Educational Vacation

I can't believe it's the last day of August already. This summer has gone by too fast. Last weekend I enjoyed a short, educational summer vacation with my boyfriend. We first stopped in Springfield, IL, because I thought I should visit the capital of the state I live in and also I happened to have a friend who lives there whom I met while I was on my study abroad trip to Australia. We ate at Charlie Parker's diner which was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the food network. Apparently they have a famous 16" pancake, that's like the size of a pizza!! Now I was craving some pancakes for our brunch, but I decided to just go with the simple pancake the size of my plate, because when I saw the chicken fingers on the menu as well, I wanted some of those too. I know the new thing is Chicken and Waffles together which I personally think does not sound good, but for brunch I did have a pancake and chicken, eaten separately but it's close to Chicken and waffles I suppose.
After brunch, we all decided to head to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum where we learned all about Abraham Lincoln's life from when he was born and grew up in a log cabin to his presidency in the White House up to the time he was assassinated at the height of his success. The museum had a very modern set up and was perfect for an afternoon. We also enjoyed one of the theater showings about Lincoln too. I'd say it was very educational! Here are pics from the lobby as we were not allowed to take pictures inside the exhibit.

    After the museum, we decided to drive just a couple miles to see Lincoln's Tomb. It was an amazing tomb with walls made of marble and other stones. We also rubbed Lincoln's nose for good luck.

   After that, we said goodbye to my friend and drove to St Louis where we enjoyed the view from a rooftop bar, went to the top of the St Louis Arch, walked through the park, checked out the animals at the zoo and saw a sea lion show and visited some museums.

view from the top of the arc

looking up at the arc from the ground

bridge under the arc

sea lion show at the zoo

sea lion jumping through a hoop

delicious bbq dinner

playing at the city park

playing at the city museum, a large creative playground

part of the playground outside

lots of slides

And that's all for my short, educational vacation to end my summer. I still don't want to say goodbye to summer, but I guess that I just have to remember that apple and pumpkin season is coming and I can't wait to crave a pumpkin this year again and hopefully visit the pumpkin farm. Maybe I can finally spend some time carving a pumpkin that isn't so boring (meaning more than just a face). 

Happy Labor Day Weekend Everyone!!