Ah, welcome back.
As promised in the last post, here is today’s update to the blog, relaying our adventures from our final hours in D.C., to arriving in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania!
Let’s not waste any more time, let’s dive in!
Ford’s Theatre
Ford’s Theatre… a place that has truly been held in infamy ever since April 14th (Good Friday), 1865, where, in an act that shook the entire nation, actor John Wilkes Booth fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln just five days following the conclusion of The Civil War.
Situated in downtown Washington D.C., Ford’s Theatre had been a popular venue in the days of the mid 1800’s, known far and wide for it’s illustrious performances. The theatre was closed down following the assassination of President Lincoln, and fell in to disuse, until the National Park Service acquired the building, as well as the Petersen House across the street, where Lincoln died the following morning. Now a national historic site, it is also once more a fully-operational theatre with performances always going on.
First, we went below ground into the museum basement, which contained displays concerning the Civil War, and the path to that fateful day…
Just one example of the hallways featured below the museum, which was nicely laid-out and detailed the progression of the war.
A fragment of the flag from Fort Sumter (as can be read). The seizure of Fort Sumter by the Confederate Army was the battle that officially started the Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln’s ultimate goal was to preserve the Union… he sacrificed much to achieve it, and it had certainly taken it’s toll on him. One couldn’t imagine the immensity of loss that he reflected upon daily…
Few could deny the age and stress that was imposed on him, particularly from this cast mold made of him. He looks like a skeleton… a man who had aged 20 years in just 5…
We then of course, came to the conspirators… towards the end of the Civil War, famous actor John Wilkes Booth,
(That’s him), swore to kidnap the President. He tried various times, but after Lincoln declared that freed slaves should be given equal citizenship, Booth (a southern sympathizer), vowed to end his life. Gathering the conspirators together (in the boardinghouse that is now that chinese restaurant in Chinatown), they hatched a plan to decapitate the head of the entire federal government… some of the other conspirators included:
David Herold, who knew many of the best paths throughout D.C.,
George Atzerodt, who was assigned to assassinate Vice-President Andrew Johnson,
And Lewis Powell, who was instructed to kill Secretary of State William Seward.
Thankfully, none of Booth’s co-conspirators succeeded in their missions. Atzerodt lost the nerve and got drunk (and later caught), Secretary Seward was assaulted by Powell with a knife, and barely managed to survive, and the rest of the conspirators were rounded up, and most of them executed by hanging.
But not Booth…
Being a famous actor, he was allowed full access into the theatre, which he found out would play host to the President during the comedy, “Our American Cousin”.
Wanting to act decisively as a hero to the nation, Booth wasted no time in ensuring that preparations were made. He drilled a small hole the size of a dime into the door to the VIP box (shown above), so he could peek in and see the president. Even worse, was the fact that not only had the locks had to be removed due to losing the proper keys, but also the fact that the guard who was supposed to be protecting the President was away and not on-duty when Booth entered the box. Like the JFK Assassination, the opportunity was too great…
And so, when Booth crept into the box late into the play, he stepped behind Lincoln, and fired…
Lodged into his skull, the bullet had hit the President at point-blank range, and he collapsed…
And this is the very gun that changed American History forever. A single shot derringer pistol, easily concealable and very deadly.
It makes you sick, thinking that something so small could create so large an impact…
And this is the very pillow that he died on. And yes, those are blood stains that belong to Abraham Lincoln… you can’t help but feel nauseous at the thought.
We then headed up into the theatre room, which still has live performances (Into the Woods was the current run it seems).
It’s a fantastic setting (Mrs. Stephenson, if your reading this, you’ll love it!)
Tons of technical lighting that I will never for the life of me be able to comprehend.
But of course, there is this… the very site of the shot that changed History…
When Booth had shot the President, he had hopped out of the balcony, and his spur caught on the flag drape (as resembled here). The fall broke his leg, and he limped off backstage, out the door, and into the night…
The chairs in there are not original however. For those that might remember in my 2018 Trip, we saw the actual Lincoln Chair in the Henry Ford Museum (which I still have no clue as to why it is there).
Such confusion and wanton despair was dealt that day… in the midst of laughter, a bang sound rang out. Ford’s Theatre would not see laughter again for a long time…
After witnessing a brief two-man play that featured two men playing as period characters who lived during the assassination (which was very good, and accompanied by very good technical and multi-character skills), we headed outside to explore a place that I had never actually been in… The Peterson House.
When Lincoln was shot, he had to be rushed to somewhere more private, so they dragged him here to this house across the street from the Theatre… the next morning… the President breathed his last…
The house, though relatively bare, was solemn in it’s simplicity.
Poor Mrs. Lincoln… she lost not only her husband, but also three of her four sons over the course of her life… no woman should have to bear that grief, and she was eventually institutionalized for a time in Illinois.
The very bed that Lincoln died in… they had to lay him down diagonally, because the bedframe couldn’t accomodate his tall frame.
