Lincoln's City

If "Land of Lincoln" is the state slogan of Illinois (which, in fact, it is), then the "City of Lincoln" might well befit the state capital, Springfield.

As the Lincoln Home brochure reads: "A self-taught lawyer with only one year of frontier schooling, Abraham Lincoln rode his horse into Springfield in 1837 with all his belongings in two saddlebags."

While living in Springfield, Lincoln enjoyed great success as a lawyer and was considered one of the state's best courtroom attorneys.

Located on the south side of the square facing the Old State Capitol, this is the only building (right) still standing in which Lincoln had a law office.

In May 1844, the Lincolns purchased the Dresser home, shown here as it looked in 1860 after renovations over the years.

Mr. Lincoln was an animal lover, and Fido, his "mustard colored mutt," often accompanied him as he went around Springfield. However,Fido was more of an "inside" dog and seemed to think that a horse hair sofa in the house was his own personal domain.

Fido was terrified both of cannon fire and trains, so when making plans to leave for Washington, the Lincolns decided that Fido would have a hard time dealing with the train trip to Washington.

Lincoln hated to part with Fido, but out of concern for the the dog, Lincoln placed Fido in the care of John Roll and his family. The Rolls were asked never to scold Fido for coming into the house with muddy paws, to never tie Fido up in their yard alone, and to allow him into the house when he scratched on the door.

The Lincolns gave the Rolls their horse hair sofa so that Fido would feel more at home.

A stereopticon and some pictures are on the table in this photo above.

The interesting feature of the kitchen of the 1860s is the heighth (or lack thereof) of the stove and tables.

Working at a stove that close to the floor today would be truly back-breaking.

Two qualities of the boys' bedroom (left) and the bedroom in the next two photos were of interest to us. One is the quality of the woodwork on the beds. The story of Lincoln's early years always had him living in a log cabin, but those (folk) stories did not include the home of a successful lawyer.

The other feature that caught our eye is the colorful features of the room. The large patterns on the wallpaper and the colorful pattern of the rugs on the floor were unexpected. This much color was in contrast to the black attire worn by Mr. Lincoln in photographs.



Surrounding his home of seventeen years is a four-block area containing twelve historic structures dating back to Lincoln's time.

On February 11, 1861, Lincoln left Springfield on his Inaugural journey to Washington D.C. as President-elect. He made an impromptu speech that day from the Great Western Depot (right) before departing Springfield for the last time.

The speech, known as Lincoln's Farewell Address, began: "My friends - No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting.

"To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything."

The day that we visited Lincoln's Tomb was an overcast day with the threat of thunderstorms. The gray skies seemed somehow appropriate to the somber mood of the tomb.

The 117-foot Tomb, designed by sculptor Larkin Mead, is constructed of brick sheathed with Quincy granite.

At the corners of the shaft, large pedestals serve as bases for four bronze sculptures, each with a group of figures representing one of the four Civil War services--infantry, artillery, cavalry, and navy.

This sculp-ture (right) is for the infantry, showing the group preparing to charge.

The south entrance opens into a rotunda, where two corridors lead into the burial chamber. Interior rooms of the Tomb are finished in a highly polished marble trimmed with bronze.

The rotunda and corridors contain reduced-scale reproductions of important Lincoln statues as well as plaques with excerpts from Lincoln’s Springfield farewell speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his Second Inaugural Address.

Lincoln’s remains rest in a concrete vault ten feet below the marble floor of the burial chamber. A massive granite cenotaph marking the gravesite is flanked by the Presidential flag and flags of the states in which the Lincoln family resided.

Cousins with a Serious Case...

of the munchies. If it seems as if Chuck, Dora, and I spent all of our two weeks in Springfield eating, that would be about right.

And we start today’s blog with a visit to a local landmark—the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop. “The Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop in Springfield, Illinois is one of the few remaining early Maid-Rite franchises in the United States. This specific shop claims to have the first drive-thru window in the U.S. The building, along historic U.S. Route 66, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984” (wikipedia.com).

“Maid-Rite is one of America’s first quick service casual dining franchise restaurants since we first opened in 1926. We were ahead of our time when we developed one of the first drive-up, walk-up windows for customer convenience.... In 1926, Fred Angell, a respected butcher in Muscatine, Iowa, combined a special blend and grind of the finest Midwestern ground beef with a selected recipe of secret spices and created the one and only Maid-Rite sandwich.... As legend goes, Mr. Angell asked a delivery man, at his restaurant, to taste his newest sandwich creation. After a few bites, the taster exclaimed, ‘You know, Fred, this sandwich is just made right’” (www.maid-rite.com).

