Day 4: Thursday in Washington DC

We began our day at Ford's Theater, where President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. It reopened the day before, which we'd discovered when we stopped Wednesday afternoon and tickets were sold out. But we got tickets right away Thursday morning for the first tour of the day (we loved having the opportunity to visit all these museums and places in Washington DC for free - we enjoyed our tax dollars at work on this vacation!)

This is what the box looked like when President Lincoln attended "Our American Cousin" that evening.

In the museum downstairs, one of the interesting displays showed a timeline of President Lincoln's day as well as John Wilkes Booth's day.

the .44-caliber derringer pistol Booth used

President Lincoln was taken to the Petersen House across the street, where he spent the night unconscious before passing away the following morning. Inside, the rooms were decorated in period furniture, but not original to the house.

After our time at Ford's Theater we walked to the White House, but didn't tour inside because we'd decided not to contact our congressmen ahead of time. The visitor center nearby had a great video tour of the inside that also described White House changes over the years. George Washington is the only US President who did not live in the White House, but he had a crucial part in the plans, including the location. Just to the right of this picture, inside the security gate, were dozens of cameras, probably left set up much of the time.

Security on this side kept anyone from getting very close. They were also trying to brighten the lawns by fencing them off from walkers (Washington DC was not at all like we'd expected in that regard - The Mall had brown grass and a lot of gravel - not at all well maintained or beautiful).

We walked around the White House, but with the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the West and Treasury Department on the East, there's only those views from the North and South.

For lunch, we rested at ESPN Zone. Kraig and Tim were so engrossed in all the TV's that they rarely noticed when the waitress stopped by.

Following lunch, we spent some time at the Smithsonian (Museum of American History this time). The ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz, Shaquille O'Neal basketball shoes, Muhammad Ali's gloves, Kermit & Oscar are part of the "Popular Culture" exhibit. "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War" exhibit was one of the best yet emotionally difficult to walk through. Much of the rest of the museum we breezed through since we were a little "museumed out" by this time!

The most amazing gallery here is the Star Spangled Banner. It showcases the flag that inspired our national anthem by Francis Scott Key when U.S. soldiers at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry raised it to celebrate a crucial victory over British forces during the War of 1812. You couldn't take pictures, so I got these off the internet. The photos still don't give the 30 x 42 foot flag made in 1813 justice. The flag is huge! And some of it is gone because afterward people cut pieces as mementos.

This picture shows how deteriorated the flag is, but it's nearly 200 years old!

Next we took the metro back to our campsite for supper then drove back into DC for the Washington Nationals/Chicago Cubs baseball game.

It was a beautiful evening for baseball! Since it was the first game after the All-Star break, attendance was high. The Nationals lost for their home crowd, though.

That's the end of our fourth and final day in DC! The following morning (Friday), we drove to Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry, VA . Just after we arrived a huge storm came through. We ALMOST got the tent completely up before the downpour! We headed to the visitor center, then toured the actual plantation at the park before driving into the very small town for supper at La Hacienda (who would want to cook at a wet campsite? plus it was our anniversary!)