Unexpected trip to Maryland in 3 weeks

I will be making it there! My niece and I usually do battlefield stuff - we can walk for hours over them - slowly - and savoring them. My older sister thinks, "well we just drove past one, you should be satisfied with that."

I just talked to her this morning and I told her about Old Town Alexandria. Since she watched Mercy Street, she's all in for this one. I was relieved!!! I didn't know if she would even go with me and I lured her in with Robert E Lee's childhood home (she does like historical homes). I did tell her we couldn't get in but we can at least look at it. Then I casually mentioned good restaurants and bars and crab cakes and she's in for that too. We do lobster fantastic up here but the only good crab cakes are to be found in Maryland.
 
I will be in Germantown, MD for another function on Saturday December 9th (or is it the 10th?) Anyway, I went to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in May. I'm certainly not opposed for a repeat visit, but what could I do on Sunday of that weekend in the vicinity of Germantown that wouldn't take more than a few hours? Any suggestions from anyone local in that area?
It's not Civil War, but about 15 miles south of Germantown is the Steven E. Udvar-Hazy center of the National Air And Space Museum. It has 1000's of airplanes, aviation artifacts and space exploration exhibits. Worth a few hours of your time.
 
I will be in Germantown, MD for another function on Saturday December 9th (or is it the 10th?) Anyway, I went to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in May. I'm certainly not opposed for a repeat visit, but what could I do on Sunday of that weekend in the vicinity of Germantown that wouldn't take more than a few hours? Any suggestions from anyone local in that area?
There are two major Civil War sites within 50 miles of Germantown. One is Harper's Ferry and one is Antietam.
 

You are such a good photographer!!

I lived in Alexandria briefly in the early '90s. That was the time in my life when I was least interested in Civil War history (we had a newborn at the time and I was very involved at work) so I never visited a lot of the well-known sites. But it was always fun to go to Old Town with relatives or other visitors (they came to see the baby, not me!) and enjoy the streetscapes and the overall ambiance.
 
Mr. Vail and I are posting at the same instant - Robert E. Lee's actual boyhood home is a private residence in Alexandria and not open to the public.

Thanks for clarifying. I thought the Lee-Fendall house was the same as the Lee childhood home, but I was mis-remembering.

I'm also interested in labor union history and Lee-Fendall was once the home of John L. Lewis, of United Mine Workers fame.
 
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Both of the Surratt houses played a role in the Assassination Conspiracy. The Surratt House in Clinton was the family home also serving as a tavern and post office run by Mary's husband, John Surratt, Sr. Following his death in August, 1862, Mary moved to the boarding house in DC, renting the Clinton home to a man named John Lloyd. On the night of the Lincoln's assassination Booth and Herold stopped to pick up rifles and a pair of binoculars Mary had left for them with John Lloyd. Lloyd's testimony would help convict Mary Surratt. Today the home is a museum with a number of original furnishings. When I visited a few years ago I found the tour interesting and the guide well versed on the history of the home and family.

Mary Surratt ran the DC home as a boarding house until her arrest. Booth had a number of meetings with the other conspirators at the house and a number of them boarded there for short periods. The Surratt name was quickly linked to Booth following the assassination. Federal agents searched the house on April 17 looking for John Surratt, Jr. He was not present, but the agents discovered incriminating evidence in the home and placed Mary under arrest. As she was being led away Lewis Powell blundered onto the scene looking for refuge following his attack on Secretary of State William Seward. As mentioned in previous posts the boarding house is now a commercial property in private hands with nothing of historic interest except the building itself.
 
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