I have a small list of things I would like to see and do as a family during our 11 months in Virginia. We've realized that this is the last time we will be together as a family living here in Falls Church and having a chance to see and do all things D.C., Virginia, etc. One of the activities on my list was to visit Ford's Theater. I thought we would just take a tour of the theater and go to the museum, so I was ecstatic when I learned that they actually use the theater and that one of our favorite plays/musicals "A Christmas Carol" would be playing there in December.It was a little tricky on a weekday to get there, but we made it happen. After grabbing Bri a little early from ending his study time, we ate a quick American oven meal of chicken nuggets and Texas toast (I had some gluten free pizza). Then we walked to the nearby metro and rode it in for 25 minutes before it popped us out just a few blocks from Ford's Theater.
While waiting for the museum and theater to open, we watched a few minutes of our favorite Muppets Christmas Carol, a family tradition every year.
The museum was great. Displays including audiovisual aids helped us learn more about what happened the night President Lincoln was killed along with events in the country's history that precipitated it.
Amazingly, they still have the revolver that John Wilkes Booth used to shoot President Lincoln.
In purchasing our seats for the theater, I chose the cheapest I could find for $38 a ticket that allowed us to still sit together. I thought for sure there were going to be large columns or something in our view, because the tickets directly on our left increased to the $60+ range and the seats in front of us were $92. To our surprise, we not only had no columns in our view (there was one to the left of Briant!), but we had perfect views of the stage AND we were sitting in the seats closest to the balcony seats where Abraham Lincoln was shot, just feet away from us! It couldn't have been more perfect for our first time experience to Ford's Theater!
We weren't allowed to take pics or videos, but I got the closing applause for the actors. One thing that stuck out to Bri and me as we talked of our experience, was the irony of John Wilkes Booth shooting the President that issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the very same theater that now houses many plays with a diverse multicultural performing group. I wonder if this irony has even made the African-American Mr. Scrooge smile.
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