Sweet Sixteenth

If you were to ask Olivia the famous historic figure with whom she’d want to have dinner, the answer you’d get back would depend on the year. Two years ago, she may have said Jesus, having spent her preschool years singing his praises; last year, she would have surely said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with whom she shares in a desire to dream of a better world. And while these two men may still be seated tableside, it is Abraham Lincoln who has taken his place at the head table.

Much of this can be attributed to a lesson from her kindergarten days, but historians might be able to unearth some earlier influences, however subtle. The tour that Olivia and I took of DC this summer only served to solidify her interest in our sixteenth president, and so it was only fitting that we’d spend an entire day devoted to him – visiting the many sites devoted to him – in the capital of the Land of Lincoln.

Lincoln Home

Lincoln Tomb

Burial chamber