Springfield, Illinois: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum

Surprised this is on Roadside America. Attraction lacks quirkyness that other attractions exude. Felt like a corporate-driven museum. Also not impressed by a lady soliciting us to join the foundation for $70.00 for 4 tickets at the entrance. This was billed as a cost savings to us, but in doing the math, that would be four tickets for the cost of six. If you do not have children, would recommend skipping.

A brief but memorable exhibit is going up in the atrium of the Lincoln Museum: a 3-D recreation of the hanging of Mary Surratt, the only woman executed in the plot to murder Lincoln (we saw her Bonnet of Death at a museum in Georgia). Also on exhibit will be props from the film The Conspirator, which follows Mary's trial and death (they include a plastic ball-and-chain and two execution hoods).

As for the museum, it's showcasing Lincoln's actual bloody gloves as the "artifact of the month" during all of April, as part of its recognition of the 146th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination. The gloves go back into storage May 1; the Surratt exhibit ends May 5.