About us
Our tours take place in Washington, D.C.--Lafayette Square, Capitol Hill, Georgetown, et al.--Alexandria, Virginia, and other historic sites such as Civil War battlefields in Antietam, Maryland. The tours last about 2 hours, and typically cost about $20 per person.
Washington, D.C. and nearby towns like Alexandria, Virginia drip with history and political intrigue--from colonial times to the present day. This is a group aimed at those eager to explore the often-violent and scandalous past of the nation's capital and its surroundings--its wars, espionage rings, assassination attempts, mayhem and misbehaviors, as well as more uplifting events--against its backdrop of architectural splendor and breathtaking vistas.
Detailed itineraries!:
Lafayette Square--White House, Andrew Jackson statue, Stephen Decatur House, slave annex, Dolley Madison House, St. John's Church, Frederick Douglass bank, Lafayette statue, Blair-Lee House, Renwick Gallery, Treasury Dept., Eisenhower Executive Office Building...Learn about: The assassination attempt on a President-one block from the White House!…The war-hero congressman who murdered his wife’s lover…The tragic suicide of the wife of America’s most esteemed author…The brutal stabbing of a Secretary of State…The ruthless spy who lost the U.S. Army a major battle…The scandal that caused the entire presidential Cabinet to resign!..And much more! And it all happened in Lafayette Square, across from the White House in Washington, D.C.
This tour starts and ends at the Andrew Jackson statue.
Old Town Alexandria, Virginia--the Torpedo Factory, the John Carlisle mansion, the Stabler-Ledbetter pharmacy museum, Lawrence Washington's House, George Washington's town house, Founder's Park, the City Hall, the John Wise tavern, Gadsby's Museum and restaurant, Christ Church, Robert E. Lee's boyhood home, the Lee-Fendall House, the old cotton mill, the Presbyterian Meeting House.
This tour typically starts at the Torpedo Factory and ends at Christ Church.
Capitol Hill--the Supreme Court, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Library of Congress, the 9/11 memorial, the Anne Frank memorial, the Peace Memorial, the President Garfield statue, the Inauguration steps, the Ulysses S. Grant memorial, the Frederick Law Olmstead grotto, the Sullivan Brothers memorial, the hidden cornerstone of the Capitol.
This tour starts at the Supreme Court Building and ends at the Ulysses S. Grant memorial.
What We Do--"Walking history seminars": walking group tours of the most historic venues in Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, and other towns.
Where We Go--We tour historic, atmospheric neighborhoods and sites such as Lafayette Square, the Capitol Building grounds, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria, the Navy Yard area, and the Antietam Civil War battlefield.
Upcoming events
7
Valentine's Day Lovers Tour of Lafayette Square DC! Saturday, Feb. 14
Queen Isabella Statue - OAS Building, Constitution and 17th Street, Washington, DC, USThe Valentine's Day Lovers Tour of Lafayette Square DC! Wednesday, Feb. 14, 3:30 pm!
A special Lovers Day history walking tour of America’s most esteemed park, Lafayette Square, and its environs!!
In keeping with the spirit of the day, we’ll focus on fun, romantic, or uplifting stories about the Square’s many heroes and heroines, and inspiring events. As well as some rogues, Lotharios, and femme fatales.
MEET outside the OAS building, 200 17th St NW, D.C.
Corner of 17th St. and Constitution Ave.PrePay and Pre-Register at--
PayPal, sending $26 to via:
https://www.paypal.com/us/home
Eventbrite:
TBD.
Or pay $25 in cash at the start of the tour.
About 2 hours in length.The tour will draw on stories from the guide’s book, The White House’s Unruly Neighborhood:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-white-houses-unruly-neighborhood-edward-p-moser/1131103788;jsessionid=038717C145FB853CCBDEDDA8A59A0DA0.prodny_store01-atgap13?ean=9781476674865Our fun itinerary will select from:
• The “miracle mansion” that saved the Mayor’s sister
• The future President who saved the lives of millions
• The pedestrian who saved the President from death
• How an enslaved grocer founded a family dynasty that ended segregation
• How an intrepid First Lady saved the Constitution and the Declaration
• The hilarious political fundraiser that gave us the terms “Big Cheese” and “Mammoth”
• How a Congressman averted a Civil War
• The love of country of the ghosts of St. John’s Church
• How heartbreak created America's most influential soldier
• How the Marquis de Lafayette saved a President, and how three Presidents saved Lafayette!
• The astonishing, friendly bet between a Navy hero and an enemy captain
• Where “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah” was written
• Where “I Have a Dream” was written
• The real-life Indiana Jones
• The First Lady who saved Lafayette Square
• The wildest, most fun Inauguration of them all
• A famed author’s moving tribute to his deceased wife
• America’s greatest caregiver
• How Southerners and Northerners conspired to save Mt. Vernon
• When a woman's love of freedom ended segregation
• How a humble washerwoman helped rebuild the District after the War of 1812
• Presidential humor
And more!Your host is a former Presidential speechwriter and “Tonight Show” writer, and author of such books on history as:
Lost History of the Capitol:
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Capitol-Tumultuous-Congress-ebook/dp/B099JBSN9Q
Alexandria Mystery:
https://www.amazon.com/OLD-TOWN-HORROR-Americas-Historic-ebook/dp/B0BX27RWYG
Spy Thriller:
https://www.amazon.com/Femme-Fatalité-Lizzy-Thorne-Novel/dp/B0F5QN7PNC/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0
America A to Z:
http://www.amazon.com/Patriots-America-Things-American-Should-ebook/dp/B00655SO9S/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1415975803Celebrate Lover's Day with the historic loves of President's Park! There are many restaurants downtown for dining afterwards.
