Monday, August 11, 2008

My Weekend In Pictures

Look at this, folks! I'm actually posting promised pics! Yes, you that know me know well that I always promise to post pics but rarely deliver. But this time I have come through!

This weekend a couple friends of mine came down from my old hometown of Kirksville, MO, for a road trip that included a Fergie concert at the Illinois State Fair and some sightseeing in Springfield, IL (a.k.a. Abe Lincoln hometown). Anyways, here come the pics!

From Left To Right: Me, Eva, Sabrina
Standing in front of the stage, waiting for the Fergie concert to begin.



The Fergie concert was AWESOME. I was so afraid that it would not be worth the road trip to Springfield, but it totally was worth it. It surpassed all my expectations. The show had awesome dancers, and Fergie was sure doing her part too. At one point she was doing cartwheels in skin-tight leather pants while singing. Not only did she sing her songs, she sang many of the Black Eyed Peas songs (yes, she sang the full version of My Humps and it rocked!!!) For her song "Voodoo" she had masked dancers come out. For "London Bridge" she brought out the guards, danced all over them (not a one broke a smile) then shoved them down. During each costume change (she went through 3 costumes) they had a dance and music session, where the dancers totally blew me away with their awesome skills. The best part of the whole show was the end, when they did Fergalicious and rocked it hard -- it was an incrediable version of the song, I absolutely loved it. Oh, and did I mention that I had excellent seats? I got to stand right by the stage, and even made eye contact with Fergie 4 or 5 times, not to mention snagged some great pics.

Fergie singing "Big Girls Don't Cry"


Fergie being "Glamourous"


The next day we decided to see what we could do for free in Springfield. We made our way to the home of President Abraham Lincoln. This is the home where him, his wife and their sons lived until Abe became president.


Okay, so we had a few blond moments while we were there. See the sign below? Read it before you continue the story. ("This view of the Lincoln home has been the most frequently photographed throughout the years. We invite you to step into history and take a photo from this location.")


Sabrina: Oh look, we should take a picture here!

Me: Okay!

Sabrina: That didn't turn out too well...

Me: Yeah, that's really odd...


Sabrina: Ohh! I know ... I have that button on my camera!

Me: That's it! The zoom! Let's try again ...


Me: That still didn't work.

Sabrina: Yeah, that really sucks.

Me: Why would they tell us to take a picture through that if it doesn't work?

Sabrina: I don't know.

Me: Oh crap! Umm... I don't think we were supposed to take a picture through the hole... I think we were just supposed to take a picture from this spot!

So alas, we stood back, took some pics while laughing our asses off, and realized that we completely lost all our brain cells just a minute before.


After we were done making fools of ourselves in the middle of the street, we made our way inside the house. I took many pictures, but only posted a few. This is Abe's desk in his bedroom, apparently well-worn and used. It amazes me because it's so small! Abe was supposed to be a really tall man, and I know I'd be cramped in that. But then I decided to look up how tall he really was, and found out he was 6'4". So yes, that's tall, but my ex-husband was 6'5" I guess the image of Abe in my mind is more like a 7 foot tall individual -- but perhaps it was just his famous hat that made him look so darned tall.


This is his bed. It was oddly sloped in the middle, I guess from the mattress. As a side note, this was HIS bed ... his wife had her own bed & portion of the room.


Presidental potty! 3 stalls, even! I can't imagine sitting on a pot with even one person plopped down next to me, let alone two. Hey look, there are even leaves on the floor, how convienent ...


After visiting his house, we made our way over to his tomb. Apparently it took a long time to get him in there. They said he waited in a receiving vault for over 7 months before being placed into a temporary tomb for 5 more years. Then he was moved into this tomb, which was only partially completed at the time. Then much later, they decided to move him within the tomb. Poor Abe, let him rest, people!


Here is his tomb stone. Abe is buried below the floor, 30 inches behind the tombstone and 10 feet below that. His family, except for one son, are also in the same burial chamber.


So that concludes my weekend in pictures! My long weekend is over (I took Fri & Mon off work) and I'm predicting a quiet, relaxing weekend coming up! Oh, in case you're keeping track, I am not posting Trim Up Tuesday today. I have done well because I managed to keep my weight exactly the same, and I will be back into weight loss mode starting today! Thanx for stopping by ...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like much fun! I have some of the same exact pictures from about 20 years ago. Lincoln's House really is cool beans.

Mz Diva said...

I love Fergie and you know I am a huge history buff. The guy that I studied with recently, Henry Louis Gates Jr. is working on a PBS series about Lincoln that should be on this year. I never saw his house, only one of his beds at the Chicago History Museum. Looks like you had a blast! Were you over your burn in that pic?
Diva

lynda w said...

We recently took the kids to Springfield while Ryan was on a Lincoln kick, but were disappointed that we couldn't go up to the roof of the monument. Were they letting people up there again when you went?

Another fun place we stopped at was New Salem where Abe lived before getting married - but unfortunately our corrupt idiot mayor just cut their funding down to nothing!

Sounds like you had a really great time!

Anonymous said...

Great shot! It is good to see the house of one of America greatest presidents and men. His house looks great too; nice and cosy. The bed looks kind of big as it made the lady standing besides it look small. The tomb of Abraham Lincoln looks magnificent too.

LOL! The little blunder that you and Sabrina made! I would have done the same too. It is a little misleading, especially the hole there. :)

Pollye said...

Hey Brandie, thanks for posting the pics! I feel like I got to go with you...almost. Sounds like fun and I learned something. You know movin' Abe around. good trip.

Anonymous said...

You write very well.