After a visit to the Museum of Funeral Customs, it was hard to get back into a reverent mood for the Lincoln tomb, a noble edifice that probably would have embarrassed the man himself. There is something about the whole of Lincoln's life that is peculiarly American-not just the myth-making one room log cabin self educated beginnings, or the noble vision, or the difficult, sometimes extraordinary sometimes disastrous choices, or the complicated relationship with God, or the violent end, but even the weirdness that lead to the one time near-theft of his body, which was later exhumed no less than five times. It's weird, wonderful and endlessly fascinating, and if there's one thing Plucky Survivors are learning about America as we see it, it's that very thing. And we made sure to say thank you to Honest Abe.

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