Don't blink, kids, or you will miss North Utica. We broke off into two groups and strolled through the town of North Utica on a trolley Wednesday afternoon. One of the trolley tour guides was incredibly entertaining as he educated us on Starved Rock, North Utica and the surrounding areas. A few fun facts: Starved Rock was building by members of the CCC: Civilian Conservation Core, and it is the second largest state park. Also, it gets it's name from the story of the Illini Indian tribe. Also, the kids learned that the sandstone in the park is called "St. Peter's sandstone." In the small, quaint city of North Utica, we saw one of the first churches in the Midwest, the Immaculate Conception of St. Mary's. The church's mission was led by Pere Marquette: the first Frenchmen to approach Starved Rock through the Illinois River. Our tour was also memorable because we saw a bald eagle near her nest high up in the trees! After dinner at Starved Rock, we drove to Springfield where we met our tour guide for the Abraham Lincoln Walking Ghost Tour. Here, we visited his family's church and his home. We heard about the stories of Lincoln's ghosts and premonitions of his death. Finally, we ended the night back at the hotel where students settled down and received a good night's rest.
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