Well, I've done it again ... let way too much time go by between Postcards! I believe I left you all in the Maryland countryside, driving around on twisty, turny backroads and looking at old barns. Mighty pretty though, wasn't it?

The next day, we tried again to tour the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd ... and this time, it was open. (We made sure it would be before we left the last time!) 

We were pleased to learned that we would be the only ones on the tour (I honestly don't think too many people even know about this tour), although disappointed to learn that we could not take pictures inside the house.  I cannot remember our guide's name, darn it, but she was very good and told us that Dr. Mudd and his bride were given the house and land as a wedding gift when they married in 1857. The house was in poor condition and had to be repaired and restored before the Mudds could move in. It consisted of the large building on the right and a separate kitchen, on the left. The center portion was built by Dr. Mudd in 1864. The house and land was originally part of the plantation where Dr. Mudd was raised and is one of the few plantations in Maryland that has remained in the same family for more than two centuries. Amazing, don't you think?

During the tour, we learned that when the house was restored in the 1970s, the original floor had to be replaced due to termite damage, while the original lath board and plaster walls throughout the house (except in the kitchen) were replaced to allow for electricity, heating and air conditioning. However, the stair rail and the floors on the second floor were original ... goosebump time! About 90% of the furnishings in the house are original family heirlooms, including the couch where Dr. Mudd first saw John Wilkes Booth and the bed where Booth rested for a few hours before continuing his flight to escape the Union troops.

Of the 218 acres farmed by Dr. Mudd, the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Society recently acquired the 100 acres adjoining the house, making this essentially what the Mudds saw whenever they went to the well at the back of the house. It was so very peaceful and beautiful here. If you're in the area, this is a bit of history and a tour that is worth your time.

We've all heard the story of how Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner while a prisoner on a British ship during the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 ... Actually, he and the US Commissioner General of Prisoners were on a US truce ship, having negotiated the release of a friend from British imprisonment. However, because they had learned of the British plan to attack Baltimore, they were detained until after the battle. Originally written as a poem entitled "Defence of Fort McHenry," Key's poem officially became the National Anthem in 1931. So, on our list of absolutely-must-see-places was Ft. McHenry, near Baltimore, about 30 miles from our park in Lothian. As we usually do, we stopped first in the Visitors Center ...

... where we checked out this model of what Fort McHenry had looked like during the War of 1812.  

After we watched the orientation/introduction movie in the Visitors Center (very dramatic conclusion ... the draperies opened to reveal the flag flying over the fort and the Star Spangled Banner began to play in the background) and as we approached the fort, we saw a multitude of school buses discharging a multitude of what appeared to be middle school students ... oh goody. Getting pictures without kids running through my shot was a real challenge! (Actually, most of the kids were very nice ... they just seemed to be wherever I wanted to take a picture and created a bit more noise than we're used to.)

The sally port ...  Can't you picture the army guys on their horses coming through here? I just love sally ports ... they provide for such a "dramatic entrance." ;)