A little bit of Christmas at Ford's Theater

Purely by chance we arrived at Ford's Theater ten minutes before a matinee showing of  "A Christmas Carol."  We got a great price on "obstructed view" seats and headed to the second row of the balcony.  Turns out we were about six seats from the presidential box where Lincoln was shot.  The obstruction is the curve of the balcony and it wouldn't have been an issue at all if it weren't for the very tall man in front of us.  Regardless, the show was spectacular and it was the perfect afternoon to spend inside the historic theater.

After the show we had a short break before our scheduled tour of the museum and theater so we went across the street to the Lincoln Waffle Shop for yep, you guessed it - WAFFLES.

Andy wanted to show just how small the gun that killed Lincoln is. 

Here the kids are "entering" Lincoln's box from the hidden hallway.  Our park ranger was great about retelling all of the details of April 14, 1865.  He explained that John Wilkes Booth never had to "sneak" into Lincoln's box.  In reality he used his prestige as a famous actor to monitor the theater all evening; he handed his calling card to the messenger just outside this hallway and walked right into the box.  Following the assassination the theater was not a theater again for 100 years.  After being federal offices it was rebuilt to it's 1865 appearance in 1968.

The house where Lincoln died is currently being renovated and should be open again in the spring.