts is well worth visiting. Its a vast building, housing a wide array of machinery, exhibits and Americana, many of which were Henry Ford's own collection. To give some idea of size, an original DC-3 Dakota aircraft hangs for the roof as part of the aircraft exhibits, and a huge Allegheny steam locomotive at one end. It took us over four hours just walking around the exhibits, then we also toured the adjacent Greenfield Village, where nearly 100 historical buildings have been re-located and arranged in a village setting. Its not all show though, there is a working locomotive round house, traditional glass blowers, weavers and potters all working here and manufacturing items, but it is all accessible and fascinating to see.

A selection of stoves in The Henry Ford.

As well as the museum, which was originally know as the Edison Institute, the Ford Motor Company are based right here and they do factory tours too however unfortunately when we were there the factory was closed for several months to be re-tooled for the new all aluminum body F150 pickup truck. As it happened we simply wouldn't have had time to do a factory tour as well and in hindsight we could have spent several more days in Detroit, contrary to what everyone had told us.

Selfie taken from Prospect Point Observation Tower

Another long day in the driving seat to our next stop, the magnificent Niagara Falls. The Canadian side may have the fullest view but from the US it is still pretty impressive and we had a great day out with the sun shining and blue sky overhead. There are many walkways through the state park with great views from Goat Island of the Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls, plus the American Falls which looked amazing from the Prospect Point observation tower. The best part though is putting on a blue plastic poncho and getting on one of the Maids of the Mist boats, going right up into the falls and feeling the power of the water.

Its hard to comprehend the sheer volume of water, but it doesn't all go to waste as we learnt in the visitor center of the nearby Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant. There is incredible history here, where New York generates some of the cheapest electricity in the country.


And so onto Rochester in upstate NY, to see our friend Jules and her family who live here. We've had a great weekend catching up with them all, eating and drinking too much and taking in the Hilton Apple Festival - which is in the town of Hilton, not a hotel !

Fall is rapidly taking hold now, the leaves are changing color even here and we've just heard that Chicago has had its first snowfall of this year. There are pumpkins everywhere as people get ready for Halloween, and we are looking forward to getting up to Maine next week to see the changing foliage at its best.


Finally for any of our followers not on Facebook we have just uploaded a big photo album with great pictures from both this post and the previous one, You don't have to be on Facebook, just click or press on this link to view our pictures.