To say that this place has minimal décor would be an understatement. The tables, chairs, and few booths are utilitarian. Art work? How about the menu over the order counter? Or the plaque containing “The Rules” (No Loud Talking, No Moving of Chairs, No Mugs & Plates Outside)?

For those of you who are not familiar with a Maid-Rite or loose meat sandwich, think Sloppy Joe without tomatoes. It is cooked ground beef with some (secret) seasonings. That’s it. Just cooked ground beef.

The menu at maid-rite.com lists a number of variations on this famous loose meat sandwich including a MEGA Philly Cheese-Rite. But the Springfield outlet sticks with the basics plus their take on the local Springfield favorite—the horseshoe.

And Chuck chose the "Shoe and a Beer" (a horseshoe and a home-made root beer). The horseshoe began with a split hamburger bun that was buried under a mound of pretty good fries. This, in turn, was drowned in cheese and finally covered with the loose meat. This might have been good except the cheese was that dreadful processed nacho stuff that was never in proximity to a cow.

Dora and I went with the basic Maid-Rites. This was not the Maid-Rite I remember from my youth. Or is my memory faulty? Not possible. The Maid-Rites that I ate as a kid were juicy and moist and the bun was filled to overflowing with meat. So much meat that it would fall from the bun to be eaten with a fork from the paper sandwich wrapper. Where’s the beef? And both Dora and I thought that the meat was way too salty.

What a disappointment. While the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shop may be a 5.0 Addie nostalgic experience, it’s only a 2.0 Addie dining experience.

The next day found me at home and Chuck and Dora on their own. Although Chuck brought me home food from both of that day’s stops, information on both places is somewhat sketchy.

They started with Joe Rogers’ Chili Parlor which was seen on Man v. Food on the Travel Channel. Adam Richman’s task was to down five bowls of the tongue-scalding Firebrand chili to get his photo on the restau-rant’s “Wall of Flame.” (He succeeded.)

“When Joe Rogers was a young man, he ate a bowl of chili at a friend’s house and decided, ‘that was a great bowl of chili.’
...Wanting to achieve perfection, he experimented with many ingredients before achieving what he considered the perfect chili recipe.... Joe Rogers opened Joe Rogers’ Original Recipe ‘The Den’ Chili Parlor on December 31, 1945. Seating consisted of eleven stools at the counter.

“Despite the limited seating, Joe Rogers’ quickly became a Springfield favorite for chili made your way. Local lore holds that ‘cus-tomers would stand four deep just to get a bowl of Joe Rogers’ chili.’ Open till 3:00 a.m. in the early days, many a local will recall their favorite story of after a night on the town ending up at Joe Rogers’ eating a bowl of Firebrand.

“The flavor-filled taste and the spicy Firebrand have made Joe Rogers’ chili known worldwide. However, to locals, the magic is being able to order chili your way. Since the meat and beans are cooked separately and the spice is cooked into the meat, customers can specialize their chili to suit their taste” (joerogerschili.com).

You can order your chili mild, medium with a touch, medium/hot, hot, or firebrand. You can order beans, no beans, or extra beans. You can order regular meat or extra meat. You can order no oil, regular oil, light oil, or extra oil. Behind the counter sit vessels containing the meat, the beans, and chilis in varying degrees of heat. Like an ancient alchemist, the cook dips her ladle into the pots mixing the chili “your way.”

Dora’s choice was a small bowl of “medium with a touch.”

Chuck’s was a chili dog also with “medi-um with a touch.” And so was the bowl that Chuck brought home for me to sample.

First, “medium with a touch” is plenty spicy. I can’t imagine how spicy the firebrand might be. And second, this was really really really good chili with a high beans and meat to juice (as they call it) ratio. It is no wonder that this chili has an international reputation.

Their final dining spot of the day was at Taco Gringo which is one of Dora’s daughter Rebecca’s favorite places in Springfield. Taco Gringo has six outlets in Springfield and neighboring towns and this mini-chain describes itself as “a family-run franchise which has been celebrating over 30 years of good eats and great fun. We have established a unique style that has been appreciated by many people for many years. We have a wonderful blend between Mexican and American popular choices” (www.tacogringo.com).

Dora ordered a single beef enchilada with a side of refried beans.

Chuck chose the Fiesta Combo Dinner which came with two beef tacos, and a beef enchilada, beans, a small salad, and tortilla chips. Both Chuck and Dora exclaimed over the beans which were of the smooth pureed style.


He also got an order of the cinnamon chips—flour tortilla chips fried and coated with cinnamon and sugar. Some of these came home, and I can attest that they were delicious.

My take-out choice was a regular beef Sancho—a beef and bean burrito with cheese, lettuce, and sauce. This was one of those menu items that taste really good at the beginning, but about half way through, the aggressive seasoning takes over.

