With the inaguration of President Obama (the original Lincoln-maniac) and the recent 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the flood of Lincoln events and books has become an ocean of epic proportions.
So, in case you've been living under a rock for the past year and missed Lincoln-mania, or if the thousands of Lincoln-related television specials weren't enough to satiate your Abe-etite, we've put together a list of things to do to get you in the Lincoln mood.
Start out light, if you're in the former category of Lincoln-know-nothing, or find out how to live Lincoln, if you're in the latter category of hardcore Lincoln-lover.
Light: Learn Lincoln...
Designing the Lincoln Memorial:
This National Gallery of Art exhibit charts the creation of Lincoln worshipers' mecca, the Lincoln Memorial. The 6-foot-high plaster model of the famous Lincoln Statue by Daniel Chester French, designed for the Lincoln Memorial, is on view in honor of Abe's 200th. The exhibit is joined by a life-size photomural of the actual Lincoln sculpture and the wood model of the Lincoln Memorial that Henry Bacon used to bolster his entry in the design competition for the Memorial.
The Assasination of Abraham Lincoln Walking Tour:
This tour is to Lincoln lovers as Pride and Prejeduice is to singles: a sure-fire tear jerker. So if it's that time of the month or if you're just feeling emotionally constipated, relive the tragic night of Abe's death with an expert tour guide, for a good cry.
The Living Lincoln Series:
Explore every minute aspect of Lincoln's life in the very place it was brought to an end (*cue ominous music*), the Ford Theatre.
April 27: Oratory in the Age of Lincoln, featuring orators from Central High School
May 4: (all tickets have been reserved): Lincoln as Storyteller
May 11: Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief, with guest scholar and Pulitzer Prize-winning author James McPherson
May 18: Lincoln in Love, the reading of a new musical based on the film Young Mr. Lincoln.
Hardcore: Live Lincoln...
Sample southern specialties that Lincoln might have enjoyed during his childhood in Kentucky, at Market Lunch.
Market Lunch
225 Seventh St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
202-547-8444
Lincoln was an avid opera lover and a huge Mozart groupie. Enjoy selections of his favorite opera, "The Magic Flute," performed by Washington Opera performers at the Cafe Mozart.
Cafe Mozart
1331 H St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-347-5732
Abe, who grew his iconic beard at the suggestion of an 11-year-old girl, was the only president to rock the beard in office. Grow your very own, along with thousands of Caps fans, as part of the Washington Capitals' Beard-a-Thon. Then, get it groomed Abe-style at Camillo Barbershop, a Tenleytown family-owned business that has been keeping beards looking Lincolnliscious for 40-some years.
Camillo Barbershop
3921 Windom Pl NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-966-7994