1 attendee
ST. PATRICK’S DAY Tour of DC’s Noted Irish-Americans—Sunday, March 17, 3:30 pm!
Queen Isabella Statue - OAS Building, Constitution and 17th Street, Washington, DC, USST. PATRICK’S DAY Tour of DC’s Noted Irish-Americans—March 17 2026!
Let's take a brisk walk around the White House area on the day when everyone is Irish, to learn about the many Irish-Americans key to the history of this historic neighborhood.
Meet in front of the Organization of America States (OAS) building, 17th St. and Constitution Ave., N.W., D.C.
Thrill over:
• The Irishman who finished the Washington Monument
• Irish immigrants, the C&O canal, and the K St. and Pennsylvania Avenue riots!
• The Irish architect who designed the White House
• Was Elvis Irish?
• The Irish Mayor’s “Miracle Mansion” that saved his sister from certain death!
• An Irish-American co-founder of the U.S. Navy
• The Irishwoman whose seductive charms brought down an entire Cabinet, in the biggest scandal in American history!
• The Irish-American soldier who led America’s most epic military expedition
• The humble Irish doorman who save the White House’s most precious documents from a rampaging army
• The Irish-American President whose romance with a foreign spy brought on the wrath of the FBI
• The Irish artisan who glorified African-American soldiers
• The Irish-American grand dame whose espionage defeated an entire U.S. army
• Presidents & politicos of Celtic descent
• The photographers of Irish descent who took 10,000 photos of the Civil War
• The Emerald Isle washerwoman who saved D.C.’s biggest bank from the depredations of British invaders
• The Anglo-Saxon Chief Executive who is an "honorary Irishman".
• The tragic killing of the Irishman who was America’s greatest war hero
• The Irish person who was D.C.’s greatest philanthropist.When: Tuesday, March 17, 5:45 pm.
Meet in front of the Organization of American States
200 17th St NW · Washington, DCPre-Register and Pre-Pay via--
PayPal, sending $24 to paypal.me/EMoser460
Or
Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/st-patricks-day-tour-of-dcs-noted-irish-americansmarch-17-2026-tickets-1966403314247?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or:
Pay $23 in cash at the start of the tour.Length: About 2 hours.
Who: Ed Moser, author of:
https://www.amazon.com/OLD-TOWN-HORROR-Americas-Historic-ebook/dp/B0BX27RWYG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
And:
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Capitol-Tumultuous-Congress-ebook/dp/B099JBSN9Q
And:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-white-houses-unruly-neighborhood-edward-p-moser/1131103788
And:
https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-America-Things-American-Should-ebook-dp-B076MR3XS3/dp/B076MR3XS3/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1517173322We’re the highest-rated D.C. area tour on TripAdvisor!:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28970-d12791843-Reviews-Lafayette_Square_Tour_of_Scandal_Assassination_Intrigue-Washington_DC_District_of.htmlThe nearest Metro stops are Metro Center and Smithsonian.
Pubs and restaurants nearby to raise a glass afterwards!
4 attendees
The Civil War & Lincoln Tour of Downtown D.C.! Tuesday, April 14, 2026!!!
James Garfield statue, 2436 Rayburn House Office Bldg, Washington, DC 20004, Washington, DC, DC, USThe Civil War & Lincoln Tour of Downtown D.C.! Tuesday, April 14, 2026!!
Downtown D.C. from the Capitol Building to Ford’s Theater has dozens of locales relating to amazing events and personalities of the Civil War. This unique walking tour, held on the anniversary of Lincoln's tragic assassination, will touch on the startling events that occurred on these streets.
You must RSVP to attend.
MEET at the President Garfield statue, at the southwest corner of the Capitol Building, corner of First St. and Maryland Ave., S.W.
Several metro stops nearby. Free parking next to the reflecting pool on the northwest side of the Capitol Building.
When: Tuesday, April 14, 5:30 pm
Length: About 2 hours.
Fee: $23.Pre-Register and PrePay via:
Paypal, sending $23 to: paypal.me/EMoser460
Or Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-civil-war-lincoln-tour-of-downtown-dc-tuesday-april-14-2026-tickets-1712425463659?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or, pay in cash at the start of the tour.Some of our action-packed itinerary!:
• The secret grotto for Civil War veterans
• The war’s unknown great photographer
• The statue of the hero of Gettysburg, who ran as a pro-South presidential candidate
• The man who killed John Wilkes Booth—or did he?
• The place which inspired an Oscar-winning movie, and where a plot to assassinate pre-war President James Buchanan was hatched!
