Dr. Samuel Mudds's House in Waldorf

When we first moved to DC several years ago we rode through the Maryland countryside retracing the steps of John Wilkes Booth's escape route to his demise. Yesterday we had business in Waldorf, Maryland. On the way home we saw the sign for Dr. Samuel Mudd's house and took a detour to see his homestead. As it was then, the site was closed. But I jumped out of the car to read the signage about Dr. Mudd - the unfortunate and unsuspecting (?) soul who patched the assassin's leg. It so happens we saw Roger Mudd, the CBS anchor, at an event in Virginia last year. He is related to Dr. Mudd. The good doctor was pardoned a few years back, removing the ugly blemish from his family's ghosts. Just seeing the place makes one reflect on what it must have been like back in 1865 - starting at Ford's Theatre - just a few blocks from where we live - across the Navy Yard bridge, and down in to Maryland. We are surrounded by historical buildings and stories and places. A Civil War hospital was once on the site where children play in a park a block away. Capitol Hill is rich in drama and personalities. It's a lot different than Milwaukee in so many ways. So as we ponder places where we think we might want to live, my husband always says it would be hard to leave this place. In so many ways he is right, if these are the things that matter to you.