Seedling Mile | An American Songline

A Lincoln Highway celebration would not be complete without attending this Lincoln Highway Association’s annual conference this year. This is the 21st conference the Association has held, and it did not disappoint. I wasn’t able to stay for the whole conference this time (just Tuesday and Wednesday), but I had a lot of fun hanging out with old friends and learning new things about the Lincoln.

Our bus tour on Tuesday went back into central Nebraska, and I got to revisit some of the places I had seen the week prior. For me, it was a good chance to get some more pictures (the lighting had changed because of the weather), see old friends and make new ones. The new place I went to on this tour was the Museum of American Speed. I’m not a gear head, so I thought I was going to be bored. I was SO wrong. There were so many exhibits of different auto related things, there really was something for everyone.

Wednesday was seminar day, and all of the presentations that I saw were fantastic. I wasn’t able to stay all day because I was being interviewed for a documentary (more on that in a future post). The evening concluded with me performing for the awards banquet, breaking down my table in the book room (it’s the best way to find me at the conference), and saying my thank yous and goodbyes to everyone before I went back to my hotel room to pack and get ready for the next stage of the tour.

I love going to the conference every year, and I look forward to next year’s conference in Utah! Here’s a few pictures of the conference for your viewing pleasure (Also check out Denny Gibson’s posts about the conference, you’ll learn some random things about me). My next post will be a continuation of Central Nebraska (it’s a pretty big state), focusing from Kearney to North Platte. Until then, have a good weekend everyone!

Another View of Grand Island’s Seedling mile, this time with the LHA tour.

We went back to visit the Pony Truss bridge I was a little freaked out about visiting, and there was a welcoming committee this time! They brought along some of these old cool signs dating back to the 20s.

Here’s another pic of the bridge, as you can see the water went down a little bit!

I could honestly photograph this bridge for an hour, so many cool shadows.

Here’s Russell and Jay near some local “foliage”. To curb deer from getting into places they shouldn’t go, hemp plants grow in/around most ditches in Nebraska. We actually had a cop sitting near us to make sure we wouldn’t procure anything.

The Merrick County Courthouse in Central City, Nebraska is the site of the first proclamation of the Lincoln Highway, on October 8, 1913.

We ate lunch at Duster’s in Gothenburg, NE, the place where I got that awesome root beer at in my previous posts of this area. This is a mural that’s inside the restaurant, which shows people traveling across the country.

Off to Lincoln, Nebraska next! Yes, it’s technically not on the highway, but honestly the Museum of American Speed was much more fun that I thought it was going to be. This whole wing of the museum was dedicated just to albums of racetracks and car noises.

Here’s a record of the first Dodge driving the Andes Mountains in 1923.

Most people remember Thomas Dolby for the song “He Blinded Me with Science”, not “Aliens Ate My Buick”.

Going up the stairwell from the 2nd to the 3rd floor I ran into this Lunch Box collection. It was one of the coolest retro things I’ve ever seen.

If you haven’t heard this song, go to YouTube and listen to it-now. It’s hilarious. I will probably sing it on my next tour.

And I thought my Dad hoarded tools, here’s a wall of Monkey Wrenches.

Inside this massive museum (3 floors), they had a replica of a 1920’s garage, including the “Lincoln Shock Absorbers”.

From the 3rd floor of the museum, you can see the whole view of downtown Lincoln, NE, including its unique state capitol building.

In the song “Preparing for the Lincoln Way” composed by Nolan Stolz, I’ve been singing about a “Motometer”. I finally got to see a sign of one at this museum, pretty cool!

Here’s the view of the replica soda shop in the museum.

There were several dioramas on the 3rd floor, but this one was my favorite.

Sign greeting you at the hotel, painted by Iowa artist and LH enthusiast John Fitzsimmons.

We all gathered for our group picture Wednesday morning wearing our best red, white and blue shirts. I turned around a snapped a pic after we were done with the photo shoot.

I had the honor of singing at the LHA awards banquet this year, and they put me at the head table! What great view.

Never again will my little car be surrounded by two other beautiful cars of completely different periods.

Again, here’s another great photo and sign display.

Lots of people brought out some great Lincoln Highway signs and memorabilia for this year’s conference.

My favorite part of Seminar Day was hearing the panel of the early founders of the Modern LHA, which included Joyce and Bob Ausberger, Brian Butko, Kevin Patrick and Drake Hokanson (first man to write a book about the highway).

Seminar day had a lot of great talks about Lincoln Highway history. From general facts to the Tin Can tourist travel to learning more about the Colorado Loop, it was a great day.

The food for the banquet was excellent, and for my friends who have food issues, the Holiday Inn in Kearney did a great job!

I’ve lived in Illinois for several years, and have driven the Lincoln Highway in these parts a few times. As noted in the previous post, navigating the highway is very easy to do in this state thanks to its excellent signage. There’s some memorable points along the route that one should check out once the traffic of Chicago is far behind you, and these are my personal highlights of this last trip in Western Illinois.

1) The Loveland Community House

George and Emma Loveland lived in Dixon, Illinois their whole lives, but traveled extensively. When they both passed away, they noted in their will and testament that all of their estate funds and belongings from their travels would be donated to the city of Dixon. With this endowment, a museum and community center was built that has continued to serve the community in a number of ways. The museum has one of the most eclectic but fun collections I’ve ever seen (it also includes donations from other Dixon Locals too), as well as meeting rooms and a huge auditorium. I performed my 3rd Illinois concert here and it was a fantastic show. You can see video of some of the songs from this performance on my new YouTube page.

2) The John Deere Historic Site

While this site is not on the Lincoln Highway (it’s about 5 miles from Dixon in Grand Detour), make the journey to visit this place. Between the Archeological Site, the resident Blacksmith doing demonstrations, the gardens, and the original home, you will really get a wonderful, interactive glimpse into life in Grand Detour in the early to mid 1800s.

3) City of Dixon, Illinois

For a population of 16,000, Dixon has a lot going on! The biggest claim to fame is that Ronald Reagan spent his boyhood here, and you can tour this home as well as follow the Reagan Trail. There’s a lot of Lincoln Highway sights here too (see in pictures below), plus there’s five gorgeous state parks all within a short driving distance of the highway.

4) De Immigrant Windmill, Fulton Illinois

Who knew an operating Windmill was in Western Illinois? Originally built in the Netherlands, disassembled and shipped to Fulton. They process 5 different grains in this mill (depending on how the wind is that day), and you can buy it on site. Check out the Windmill Cultural Center next door too, you can see really intricate models of dozens of different types of windmills from all over the world.

Other Lincoln Highway related sites include the Lincoln Highway Association Headquarters in Franklin Grove, IL (they’ve got so much cool stuff there, make sure you have a whole afternoon to check it out), plus the seedling mile in Malta, IL (right in front of the community college). There’s plenty of things to see and do along the route in the “Land of Lincoln”, you easily could do multiple trips.

Here’s a few snapshots of all of the places that I’ve mentioned, plus a couple extra surprises :-) – Enjoy!