"The Greatest American Story Ever Told" Tour June 17 & 18 features stops at central Illinois Lincoln sites

ELIZABETH - Abraham Lincoln's life as it can only be experienced in the Land of Lincoln will be the highlight of "The Greatest American Story Ever Told" Tour scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18.  The overnight bus tour departs from and returns to Apple River Fort State Historic Site in Elizabeth, Illinois.

 

            Tickets are $285.00 per person based on double occupancy, and include overnight accommodations, travel and most meals.  Reservations must be received by May 12, and may be made by calling (800) 672-3274 or by emailing info@appleriverfort.org.  A portion of the proceeds benefit the Apple River Fort Historic Foundation.

 

            The tour departs Apple River Fort at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, June 17 and features a stop at the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington, home of Lincoln's close friend and presidential campaign manager.  Participants will enjoy a box lunch on the Victorian mansion grounds before departing for Lincoln's New Salem near Petersburg, the reconstructed log village where Lincoln lived for six years.  Dinner will be served in the Rutledge Tavern while a young Lincoln tells the stories for which he was famous.

 

            Sunday, June 18 will begin with a tour of the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield.  Other Springfield visits that day will include the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln served as a State Legislator and argued cases before the Supreme Court; the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, where he earned a living as a successful attorney; the Lincoln Home, a substantial Greek Revival house where he lived for many years; and Lincoln Tomb, final resting place for the 16^th President and most of his family.  The tour will return to Apple River Fort about 9:30 p.m.

 

            Tour guides will be Susan Gordy, site manager of Apple River Fort and formerly director of interpretation at Lincoln Log Cabin; Chris Gordy, director of the Stephenson County Historical Society and formerly an interpreter at the Ulysses S. Grant Home, Lincoln Log Cabin and Lincoln Home; and Skip Schwerdtfeger, president of the Apple River Fort Historic Foundation and former high school and college history teacher.