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ho doesn’t love a three-day weekend? It’s a great time to take a break from the daily doldrums and workaday stress.

The last couple months have had a trifecta of time off — Christmas weekend, New Year’s weekend, Martin Luther King Jr. Day — and there’s another one coming up this month: President’s Day.

The federal holiday falls on the third Monday of the month — Feb. 20 this year — and has come to celebrate all U.S. presidents, though it began life as a way to honor the Father of our Country, George Washington, whose actual birthdate is a subject of dispute (keep reading to find out why). In Illinois, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday also is celebrated in February, with the Great Emancipator’s birthday falling on Feb. 12.

So why a holiday? The unabridged explanation is that, once upon a time, both birthdays were considered separate holidays, and thus days off from work for most people. However, by the 1960s, having both holidays in the middle of the week and so close to each other was becoming a bit of a hassle in the workplace. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 addressed this, and — long story short — combined Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays into one day of observance, and one three-day weekend.

As for the aforementioned Washington’s disputed day of birth, it depends on what calendar is used: In 1752, the Kingdom of Great Britain switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, which altered several historical dates. Under the Julian calendar, Washington was born on Feb. 11, 1731; with the current Gregorian calendar, it’s Feb. 22, 1732.

But back to those three-day weekends …

With another one coming up, we here are Lake Lifestyle thought it fitting to put together a round-up of some presidential places in the area for folks who want to learn more about some of our country’s leaders —and there’s no shortage of them to visit throughout northern Illinois and eastern Iowa.

Illinois’ links to our leaders are many. Ronald Reagan was born here, while Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Barack Obama called the state home at one time. Several more have visited for various reasons, but each has — or soon will have — places to honor them. As for Iowa, though its role in the presidential election has attracted many who’ve gone on to move in to the White House, its lone contribution to presidential ranks is Herbert Hoover, who has a place dedicated to his life that’s still close enough to make it a day trip destination (it’s about as far away as a trip into Chicago from Lake Carroll).

So if you’re looking for something to do on the three-day weekend, why not take a day trip to one or more of these sites with presidential ties — and they’re all close enough that you don’t even need Air Force One to get there.

12th President

1849-50

The first man who would become president and who, presumably, first set eyes upon Carroll County is Zachary Taylor. In 1828, he traveled upstream on the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to take command at Fort Snelling in Minnesota. The “Mighty Mississippi” would later serve as an important backdrop for the Black Hawk War, in which he served as a colonel. for more information.

Taylor oversaw the construction of Fort Dixon along the north bank of the Rock River in what is present-day Dixon. The fort was used as a headquarters in the Army’s fight against Chief Black Hawk and his band. While Taylor made several visits to Fort Dixon, another future — and more famous — president, who served a decade after Taylor’s short time in office, also served there for a brief time.

In the War of 1812, Taylor made it up the Mississippi River as far north as present-day Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa, having led a group of soldiers in battle against British-aligned Indian forces. Taylor’s group retreated when news of the arrival of British reinforcements reached them.

Taylor isn’t the first president with a connection to the Lake Carroll area. That honor goes to William Henry Harrison, who was a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for the Northwest Territory — which included present-day Illinois — from 1799 to 1800, though it’s highly unlikely that he ever set foot in northwest Illinois.

16th President 1861-1865

The Kentucky-born Lincoln came to Illinois from Indiana in 1830, having first settled with his parents in New Salem (near present-day Petersburg) before moving to Springfield in 1837, where he remained until being elected president in 1860. Lincoln’s history in Illinois’ capitol is well-preserved, and well worth a visit, but it’s not the only site in the state where the lanky log-splitter spent his time.

Lincoln, Illinois, is located between Bloomington-Normal and Springfield, and is the only city named in his honor before his presidency.

Only a couple of years into his settlement in Illinois, Lincoln volunteered for service in the Illinois state militia during the Black Hawk War. His path during his service was well-researched by historians; first along the bank of Illinois’ northern half of the Mississippi River to Fort Armstrong in present-day Rock Island, and then along the south bank of the Rock River from Rock Island to Fort Dixon.