• The Confederate soldier who revolutionized warfare
• The secret society of “free men of color”
• The North divided: Yankees vs. Irish
• Workplace of the most famous caregiver in American history, and the astonishing task Lincoln gave her
• The lodgings of the Booth conspirators
• The great inventor who botched antebellum politics
• The military nurse who was the country’s most eminent poet
• The place of the assassination of a President & former Union general
• The astonishing plot to kill Confederate President Jefferson Davis
• The hulking guard whose critical absence led to Mr. Lincoln’s demise
• The building where Walt Whitman and Clara Barton worked
• A reenactment of Lincoln’s murder
• The Lincoln conspirators’ horrific fate
• A slain President’s final and noble requestYour guide is a former writer for the “Tonight Show”, and ex-White House speechwriter, and author of a book on the history of presidential politics, including several chapters on Civil War era presidents:
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Term-Jinx-Presidents-Washington-Theodore-Roosevelt-ebook/dp/B01K0NT0CK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
His book on the Capitol Building’s wild history:
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Capital-Tumultuous-Congress/dp/1493055909
His crime thriller drawing on Civil War lore:
https://www.amazon.com/OLD-TOWN-HORROR-Americas-Historic-ebook/dp/B0BX27RWYGWe’re on TripAdvisor!:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28970-d12791843-Reviews-Lafayette_Square_Tour_of_Scandal_Assassination_Intrigue-Washington_DC_District_of.htmlThink history is boring? Think again!
5 attendees
Special 250th Independence Day Tour! Thomas Jefferson’s Wild Life & Times, D.C.!
Willard Hotel, Willard Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., Washington, DC, USSpecial 250th Independence Day Tour! Thomas Jefferson’s Wild Life & Times, Washington D.C.
Friday, July 3, 2026, starting from the Willard Hotel!
Held in and around the White House’s Lafayette Square, on the 250th anniversary weekend of Independence Day, this tour will examine the accomplishments of, and many crises faced, by Jefferson—D.C.’s first two-term President--during the American Revolution, in Europe, and during his eventful stay in the then-new Executive Mansion. And of his colleagues & rivals Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, Benjamin Banneker, James Madison, Aaron Burr, George Washington, & John Adams, and others, all of whom left a significant mark on the capital, and America, from the first July 4th and thereafter.
Friday, July 3, 5:45 pm.
MEET in the lobby of the Willard Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004
Length: 2 hours.
Nearest metros: Length: Farragut North or Farragut West
Lafayette Square next to the White House has dozens of sites related to the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson, Alexandria Hamilton, et al.Discover:
• A traitor’s attempted overthrow of Jefferson’s Lewis & Clark expedition
• The man who reconciled Hamilton and Jefferson
• The other Jefferson memorial--outside the White House
• George Mason’s battle against—the U.S. Constitution
• The Marquis de Lafayette’s amazing & perilous associations with multiple American Presidents
• Inventor of farm, kitchen, and spy apparatus
• The secret language of the Jefferson Memorial
• The undeclared naval war, and declared trade war, that nearly wrecked Jefferson’s second term
• Sally Hemings and Maria Cosway
• Disputes over the Jefferson Memorial
• Rollercoaster relationship with John Adams
• “The room where it happened”
• The “miracle mansion” of TJ’s militia chief
• The scoundrel who betrayed Jefferson, killed Hamilton, and tried setting up his own country—with the head of the U.S. Army!
• Architect-in-Chief: Did TJ secretly design the White House?
• When Jefferson was almost hanged
• How Mason & Jefferson ended the slave trade—from Minnesota to the Mediterranean!
• President Jefferson’s “First Lady”
• Did Jefferson plagiarize Mason?
• How TJ came to write the Declaration of Independence, and its hidden coda
• And more!Pre-Register and Pre-Pay via--
Eventbrite, at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/special-250th-independence-day-tour-thomas-jeffersons-wild-life-times-dc-tickets-1602841434879?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or PayPal, sending $26 to paypal.me/EMoser460
Or pay $25 in cash at the start of the tour.We’re highly rated on TripAdvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28970-d12791843-Reviews-Lafayette_Square_Tour_of_Scandal_Assassination_Intrigue-Washington_DC_District_of.htmlYour tour guide is a former speechwriter to the President of the United States, a former writer for Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show”, & author of the newly published spy novel, set in Georgetown, Femme Fatalité:
https://www.amazon.com/Femme-Fatalité-Lizzy-Thorne-Novel-ebook/dp/B0F4945MR5
Also the hidden history of Lafayette Square—The White House’s Unruly Neighborhood!:
https://www.amazon.com/White-Houses-Unruly-Neighborhood-Lafayette-ebook/dp/B082ZVDCD7/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
And:
https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-America-Things-American-Should-ebook/dp/B076MR3XS3/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
And, The Lost History of the Capitol--
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Capitol-Tumultuous-Congress-ebook/dp/B099JBSN9Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Questions?: [191.EP.JM.56@proton.me](mailto:191.EP.JM.56@proton.me)
Bring your walking shoes, and perhaps water and sunscreen.
3 attendees
Past events
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