To quote his Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, “He now belongs to the ages”.
The house led into a museum/education center that we were forced to breeze through, as we were on a schedule to get our rental car.
Several effects from Lincoln’s funeral.
Such as this sample of flowers from Lincoln’s coffin (which I find to be amazing that they are still intact).
Booth retreated with David Herold south and away from the prying eyes of the enemy… They raced through Maryland and Virginia, until they were surrounded by Union Troops. Herold surrendered, but Booth put up a fight and was fatally shot in the spine, where he died the next day.
He believed that he was saving the south, but they too cursed him as much as the North did, for any chance of Lincoln’s forgiveness was now vanquished.
And likely as would’ve been to his horror, killing Lincoln only transformed the fallen leader into a martyr, a man killed at his height who would be remembered for the rich promise that was cut so short, and that only emboldened his memory and likeness in the hearts of Americans everywhere.. Booth had done EXACTLY the opposite of what he wanted to achieve. And to this day, visitors to his grave in Maryland continue to lay pennies on his headstone, to represent that it was Lincoln after all, that got the last say. Not Booth.
A massive collection of books about Lincoln that stretches four stories tall… and yes, EACH of these books are unique in the pile.
Many argue that had Lincoln lived, he would have done much to ensure that the Reconstruction after the Civil War would run smoother, but he still had a terrific road to hew, and likely would have faced extreme difficulty, especially concerning his largely stressful mind.
So why do we remember Honest Abe?
I think that it is because that, in all honesty, he is a human-being, just like us. He is not perfect, nor infallible, nor invincible. And yet, through his sheer morality and commitment to his beliefs, he managed to preserve the Union, and end the bloodiest conflict that the U.S. has ever seen. That should be an encouraging thought. None of us are perfect, yet we can overcome our imperfections and strive for greatness. Who knows what could be accomplished under such drive?
We then made a brief stop at the White House Visitor Center, to kill some time before our rental car was ready.
White House Visitor Center
This well-crafted small museum (not on the grounds of the White House) was only an exhibit for the actual building, yet still infused with information.
A lovely map of the full White House complex. What would you do living in a house like this? 
This was a proposed victorian-style design for the west and east wings during President McKinley’s administration. Suffice it to say, i’m glad this didn’t come to be.
And that desk remains in use in the Oval Office to this very day.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan enjoying a good meal (sorry for the lighting). Did you know that they made a special jelly bean flavor in honor of his inauguration (and of his love of the confection)? It was Blueberry, so that they could finish the “Red, White and Blue” assortment.
An assortment of White House trinkets.
I wonder how much this artifact is worth… Anything Lincoln is highly valued.
In the same display case as Lincoln’s Stamp Seal, was also a letter-opener of William McKinley, and a typewriter of Woodrow Wilson.
This made me chuckle a (lot) bit. I wonder what President Nixon thought of this when he read it?
After viewing the Gift-shop, we got our rental car (which was conveniently nearby), and began to tour the rest of Kalorama (which we were unable to yesterday). After a short drive over there, we continued exploring it.
This house belonged to Warren G. Harding when he was a Senator from Ohio, and before he became President. It’s now the residence of the Ambassador of Monaco.
A few meters away was this giant house, which was home to an equally giant man, William Howard Taft! It was here that the Tafts returned to after the Presidency, and where he lived during his service as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He also died in this house in 1930.
The front view of the house. It’s now the Syrian Embassy.
This was my horrible attempt at trying to take a picture of the French Embassy.
And this is my lazy attempt at trying to cover up my horrible attempt (with a stock photo).
The reason I use this stock photo of this blockade instead of a photo of my own, is because I did not want to anger the policeman who was protecting this street. Why? Because this is the street that Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama currently reside.
This expensive house is worth over $8.1 Million dollars, and used to could be seen by the public before they moved in (of course this is also a stock photo, no way i’m risking my skin by breaking and entering).
I’ve never even heard of the Bendirád Islands before, have you?
This house, only a block over from the Obama’s street, is this “white house”. This is where Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner currently live, and is surrounded by fencing and likely Secret-Service Protection. I’m kind of amazed there isn’t more security though (though i’m not willing to put that idea to the test).
And finally, the Islamic Center of Washington D.C., which no doubt represents many of the nations whose primary religion is Islam.
And that concludes the D.C. Portion of this trip! Seems hard to believe that we are already a third of the way to the finish doesn’t it?
Travelling north, we broke through to Maryland, and then onto Pennsylvania-
Thank you.-
-Where we are currently staying at our hotel in Gettysburg.
Where we are only staying just down the road from the battlefield itself!
And, sleeping by a cemetery *which i’m mostly sure isn’t haunted) that is literally feet away from our room window. Time will tell all that we get to see and do, but It will be a VERY busy one, rest assured.
So, wish me luck that I can make this next post on time, and I’ll see you whenever that will be! Bye!!!
Mark's Historical Roadtrips! 