Cincinnati sits on the north bank of the Ohio River. South of the river is Kentucky. After leaving Cincinnati this morning, we spent the day driving through Kentucky to Mammoth Cave.

One of the great things about traveling without a firm plan is the ability to just go whichever way is of interest. So, when we saw signs saying “Lincoln’s Birthplace,” we detoured.

First, we came upon the site where Abraham Lincoln spent his childhood. The cabin his family lived in on Knob Creek looked like this (although this cabin belonged to a neighbor):

The Lincolns farmed the field behind us in this picture.

Another 20 miles or so up the road was Lincoln’s birthplace which is now kind of like a shrine. This monument for the site was built in the 1920s.

The odd part is that the monument is empty inside, except for a log cabin that was reconstructed on the site, inside the monument.

They think some of the original Lincoln cabin timbers are included, but they don’t really know because they bought the timbers from some dealer in New York that said so. No other real proof, apparently. He probably had a bridge he could have sold them, too.