Days 2 & 3
Both yesterday and today were days for driving around and getting to know Springfield. They were also both days for cemeteries. Boy, Red's brother, was cool enough to escort us to one of the major cemeteries here, where we found several cool headstones and a number of old ones we really liked. We also found a scant few that had toppled over but hadn't been braced up by maintenance yet, so we erected them and, in one case, did our best to clean off the headstones so they could be read again. We think we found a fresh grave that didn't yet have a headstone, but we weren't really sure.
Today we went downtown to look at the facades for a few apartment buildings in the historic district. Most things down there are closed on Sundays, but we found a sports bar opened seven days a week and let me tell you.. We're going back before I leave. This place was awesome. Not only did we get to watch the Cubs vs. Nationals game, we had some of the best and most abundant food I've had in a very long time. We went cruising for more apartment sites, then decided to head out toward the lake to find a tiny little roadside graveyard with a number of headstones that date back to the 1800's. I took my camera again, this time getting a lot of floaters, but nothing substantial at all. C'est la vie.
We did, however, save another headstone. A small, old thing we couldn't read. But with no maintenance for the area, it was slowly being swallowed up by the earth, so we dug it out and cleaned it up as best we could before setting it right. While wandering around in the copse of trees behind the little cemetery we found what we thought was a stray headstone back there. With the best intentions we began to dig with sticks and our fingers until we could get some leverage under the stone and pry it up. When it came up too easily for our tastes we inspected it closer and realized.. it was a rock. Not exactly our shining moment. But it's better than the clump of dried grass with tire tracks Red thought was writing in the fading light.
Gee, can't wait for tomorrow.
Today we went downtown to look at the facades for a few apartment buildings in the historic district. Most things down there are closed on Sundays, but we found a sports bar opened seven days a week and let me tell you.. We're going back before I leave. This place was awesome. Not only did we get to watch the Cubs vs. Nationals game, we had some of the best and most abundant food I've had in a very long time. We went cruising for more apartment sites, then decided to head out toward the lake to find a tiny little roadside graveyard with a number of headstones that date back to the 1800's. I took my camera again, this time getting a lot of floaters, but nothing substantial at all. C'est la vie.
We did, however, save another headstone. A small, old thing we couldn't read. But with no maintenance for the area, it was slowly being swallowed up by the earth, so we dug it out and cleaned it up as best we could before setting it right. While wandering around in the copse of trees behind the little cemetery we found what we thought was a stray headstone back there. With the best intentions we began to dig with sticks and our fingers until we could get some leverage under the stone and pry it up. When it came up too easily for our tastes we inspected it closer and realized.. it was a rock. Not exactly our shining moment. But it's better than the clump of dried grass with tire tracks Red thought was writing in the fading light.
Gee, can't wait for tomorrow.