Road Tripping 2024 Lincoln, Grant and a ferry

I've been driving home to Cleveland by myself for over 15 years, and with only some slight variations, it's been the same drive I94 to I90/I80. It's fine, it gets me from Minnesota to Ohio and back again, but this spring/summer I really wanted to mix it up and just do some different things. It's a challenge because most of the time, I just want to get home and that's the basically straight line noted above, so going off piste is going to add time, maybe money to the journey. But you only live once, and since I only have to answer to myself, I made a few different journeys.

In April I came home via Springfield, Illinois, the one-time home and final resting place of Abraham Lincoln. There are a couple of things to do in Springfield that are Lincoln-related, but I could only muster the energy and patience to stop by the tomb. It is in Oak Ridge Cemetery, which has rolling hills and was beautifully peaceful on the Saturday I visited. The tomb is free to visit, and it's just a brief walk around inside with a variety of statuary of Lincoln at different stages in his life. I was early enough so I was pretty much by myself to wander as slowly as I wanted to read placards. My timing was fortuitous because it was the anniversary of Lincoln's death (as recognized for event purposes) so there were re-enactors as soldiers and musicians; there were memorial wreaths and speeches. I did stay for some music and to watch the soldiers line up with their state and regimental flags. I was tired by the time I got home, but I am glad I made the stop.

      

In August I made another road trip through Illinois, going through Galena, to visit the home of Ulysses S. Grant in the 1860s. It was a pretty, but long, drive from Cleveland to Naperville, where I stayed the night and then drove to Galena, about two hours away. There are tours of the house, Wendesdays through Sundays, but best to confirm on their website. When I visited they were suggesting a $5 donation per person. The house is a nice size, but obviously it wasn't designed for groups of people traipsing through, so you do have to wait outside on the porch (veranda?) until the guides bring you inside and groups are limited to 12-15 people. I would also say it's not handicapped accessible with snug hallways and a narrow stairwell. The guide we had was really good and packed a lot of information into a short amount of time. I think the total time of the tour was maybe 30 minutes. There are some wonderful paintings and sculptures of Grant and his family as well as the rooms being kept in the style of the period. I enjoyed my little detour and again, if I hadn't been in such a hurry, I might have dallied a little more in Galena. I did take a little walk around Grant Park before I headed home. If you're a Civil War or history buff, I would recommend making a stop.

Julia Grant

 

US Grant

 

 

My last adventure involved a ferry. There are two ferries from Michigan to Wisconsin, one from Muskegon to Milwaukee, about 2 hours, and the SS Badger from Ludington to Manitowoc, coming in at four hours. Strictly by the numbers, I'm not sure the ferry saved me time or money, but I've never done it before and really wanted to give it a try. My drive, in optimal conditions with no traffic and no breaks is about 13-14 hours, but that has never happened, so let's say 16 hours, and now I do an overnight stay somewhere, so two days, a hotel and tolls through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The timing of the departure from Ludington meant an overnight stay, and luckily in September, I got a motel room with sort of off season pricing. The ferry left at 9:00, so I queued up at 8:00 am, it was a five minute drive from the motel, and went through the security check, checked in and pulled into a waiting area where the crew drove my car on. I was kind of relieved that I didn't have to drive it on I had this fear of doing it wrong. They drove it on and off. It was actually pretty smooth. There's no assigned seating, although you can book a suite/cabin, which might be good if you need a nap or are with a group, I guess. The weather was gorgeous, although a little chilly in the morning. I got a little breakfast in the restaurant/cafe, walked around to check it out, and then parked myself on the lower deck and read my book. They showed two movies and had bingo on my passage, and I think they even have a DJ on the weekend night trips. We arrived in Manitowoc (about 45 minutes from Green Bay) around noon, I got my car about 15 minutes later, got lost 5 minutes after that, and then was on my way home by 12:30. What I did really like and appreciate about the ferry was the trip home on the second day seemed easier because I only had to drive for about four hours instead of 6-8, and trust me, those last few hours can be so long; so I was nice and rested. And it's very pretty up by Ludington and coming down from Manitowoc. If I could have planned this a little differently, I might have gone further in Michigan for a day and then come home. I don't think I would do this route every trip home, but it was a nice treat.

I'm off the road until next spring, but I'll be planning some new routes.