We Begin Today’s Gustatory Journey…

on the “Mother Road.” That would be Route 66.

The famed Dixie in McLean, IL, was a stop on our Route 66 memory tour. “In 1928, J.P. Walters and John Geske rented a quarter of a mechanic's garage on Route 66 to sell sandwiches to the passing truckers and travelers. They had 6 stools in their fledging restaurant. By the mid-1930's the establishment had evolved into a full-fledged restaurant and they had added cabins in back along with cattle pens so that transported cattle could be exercised. The Dixie burned in 1965 but that did not stop John, he pulled one of his cabins up and operated from it, with only a few hours of interrupted service. The Dixie was operated by John's daughter and son-in-law after he had retired however John still came by to check on things even when he was in his late 90's” (Waymarking.com).

Today, the truck stop is under new ownership and the exterior and interior have been renovated, although a small Route 66 museum still occupies one corridor. And, of course, that mainstay of interstate America, Stuckey’s, has a sales presence.

The restaurant, where we stopped for lunch, goes under the name of Woody’s and was virtually empty when we arrived at about 3:00 p.m. Granted, the weather that day was dreadful which may have kept many travelers off the road. (Yes, we do seem to be spending a lot of time out in the wind and rain.)

As would be expected at a truck stop, the menu is both long and varied with a large selection of American roadside comfort foods. I was hungry for a burger, so I ordered a mushroom Swiss which came with a cup of soup—either chicken dumpling or vegetable beef. It would be the chicken soup, which was full of celery, carrots, chicken, noodles, and dumpling in a rich chicken broth. I have never seen a soup contain both dumplings and noodles so it goes without saying that this was a stick to your ribs (or in my case hips) soup.

The burger came on a toasted roll and there was a large portion of mushrooms under the layer of cheese. While this won’t make the “best of” list, it was still quite satisfying.

Chuck chose the ultimate in comfort food—meatloaf and mashed potatoes---which came with a trip to the salad bar. Please note the mound of potato salad on the plate. And yes, he is having mashed potatoes later. I was especially interested in the cold pea and ham salad, which is a staple at Midwest salad bars, covered dish church suppers, and funeral lunches for as long as I can remember. Sometimes elbow macs are added to make the dish stretch further. But I hadn’t seen this since we left Iowa eons ago. I took a taste and it was really quite good even if reminiscent of an earlier age.

The meatloaf--three thin slices—was average at best and gave the Hub City Diner’s (Lafayette, LA) absolutely no competition.

Dora opted for the buffet which included the soup and salad bar. I don’t remember all of her choices other than the ribs and pea and ham salad. But I can tell you that the ribs warranted a second trip to said salad bar.

*************

The next day found us out in the rain again. This time for Chinese food at Tai Pan in Springfield.

Dora had never eaten there, but this is a favorite of one of her friends. Sebastian G on yelp.com writes: “This restaurant is a little hidden Asian gem in Springfield.... I have to say that I love Asian food..., (and) this love for Asian food only got more empowered after a visit to this place.... Dishes showcase Mandarin, Szechwan, Hunan, and Cantonese culinary styles equally well, and seafood and beef dishes are favorites.”

I led us to a booth in a far corner of the dining room. (Later you’ll know why this is important.)

The standard menu is long with twelve seafood, ten poultry, seven beef, five pork, and twelve vegetable selections plus an additional seventeen “chef’s specials.” And, this being Sunday, there was also a small buffet.

All three of us started with cups—make that large cups—of the hot and sour soup that contained egg threads, tofu, pork shreds, and mushrooms. Lots of mushrooms. And neither Chuck nor Dora eat mushrooms. Guess who was the lucky person who got all of their mushrooms. The soup was steaming and had a strong peppery heat. I would have liked more sour, but I am not sure that Chuck agrees.

Chuck’s entrée choice was the Hunan Triple Sizzling which was a large platter of food that contained snow peas, water chestnuts, beef, shrimp, and scallops in a mild soy-based sauce. Oh. His dish also contained lots of mushrooms. Mine. All mine.

He also included an order of dry sautéed string beans in a soy and garlic sauce. We asked that some chili paste or other spicy seasoning be added, but the addition was so subtle as to be non-existent. I did find a few chili flakes on the bottom of the plate but had I not seen these I wouldn’t have known they were present. Still, the beans were nicely cooked and neither of us has been near a green vegetable for a while.

From the day’s specials board, I ordered the Hunan Fish, which contained broccoli, carrots, green peppers and multiple flakey and sweet filets of flounder in a somewhat spicy black bean sauce. I would have liked more spice, but the dish was still extremely tasty.

