The third Springfield we’ve ever visited has a mural that peers into a fourth Springfield.
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
In addition to our annual road trips, my wife Anne and I have a twice-yearly tradition of spending our birthdays together on some new experience. On past trips we’d visited the graves, tombs, mausoleums and virtual posthumous palaces of 24 American Presidents in varying accommodations and budgets. One of the biggest names ever to grace the White House kept eluding us: Abraham Lincoln, planted a mere three hours away in Springfield, Illinois. In May 2023 I figured: let’s make his tomb a trip headliner of its very own, not a warm-up act on the road to Branson or whatever. History is technically more Anne’s fervent interest than mine, but we found plenty to do beyond reading wordy educational placards…
…and Springfield had no shortage of engagement for us out-of-towners nestled among the numerous museums and points of Lincoln-based interest — food, art, a spot of geek shopping, and Saturday morning downtown street events we hadn’t expected.
In the intermission between our Friday tour of the Illinois State Capitol and our walk around the surrounding complex, we grabbed lunch a few downtown blocks away at a delightful restaurant called Cafe Moxo, which at the time was a 17-year-old neighborhood staple. We found ourselves in line behind a party of five in business wear who we’re pretty certain were among those in town for the legislative session over at the Capitol.
A rather charming spot with an eclectic menu.
For me, their take on a homemade chicken pot pie.
Not pictured: Anne’s meal, a three-cheese mac-‘n’-cheese; and cookies for dessert — one peanut butter; the other, lemon white chocolate chip.
We found murals and other art forms around downtown as well:
Foreshadowing of our next morning at their Farmers Market, which is now 25 years old as of this late writing. Painted in 2015 by local artist Troy Freeman.
Hearts! Though some of the inscriptions were later additions by other contributors.
In honor of Steve Biko, a South African anti-apartheid activist. Other tributes to the man have included a Peter Gabriel single and the 1987 film Cry Freedom with Denzel Washington.
(In fine print at the bottom: “It is better to die for an idea that will live, than live for an idea that will die.”)
Lego Abraham Lincoln! A 2021 piece by Ronnie Kaszuk with Les Luger and Zach Perkins. The white stripe was added to cover up some idiot’s vandalism.
After the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum we were ready to retire to our hotel room for the night. Now that rains had arrived to dampen the end of our day, to us the hotel’s best feature was its proximity to convenient dining. The door was maybe twenty feet away from Engrained Brewing Company, a microbrewery opened in 2013 and sells some creative alcoholic concoctions that we couldn’t appreciate because we don’t drink. We’re killjoys that way.
Fun trivia: Springfield is the proud hometown of a dish called the “horseshoe”. Serve any kind of meat (or vegan substitute!) on thick toast, smother in fries (or some other potato) and drown in cheese sauce. A smaller version is called a “ponyshoe”. Every place in town that isn’t a nationwide chain has them on their menu in some form. Engrained was no exception, and offered a variety of meat options to have buried under your fries. Their cheese sauce had some extra herbs/spices in it, and they offered a fried egg on top as a garnish. But when I ordered it, I didn’t know “horse” meant “Clydesdale” and “shoe” meant “fort”.
The toast is peeking out at the bottom, but the Angus burger I chose for protein is hidden inside its li’l spud-bunker.
Whereas I went for the full Illinois experience, Anne was content with their Indiana simulation of a giant-sized tenderloin and some potato cakes.
Our hotel window view for the evening. Below our window was a nicely furnished courtyard, useless to us in this weather.
Saturday morning brought much prettier skies and zero precipitation. We easily agreed on our breakfast plans: back to Cafe Moxo!
For Anne, their Sausage Ballz & Biscuits: maple sausage meatballs and bacon cheddar biscuits.
For me, the Moxo Cristo: ham, bacon and aged white cheddar on a French toast bagel, topped with cranberry cream cheese, dusted with powdered sugar and served with maple syrup.
An appetizer for me: a BBQ chicken deviled egg, topped with crushed cherry barbecue chips.
Not pictured: my weekend caffeine dose of choice, their Salty Dog — espresso, steamed milk, caramel and sea salt whipped cream. And Anne added a snickerdoodle cookie.
While revisiting this trip a full twenty months later and fact-checking myself before hitting “Publish”, I was crushed to learn Cafe Moxo was among the casualties of a fire that ravaged several downtown buildings this past June. Recent articles from this past week mention plans to demolish the old building(s) in the near future, but Moxo’s owner remains hopeful they can reopen elsewhere soon despite the current economic conditions that are proving exceptionally lousy for a lot of restaurateurs in their state and ours, even those that haven’t burned down.
From there we walked around downtown for some light shopping and availing ourselves of multiple events that day. In our recent trips I’ve enjoyed seeking out bookshops, record stores, comic shops, and other places where I can add to my already large and unwieldy collections. The spending began next door to Cafe Moxo at Elf Shelf Books & Music, which packed its space with more than a few objet d’arts within my fields of interest. Sadly, hindsight sucks once again — Elf Shelf was a casualty of the same block fire. They’d already shut down for business on May 26th of this year with hopes of transitioning into an online-only retailer, but the fire less than a month later effectively trashed their inventory. The owner set up a GoFundMe page that’s still accepting donations as of today.
Snapshot of the vintage collectibles that were.
Shopping fun continued a couple streets down at Dumb Records. I lost the receipt and can’t recall the three CDs I bought, but I’m sure they were cool.
Looming large was the Old State Capitol, which has been closed to visitors since January 2023. But streetside looks are free.
Happening on the same street that day: the Springfield Old Capitol Art Fair!
Also happening adjacently: the Old Capitol Farmers’ Market! We just saw a mural about that the day before.
Among the many proprietors at each market, the longest line was for a crepe stand, because I always have room for more breakfast.
The happy purchaser of a fresh crepe packed with vanilla Greek yogurt, minted berries and honey.
Other non-Lincoln sights along our blocks of walking included this statue of a very good doggo who recommends local news media.
As if the farmers’ market and the art fair weren’t busy enough, the annual Springfield Pridefest was also setting up on yet another nearby street or two. Part of me didn’t want to intrude, but part of me wondered if any vendors might have tropical shirts in my size. Ultimately we decided two festivals was plenty and the several blocks we’d already walked had worn us down. No one apart from big-box stores ever carries my size in person anyway. Whenever a brick-‘n’-mortar retailer says, “We can order that for you!” what I actually hear is “Sorry you’re weird and no one else wants what you want.”
Along our later drive we also found one more mural, though it seemed geared more toward Deadheads than the LGBTQ+ community. But some of the colors are there!
To be concluded! Other chapters in this special MCC miniseries:
Part 1: The Tomb of Honest Abe
Part 2: More Wars, More Memorials
Part 3: The Illinois State Capitol
Part 4: Around the Capitol Complex
Part 5: Generation X Belongs in a Museum
Part 6: Misc. Museum
Part 7: His Presidential Library & Museum
Part 8: The Lincoln Museum Minus Lincoln
Part 10: Lincoln Home & Law & Gifts
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