Just by chance the lady that had led up to the first floor of the Indiana capital mentioned that there was an Abraham Lincoln Museum very close to the Illinois state capital, highly recommended it, and said that it was done very much in a manner in which Disney would have done. With such a high recommendation we had to go. On our ride over, we were fully aware (if we hadn't been after the capital) that Lincoln is more than highly regarded in Illinois and in Indianapolis specifically. There are Lincoln roads, parks, historic homes, the museum, and virtually any other tribute one could imagine. Our surprise though came when we realized that it was not just a museum for Lincoln but rather his Presidential Library and Museum. Lincoln's museum is not run by the same organization that runs the rest of the more recent presidents so it will not be found with the information for those museums. Lincoln's museum was completely different than the other presidential museum we have seen. We began our "tour" with a 3D movie called the Ghosts of the Library. This movie was not your traditional 3D it was actually 3D! It was actually real enough we weren't sure it wasn't live action. The movie occurs behind a set of windows and a man comes out to talk to the audience. He looked real! As he spoke about what history is and why it's important, etc. there are ghost-like projections that come out (very similar to the Haunted House in Disneyland) and reenacted historical occurrences. It was really well done and exceptionally enjoyable for young and old. Emma was feeling done for the day when we got there but after the film she was ready and willing to continue on.

The rest of the museum was very informational but presented in such a manner to not be boring in any fashion. The focus areas were his young life, his career years, love life, presidential campaign, Mary's life with Abe, and his presidency. It was done with full-sized recreations of his boyhood home, actual artifacts of Lincoln's, paintings, reproductions of letters, reproductions of clothing, and the like. I was presented with décor and atmospheres befitting the appropriate mood of the topic. There was even an area of anti- and pro-slavery and thankful black people in hologram form that would rotate through for those walking by to see and listen to what they were talking or yelling about. We saw everything that the museum had to offer and had a wonderful time. I would highly suggest that anyone that goes to Indianapolis go see Lincoln's Museum without a doubt. -Carrie