Ford's Theatre

To finish off our Lincoln tour, we re-watched Lincoln then went to Ford's Theatre and the Peterson House across the street where he died.  The museum is awesome as well which is in the basement of the theatre.

                                                             The conspirators

 We went upstairs to the theatre and because our group was really small they let us go up and look into the box where you can see exactly where Booth stood.  Goosebumps.

 We had an awesome girl from the Parks Dept. for our guide.  Very knowledgeable and great delivery as well.  Could have listened to her all afternoon!

The bed where Lincoln died.  He was too long for it so they had to swing his legs over on a stool.

All books about Lincoln!

The Surratt Tavern

The Tavern is down the road a bit from Dr. Mudd's house and this is where Booth stopped to pick up some weapons and supplies.  If you've seen the movie The Conspirator you'll know the name of Mary Surratt.  So of course, the take here is well, how involved was she in the conspiracy?  Yes, most the meetings were held in her boarding house back in DC but did she have anything to do with the assassination part of it.

 That twisted thing is how they stored tobacco for pipes and the brownie looking things are chewing tobacco. The tavern would supply the pipe bases there on the premises.  People would bring in their own stick (the long metal stick) to put into the base.

 The rope bed is where the term "sleep tight" came from as they would twist the ropes to make the bed firmer.

 We are suckers for museum stores.......

Dr. Mudd House

One of the things we've talked about doing is going to see the Dr. Mudd House and Museum which is not far from where we live in MD.  You'll recall that Dr. Mudd is where John Wilkes Booth rode his horse after assasinating Pres. Lincoln to get his broken leg set. 

 Our timing was perfect as they were doing a holiday open house so the place was all decorated for Christmas.

 I love these types of decorations so it was fun for just that part of it but the history is fascinating as well.  Pretty controversial this Dr. Mudd and because the home is run by a family foundation, their take on what happened that night and how involved Dr. Mudd was in the whole conspiracy was very different than down the road at the Surratt Tavern where we headed next.

Cute ladies who were in each room to tell us about the history of the house.

The kitchen for the house was in a separate building

                          Mr & Mrs Santa showed up to visit with the kiddies in the museum

Um, Okay Maybe a Little More Dylan

So I think I kind of know now what it's going to be like to have grand babies cause you really can't take enough photos.  Got a couple of more days with Dylan when Rachel's mom ended up going back to Ohio to get ready for their trip back there for Christmas.  Fine with me!

 Diggin' on Nic's beard....

 "Enough already with the flash!!!!"