SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM AND NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY: "The Civil War and American Art" (first floor west), on display through April 28, offers paintings portraying what the museum describes as the "transformative impact of the Civil War and its aftermath."
An 1865 landscape painting of Yosemite Valley notes that Lincoln set aside the California wilderness as America's first federally protected park. Other works show scenes of soldiers.
Many of the most thought-provoking images depict African-Americans fleeing slavery or contemplating their new postwar lives. The exhibit includes paintings by some of the era's most important artists, Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson, Frederic Church and Sanford Gifford.
In the National Portrait Gallery, you'll find a photo made of Lincoln in a local studio in 1865, a painting of the president by George P.A. Healy, and plaster casts of Lincoln's face -- one made early in his tenure, another made later showing the toll the war took on his gaunt features -- along with casts of his hands.
Located at Eighth and F streets NW, free and open daily, http://americanart.si.edu/civilwar and http://npg.si.edu .
NEWSEUM: An exhibit here called "Blood and Ink: Front Pages From the Civil War" displays more than 30 front pages from the era, from the founding of the Confederacy through Lincoln's death. "A Nation Mourns," reads one headline.
Located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, the former site of the National Hotel, where Booth was staying when he shot Lincoln, http://www.newseum.org/. Daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets, $21.95 plus tax ($12.95 for ages 7 to 18).
DINING: Two excellent restaurants near Ford's Theatre are Jaleo, pricey but fabulous tapas, 480 Seventh St., NW, and Teaism, a local chain offering moderately priced eclectic and Asian-influenced dishes, 400 Eighth St., NW. A restaurant called Lincoln, 1110 Vermont Ave., NW, offers a locavore menu and a floor covered with Lincoln pennies.
