In the spirit of enjoying and studying U.S. history, I have discovered that there are many fascinating historic sites connected to America’s past. One example is President Lincoln’s Cottage, a historic home used by Abraham Lincoln on the grounds of the Soldiers’ Home, now known as the Armed Forces Retirement Home, near the Petworth neighborhood in Washington, D.C. In 2000, it was designated a national monument called the President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument.
I recently visited the site and was a bit disappointed. The interior of the house can only be visited through a guided tour, which I personally found rather boring. The tour provided very little information about the house itself or the individual rooms. The house contains almost no furniture actually used by the Lincoln family. There were only a few decorative pieces that had no connection to either the house or the family who lived there. The only notable item was a replica of the writing desk President Lincoln supposedly used, located in one of the second-floor rooms.
The tour guide spent nearly an hour and a half telling small pieces of historical stories that, to me, did not flow together very well. One strange aspect of the tour was that the guide repeatedly asked the audience how we felt after listening to short 10-second voice recordings played from an iPad.
Outside, there are almost no gardens, but the exterior architecture of the house is beautiful. The cottage is surrounded by lovely lawn grounds and a magnificent tree beside the building, which creates a peaceful atmosphere.
There are two entrances to the Soldiers’ Home grounds, but only one is open to visitors. We ended up driving around in circles twice before finally figuring that out.
Next to the cottage is Rock Creek Church, a beautiful structure from outside, it is not open to the public.
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