Lincoln’s service in the Black Hawk War is limited to the digging of graves for war dead at two battle sites: First at the Battle of Stillman’s Run in Stillman Valley, and then at the Battle of Kellogg’s Grove near Kent. Both battle sites mention Lincoln by name and the duties he performed.

During Lincoln’s time in Springfield, he practiced law and his work won him the notice of the Illinois Republican Party, and he campaigned for Republican supporters in the few years before his term as president. In Sterling, Lincoln stayed overnight at the residence of local resident William Manahan while stumping for presidential candidate John C. Fremont in the 1856 election. Lincoln then spoke in support of Fremont at a rally in Sterling. Both the Manahan House and speech site are local historic sites.

Lincoln’s most famous visit in northern Illinois happened on Aug. 27, 1858 in Freeport — in the second of seven notable debates with Sen. Stephen A. Douglas while running for his seat. It was in Freeport where Lincoln made Douglas choose between one of two sides in the burning question of slavery in the United States: to either support the principle of popular sovereignty or the Supreme Court’s decision in the 1857 Dred Scott case over freedom in U.S. territories. Other debates took place in Ottawa (site of the first one), Galesburg, Quincy, Charleston, Alton and Jonesboro.

Springfield (Lincoln’s hometown)

Springfield Visitors Center, 1 S. Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield; go to visitspringfieldillinois.com or call 217-789-2360.

Lincoln’s New Salem state historic site (Lincoln’s first home)

15588 History Lane, Petersburg; go to lincolnsnewsalem.com or call 217-632-4000

Lincoln (city named for Lincoln; with historic sites)

Lincoln Heritage Museum, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; go to museum. lincolncollege.edu or call 217-7357399.

President’s Park (site of Fort Dixon)

100 Lincoln Statue Drive, Dixon, Illinois; call Lee County Tourism Council at 815-288-1840 for more information.

Stillman’s Defeat Memorial Site

225 Spruce St., Stillman Valley; go to stillmanvalley.us/history or call 815-645-2200

Blackhawk Battlefield Park

14109 W. Blackhawk Road, Pearl City; go to stephcohs.org or call the Stephenson County Historical Society at 815-232-8419

Lincoln-Manahan Home

607 E. Third St., Sterling; go to srfhs. com or call the Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society at 815-622-6215. Speech marker is at Propheter Park, 506 East Sixth St., Sterling.

Debate Square (site of second Lincoln-Douglas debate) 114 E. Douglas St., Freeport; go to lincoln-douglas.org for more information.

“President’s Corner” mural

Corner of Locust and East Third Street, downtown Sterling — The mural (one of several in town) features the eight presidents who visited Sterling, Lincoln among them, along with Grant, McKinley, both Roosevelts, Wilson, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. Lincoln is featured on another mural, across from the Lincoln-Manahan Home.

Desoto House Hotel

230 S. Main St., Galena; 800-3436562 or 815-777-0090; desotohouse. com — Oldest operating hotel in Illinois (opened 1955). Lincoln spoke from its Main Street balcony on July 23, 1856, in support of John Fremont’s bid for the presidency.

18th President 1869-1877

Lead mines gave Galena its early prominence as a thriving community in the 1820s, and it rivaled Chicago in the decades leading up to the Civil War. In the late 1850s, entrepreneur Jesse Root Grant opened a leather goods store in downtown Galena, hoping that one day it would be operated by his children — one of whom was future Civil War general and President Ulysses S. Grant.

The future president had lived in St. Louis before he arrived in Galena in April of 1860. A little more than a year later, war broke out and Grant was called into action to help end the war.

Grant’s first home is long gone, but a two-story Italianate brick home was gifted to him upon his return to town in 1865. He would remain there until his election to the presidency in 1868 and retained the home as a second residence until his death.

Lead isn’t mined in Galena anymore, and the town went into decline before its resurrection in recent decades as a tourist haven. A trip to Galena isn’t complete without a visit to Grant’s home, which has been preserved to reflect the time of his occupancy between the Civil War and his presidency.