The "Land of Lincoln", Part 3.

iPad shuffled to "Lookin' Through the Windows", Jackson 5. Hope that everyone who saw the Jacksons at Motor City last night had a great time. We are still and forever diehard J5 fans.  I wore the grooves off the "Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5" album.    Springfield, Illinois. We stayed at the State House Inn. A block from the Illinois state capital.  The hotel has a retro 70's decor.  It was nice enough. Again, the hotels in Champaign are better (and cheaper) but whatever.  I have my theories.

"Funkin' For Jamaica", Tom Browne.  Crank up the volume and start dancing. Bass funk. Shawn dropped us off at the hotel after we ate Friday night. We were tired and crashed. We had plans for Saturday.  She met us at the hotel Saturday morning and we walked 2 blocks to the Springfield farmers market. Not like our Eastern Market.  The street was closed for 3 blocks and local farmers and vendors had booths. Vegetables, breads, cakes, sauces, salsa, cheese, soaps, olive oil, pasta, flowers, plants, purses...you get the idea. Shawn (Mommy and Daddy) bought a few things..salsa, cheese, bread and veggies.  And music.  And very pet friendly. 

After we finished we headed to Macy's.  Mom wanted to shop for her baby. Then off to the supermarket because parents always stock the refrigerators of their kids!  ;-)  We then headed to her 3rd floor unit in the historic apartment in the historic part of town to put up the groceries.  The apartment was gorgeous. No wifi. Yes, Dad bought an Ethernet cord. Yes, I walked up the stairs. It wasn't so bad.  Heh. The apartment is furnished and is provided by the program for the intern (Shawn). So that brings us to what is she doing in Springfield, Illinois. Well hold up a moment. 

Rahsaan Patterson, "Feels Good".  Slow finger snapping music. Sunday, Shawn asks us if we want to see where she'll be working. Of course we do. She's working for the Illinois State Museum doing an excavation at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. The entire neighborhood where President Lincoln lived has been preserved. 2-3 blocks of historic houses!!  We took a stroll down history lane. Walking tours were being held. At the visitor center there are films you can watch. After we had our private tour from Shawn, we went to a historic restaurant for a late brunch. It was a delightful day!  

Last night I got a message from Shawn. I'm going to share it.  The guy interviewing her is Curtis Aikens. He is an African American chef who had been on the Food Network in the late 90's. I guess he was in town for promotional business and was touring the Lincoln Home site. Enjoy the video!  

Signing off with  The Detroit Emeralds. "You Want It, You Got It". Old school music. And they are not from Detroit. Of course. Lol.  Oh yeah. When I returned to my dialysis center, I was asked (1) did I have a good time? and (2) when was my next trip?  Lol.  Oh and I got some sad news. My 2nd shift spitfire passed away.  This one upsets me.  I place her younger than me. Statistics show I have a 36% chance of being alive after 5 years of hemodialysis. *Sigh*.  But...the number goes to 75-85% if I switch to home hemodialysis.  Yes, once we move cat Las Vegas I'll be doing home hemo. I can't get out of here fast enough. 

http://curtisaikens.com