Oh Say Can You See

“What a glorious day for walking around,” said we when we woke up this morning. And then it was raining so that plan was out. Instead we took the train in and walked over to Ford’s Theatre to check out the museum. In case you were wondering, Ford’s Theatre in the theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. While watching the performance “My American Cousin” with his wife, John Wilkes Booth creeped up to the presidential box of Ford’s Theatre where he shot Lincoln in the back of the head with a single shot pistol at 10:15pm, just as the best joke of the show was being told. The next morning at 7:22am across the street at the Petersen House, Lincoln died surrounded by friends and families, changing the course of history. The museum was all about Lincoln’s life as president and his struggles during the civil war and the plot that led to his assassination. Booth wasn’t the only one involved in the plan but he headed it. He was a celebrated actor who secretly sympathized with the south and despised Lincoln and his practices. The original plan was to kidnap the president

but the South began to lose more and more ground, causing Booth to change his plan. After the assassination, he was caught at one of his hideouts and then executed. Three of his accomplices were also killed, including one woman, the first woman to ever be executed in the United States. Two other men were assigned to kill the Vice President, Andrew Jackson, and the Secretary of State. Only one man went through with the plan and he wasn’t successful since the Secretary of State was wearing a brace on his neck thanks to an injury he had sustained and the brace saved his life by deflecting the knife being stabbed at his face and neck. After Lincoln’s death, his body was carried around the country so that citizens could pay their last respects and Andrew Jackson became president. Jackson played a role in inhibiting the equality of then liberated black citizens as he despised them and did not share Lincoln’s views. Across the street at

the Petersen House is another leg of the museum about the States in the aftermath of Lincoln’s assassination and the Civil War. We also got to see the gun that killed Lincoln and a replica of the bullet. They had done a really good job with the museum and it was interesting to walk around. Then we headed over to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the last biggest Smithsonian museum. We didn’t have very much time in this one so I started on my scavenger hunt almost right away. The first thing I did with the boys was a rollercoaster simulation, which I thought was going to be really good but was rather disappointing actually. Then I went off on my merry way to do some interactive exhibits where I designed my own computer desktop and then went to find Abe’s top hat, Michelle Obama’s inauguration ball gown, Dorothy’s ruby slippers from Oz and the original Star Spangled banner that inspired the song. I was also supposed to find a Dumbo ride car but they seem to have removed it for renovations because all four of us went looking for it near the end and came up empty handed. There was also nothing from 1888 which was both surprising and depressing because I only have three things at this point. The closest thing to my year was a really pretty Singer sewing machine but it was from 1889. 1889! Are you kidding me. It was too bad we didn’t have a lot of time because I didn’t get to see much but oh well. Maybe I’ll come back some day. It was getting dark so we headed in to Kizmet. Peace out m8s.

#camping #washingtondc #maryland