September 20, 2008: Ottawa

This morning we got up to beautiful blue sky and sunshine in Illinois. We could tell this morning that the river was a couple of feet lower than yesterday because the walkway from our pier to the shore was no longer under water.

Tom’s priority for the day was to listen to the NC State vs ECU football game and he was able to get WRAL’s radio commentary over the wireless internet from the marina. After the game we took our bikes the 5 miles into town to see what we could see. We road for a mile or so on paved highway 51 and then we found the bike trail which had a hard surface and wound through the woods running alongside the now defunct Illinois and Michigan canal. The bicycle trail crossed the Fox River following the aqueduct that was built in the 1840’s to carry the canal and it’s barges 464 feet over the river.

Reaching the historic district we discovered that the first Lincoln-Douglas senatorial debate was held in Ottawa's historic Washington Square on August 21, 1858. The only building that was there that day and remains today is the Reddick Mansion which was built in the mid-1800’s by an Irish immigrant who made his fortune on the I&M Canal. Riddick was also a philanthropist and helped provide for public education in Ottawa. Across the street, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas stood in the beautiful shady green park to deliver the first of seven senatorial debates. It was estimated that 14,000 spectators gathered to witness this famous debate. The actual site of the debate is marked by a boulder and plaque. And there is a beautiful fountain topped by bronze statues of the "Railsplitter" and “The Little Giant” now the centerpiece of the beautifully landscaped square. Tom and I sat on a bench reading the historic guide book about the debates until he got a call from Ben and they discussed the game. Across the street from the park, there is a huge mural depicting the debate.

Then we rode over the four lane bridge over the Illinois River to find the First Baptist church. The First Baptist Church originally met in the oldest church building in Ottawa, but that building is now used by the Elks, and the church moved across the river. It was a long ride, but we found the church we hope to return to tomorrow. We also got to see the view of the city coming back over the bridge and saw the Lasalle County Courthouse where Lincoln had tried a Supreme Court case. The four story limestone Courthouse was built in 1883. We also saw the Ottawa Boat Club, a stately brick house built in 1885, and an organization which was originally formed “to encourage and improve rowing among amateurs.” The city dock there was still under water.

When we were in Washington Square, we saw them setting up white tents and chairs. When I inquired about the event I found out that there was to be a public concert at 5:00 pm today. So we returned there at 5:00 and the square was filled with locals, maybe 200 people - what a real treat it was. The Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra was playing a program of patriotic music. Among their selections were the Star Spangled Banner, American Salute (When Johnny Comes Marching Home), the William Tell Overture (The Lone Ranger), America the Beautiful, and Sousa’s rousing Stars and Stripes Forever. There were three piccolo players along with the 50 other musicians and it was wonderful. During the intermission, we met the older couple sitting next to us (yes, older than us!). It turned out that they met at UNC and he remembered Roman Gabriel playing football at State. Wow. They currently live in Florida, but her hometown was Ottawa, and they were there overseeing a family owned soybean farm. He said that he thought the farmers with flooded corn fields would likely be able to save their crops... If that is true, I am very glad of it.

We grabbed a quick supper at the Green Mill, a local restaurant with ribs and homemade soup, and headed back to the marina as it was getting too dark for me. Tom’s odometer read 14 miles when we made it back. No wonder I am worn out. He is going to try to get us a ride to church tomorrow. He was tired too, but got on the gopack.com website to see game replays before calling it a day.