Dora chose the buffet and here is where my unfortunate choice of seating comes into play. Was there a reason that everyone else was sitting in close proximity to the buffet. Yes. The buffet wasn’t large but did have a decent selection of appetizer items and traditional Chinese dished like sesame chicken and lo mein. But the kitchen did a less than stellar job of keeping the buffet filled and as soon as a new tray of food appeared from the kitchen those sitting closest arose like a swarm of locusts and descended on the food. Note to Dora. Next time make sure to sit closer.

Neither of these two meals “knocked our socks off,” but still earn a 3.5 Addie rating.

“It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…”

Or should it be “The sea was angry, my friend.”

I wasn’t sure how to start this blog, so I thought I would quote both Snoopy (the novelist) and Seinfeld's George Costanza (claiming to be a marine biologist), respectively. Of course, neither of them has anything to do with our (Chuck, Dora, me) breakfast at Le Peep.

As I’ve said many times before, I love breakfast out. While I can make a really good French toast (especially if I have Jewish Challah bread) and Chuck is a master of pancakes, most interesting breakfast foods are ones that I have no intention of making at 9:00 a.m. So when I have the chance to eat at a restaurant with a long and innovative breakfast menu, I jump at it.

“Le Peep is a 45-year-old company based in Littleton, Colo. with about 60 restaurants in 13 states. Illinois has six of them.... Rather than offering franchises, the company licenses its concept to local owners. There is leeway in the menu to add dishes that are popular in the hometown market. The basic menu includes pancakes, waffles, French toast, traditional and egg-white omelets, skillet meals, eggs and breakfast meats” (blogs.sj-r.com/offtheclock).

In addition to French toast, pancakes, and omelets, Le Peep offers what they call “Classics”: steak and eggs with peasant potatoes and English muffin; The Hen Pen—two eggs, a choice of bacon, sausage, Black Forest ham, or corned beef hash with potatoes and English muffin; Homestead Breakfast—two biscuits covered with sausage gravy sprinkled with chives and served with a pair of eggs and potatoes; Huevos Rancheros—a flour tortilla filled with re-fried beans, eggs, and topped with pork green chili, melted cheese, diced tomatoes, chives, and sour cream; The Breakfast Burrito—a flour tortilla, filled with the choice of chicken, chorizo, bacon, ham or sausage along with two eggs, onions, green chilis, refried beans and potatoes and topped with pork green chili, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and chives.

The last two sounded delicious, but I have a fondness for unique takes on eggs Benedict. Here I had my choice of (along with the traditional): the Salmon Benedict—a broiled salmon steak placed on top of cream cheese and a toasted English muffin and finished with poached eggs and rich hollandaise; Crabby Patty Benedict—two crab cakes and topped with poached eggs and cover it with hollandaise; and the Harvest Benedict—an English muffin topped with cream cheese, sautéed spinach and fresh veggies and finished with poached eggs and hollandaise.

My choice, the Harvest Benedict, came with a very large side of what Le Peep calls “Peasant Potatoes.” These were roughly half-inch cubes of skin-on potatoes that were lightly sautéed and tossed with herbs. These were better than your average home or American fries, but I only managed to eat half the portion.

Why? Because the Harvest Benedict was that good, that large, and that rich. As with a typical eggs Benedict, the dish started with a split toasted English muffin which was spread with cream cheese. Then came a very large portion of lightly sautéed vegetables that included tomatoes, broccoli, onion, mushrooms, and spinach.

I was especially impressed with the spinach which had been cooked just to the point of wilting without becoming that awful stuff that Popeye would slurp from a can. Then came two poached eggs. I might have liked the yolks less cooked and more liquid, but I would rather that than slimy whites. And the whole dish was drenched in a rich and mild lemony hollandaise.

Proving again that they are cousins, both Chuck and Dora selected the “Desperado” from the list of skillets. This dish began with a base of the “Peasant Potatoes” and then added chorizo, green chilies, and onions which were covered with house made salsa. Finally, all was capped with cheese and basted eggs. (A basted egg is one cooked sunny-side up, but with the top cooked by "basting". It's often basted with hot fat from the pan, but some people do it with hot water instead. (Chuck’s were basted with water.) Instead of the basted eggs, Dora chose scrambled (below).

I was so busy snarfing down my Harvest Benedict that I almost forgot to taste Chuck’s Desperado. I finally speared a chunk of chorizo (mild, but flavorful), salsa (again, mild, but fresh), and a potato. It was good, but I liked mine better. Chuck has ordered sourdough toast instead of the English muffin and I managed to tear off a piece to wipe every trace of hollandaise and egg yolk from my dish.

A very good breakfast that would have been 5.0 Addies, if not for the slightly overcooked poached eggs. Still, a solid 4.5 Addies, and we will keep our eyes out for Le Peeps as we meander on down the road.