Lincoln's Birthplace Field Trip

This morning I got my parents up at 5 am. Last night, I had agreed to set my alarm and wake them up when it went off. (Their alarm sometimes doesn’t work properly.) We were going to Abraham Lincoln’s birth site in Hodgenville, KY, and then to spend the afternoon with Mom’s aunt in Campbellsville, KY. We left at 7:15 and got to the site at 8:30. We went to the Visitors Center first.

One of the rangers offered the boys and I booklets to fill to become a junior ranger. It was our first time doing that. And let me tell you, that was a hard little booklet to fill! We spent a long time on those! When we turned them in, they checked them, and signed a certificate for us. Then they gave us little badges like the real rangers wear; and shook our hands.

Outside the Visitors Center, we went to a replica of The Lincoln Memorial. Inside, it had a replica of the cabin Abe Lincoln was born in. The Memorial even had fifty-six steps just like the real one! Then, we went to a spring called “Sinking Spring”. Abe Lincoln was born on Sinking Spring Farm. The spring was on the land that the Lincolns owned, so it was called “Sinking Spring Farm”. It was called Sinking Spring because it was a spring running in a sinkhole.

When I saw the cabin that Abe grew up in, it was almost like going back in time. I could just see the Lincoln family eating supper, or doing chores. The Sinking Spring was so quiet and peaceful. It was very refreshing, even though we didn’t get to drink from it.

Overall, it was a very cool field trip.