Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum at LMU in Tennessee

I've been to almost every museum and historic location associated with Abe Lincoln.  I've visited some of them multiple times, but I had yet to make it to the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate Tennessee.

Well, a friend told me that the museum would be closing soon!  THANKFULLY, not forever but just for a the next year or so.  They are doing BIG renovations!

So, we ended up trucking down to Harrogate so that we could be there before they take a break!  We were there the last day it was open before the renovations!

First off, I have actually passed by here a few times.  The museum is right off the main road....  not hard to find at all.  This is a great stop to add to a trip to the Cumberland Gap.

The museum had a TON of events going on this day.  They had pop and cake right when you walked in!  We got there a little after opening and some of the beautiful cake was already gone!

On this festive day there was no admission to the museum!  AND, there was a 50% off sale in the gift shop!

Right after walking in to the museum, we saw an area with postcards where we were encouraged to write a note to ourselves in 2020.  I thought this was a BRILLIANT idea on the museum's part.  They will mail these postcards to you after the newly renovated museum opens back up!  We LOVED this idea!

We quickly found out that another special bonus to coming on this day was that they were giving timed tours INSIDE of their vault!  we were lucky enough to get in on one of these tours and we were able to get a very close look at some Holy Grail level items.

We were shown hand written letters- written and signed by Robert E. Lee and US Grant!  A document signed by Lincoln was laid out on a table too.  These documents were shown to us on a table without a glass barrier!  It was very exciting to look at documents like this!

Also shown was a small case with a small cut of Honest Abe's hair!

AND, passed around for all to actually hold in their hand (it was in a protective case) was a TICKET from Ford's Theatre from the night our 16th President was shot!

Looking at these items was easily worth our drive to the museum.....  and any one of them would be a great centerpiece for most other museums.  We were also allowed to ask the curator questions about the museum.

We asked about some of the more odd items they have.  He mentioned that the museum owns a lot of "interesting art."  He also told us that the museum does turn down items often.  He mentioned a VERY strange piece of art that an artist offered (the artist didn't offer to donate it, but they wanted $50,000 for the item!).

We walked around the museum for some time after viewing the vault.  There are some epic statues.  I always love seeing anything created by Borglum.  That stuff is here.

There were personal items on display, and paintings.  There was a china set owned by the Lincoln family.

There were impressive weapons and clothes displays from the Civil War.  There were dioramas.  There was a wall of modern art pieces.

You know that on the way out, I dropped some coin at the gift shop.  I picked up some postcards, magnets, and some other small items.

We made a point to thank the staff and let them know how much we enjoyed our visit.

I honestly can't wait to so this museum when it reopens!