As we celebrate Lincoln’s birthday, here are some unique facts about our 16th president as well as Lincoln Nerd Trips encounters.

While in Dallas, we visited another Kennedy-related location – John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza, which is very close to Dealey Plaza. It’s hard to miss because it’s a large monument in the middle of downtown Dallas.
According to the postcard I picked up at the Sixth Floor Museum, “renowned American architect Philip Johnson designed this ‘cenotaph'(open tomb) to symbolize the freedom of Kennedy’s spirit.”

One area intriguing area of the Sixth Floor Museum was the so-called “sniper’s nest,” a term I find to be aptly descriptive. These two simple words really capture the scene of boxes set up like a perch for a gunman who is waiting from above.

As much as I enjoy visiting historic homes, I also like to know how stuff works, particularly things in everyday life that we may never think about. (For example, I think airports are fascinating, there’s so much going on). I was fascinated to learn about the “Modern Marvel” of the convenience story.

Yes, “nevermore” is a little obvious, but today is Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, and the Poe Toaster did not show at Westminster Hall. So the “official” word is that the Poe Toaster tradition has ended.

Nerd Trips may now be helping me with the crossword puzzle! Yesterday’s (1/17) New York Times crossword featured the following clue: “President who was once New York’s governor.” Unfortunately, we have not had a major Nerd Trip to see places associated with this man, so I didn’t get it right away. But, I knew the puzzle had a Sesame Street theme, so with the letters I had, I was able to fill in “Grover Cleveland.”
This prompted me to look up Grover Cleveland in the presidents’ guide. There are definitely some locations we need to visit!

Before we went to Dealey Plaza, my brother and sister-in-law told me that there are “X”s in the street that mark where President Kennedy was hit. I found this idea to be shocking at first. Do we really need to know the exact spots, marked with an X on the pavement?