thursday

very early start this morning
there were notices up on one of the side streets yesterday that said that a nearby road was closed due to filming
sounds kinda cool right
so i headed over there this morning around 8
nope
but there were other notes saying that they would be there tomorrow and the next day
bummer
wandered back to the hotel
headed out of chicago
but decided to see soldier field
and the united centre first
nope
soldier field, could have paid $19 to park
think not
there were some 'off event' parking spaces, but apparently there were some meetings with very important people today so we were given the bum's rush
so off to the united centre
totally closed up, no parking, no doors open
oh well, we got some good pics

so off to springfield
long drive
got there around 3ish
headed to the abraham lincoln museum/library
what an absolutely amazing experience
one of the docents encouraged us to experience the theatres there
we went to 2
i have never been so impressed by anything ever!!
unbelievable
the first one was about 'ghosts from the past'
it looked like it was a live presentation
the special effects were awesome
the 2nd one had amazing effects as well
gunfire, thought we were being shot
smoke, rumbling
really felt like you were experiencing the civil war

the whole museum was absolutely amazing
so now we have a new mission, visit presidential libraries/museums
(we have actually planned to see monticello, thomas jefferson, anyway)

so, off to st louis
the kids got to see some bum being arrested while i was checking into the hotel
hey, shawn smith if you are reading this, shawn smith checked us into the hotel (he's a little darker than you though, but just as much hair)

nice intro
we are right downtown, unfortunately not focused on the arch
but what an amazing site, we saw it from the highway, it was totally awe inspiring
it is huge!!

st louis looks like a really nice city, lots of tall buildings, not really what i expected at all
we will be here for 2 days, so lots of chances to check stuff out

and that's it for today
lots of driving
lots of experiences
barry is keen to hit a zumies, but that means suburban mall, (yay!!)