D.C. Trip - Lincoln's Cottage

Wednesday we went to Lincoln's Cottage on the grounds of the Soldier's Home a few miles from the White House.  Lincoln spent about a quarter of his presidency there (mainly June to November) to escape the heat and distractions of the White House.  He first went to the site three days after his inauguration and was last there the day before he was assassinated.  He developed the Emancipation Proclamation there and commuted from the Cottage to the White House on horseback, often alone. 

Before the tour, Ever sucked on my delicious (and freckled) arm:

The cottage:

The tour guide was very passionate about Lincoln, and I appreciated her enthusiasm.  She told personal stories about Lincoln, including how he was impatient with and rude to someone who came to see him one night at the cottage - incongruous with the wonderful, kind man we think of him as.  He redeemed himself the next morning, though, when he apologized eloquently and profusely.  I was particularly moved by the fact that from one of the windows, Lincoln could see the cemetery on the property, where 30 or 40 soldiers were buried each day.  He apparently spent a lot of time pacing in front of that window.  The burdens he bore . . .

There's a lovely little museum by the cottage.  It was pretty quiet, so I let Too Cute La Rue roam around on the ground.  The few other people there must have thought we were very tacky. 

She particularly enjoyed the air vents and went back and forth between these two for some time:

Outside, she was fascinated with Pod's facial hair:

We posed with the man himself:

I believe this statue is life-size.  Tall fellow.

This is the cemetery on the Soldier's Home grounds, as viewed from the road on our way out: 

Cool place.  I'm glad Bags had tickets to use.  I'm finally starting Team of Rivals, which will be followed up by another Lincoln biography Mamo bought me at the cottage that was highly recommended by the worker bees.