What we're about
We are a touring & hiking club in the Washington, DC area focused on hikes and walks in and around historical, cultural, and scenic locales. Especially the towns and neighborhoods of Capitol Hill, Alexandria, Lafayette Square, Georgetown, Annapolis, downtown Washington, et al.
We add to the pleasure of a sociable hike the discovery of the cultural and historical aspects of the wayside along the routes, roads, and trails we tread. While benefiting from an invigorating hike or walk, time is taken for hike leaders - as well as fellow hikers - to share their knowledge of the architecture, human history, and natural history, of the area with the group.
Our recent focus has been on the rich political and cultural history of the Capitol region.
We also welcome members to step up and provide hikes of the area's equally rich man-made and natural beauty.
Upcoming events (2)
George Mason Memorial
Walking Tour of Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Times, Washington D.C., Tuesday, July 4, 11 am, George Mason Memorial!
Held along the scenic Tidal Basin, the National Mall & the White House’s Lafayette Square, on 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 eventful stay in the then-new Executive Mansion. And of his friends & rivals Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, James Madison, 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.
Tuesday, July 4, 11 am.
MEET at the GEORGE MASON memorial near the Jefferson Memorial.
$22.
Length: 2 to 2.5 hours.
Nearest metros: Smithsonian & Metro Center.
PRE-REGISTER and Pre-Pay at—
Airbnb Experiences:
https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/412812
Or
Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/independence-day-tour-of-thomas-jeffersons-wild-life-times-dc-july-4-tickets-618312057007
Or PayPal, sending $21 to [masked]:
https://www.paypal.com/us/home
We’ll walk from the Mason & Jefferson Memorials to the White House & Lafayette Square. And discover:
• The mysterious Jefferson Pier
• A traitor’s attempted overthrow of Jefferson’s Lewis & Clark expedition
• The other Jefferson memorials--outside the White House
• 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!
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.html
Your 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, The Old Town Horror, set in historic Alexandria, Virginia--
https://www.amazon.com/OLD-TOWN-HORROR-Americas-Historic-ebook/dp/B0BX27RWYG
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?: [masked]
Bring your walking shoes, and perhaps water and sunscreen.
The tour will end well before the Independence Day fireworks and bbqs.
Think history is boring? Not on our tours!
- Ed
- 1 attendee
InterContinental the Willard Washington D.C., an IHG Hotel
“The Annual British Conquest and Burning of Washington Tour Aug 24 DC”
Special 209th Anniversary Event!
Thursday, August 24, 5:30 pm.
August 24, 1814 may have been the worst day in the history of Washington, D.C., and perhaps of America. When much of the nation’s Capital was burned to the ground by a rampaging British Army, during the darkest period of the War of 1812!
This unique walking tour will detail the conquest of the D.C by the British, and their burning of the Capitol, the Treasury Building, War & Navy Departments, and the White House, military actions in Alexandria and Baltimore, and the general course of “America’s Second War of Independence”.
Meet in the historic lobby of the Willard Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, August 24, 5:30 pm.
Length of tour: 2 hours. Price: $22.
Pre-Register and Pre-Pay at—
Airbnb Experiences:
https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/1206796
Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-annual-british-conquest-and-burning-of-washington-tour-aug-24-dc-tickets-559200703357
PayPal, sending 22 dollars to savvyveteran at gmail dot com
https://www.paypal.com/us/home
Nearest metro stop: Metro Center. Parking in garages north of the Willard and the White House.
Some of our action-packed itinerary!:
• The burning of the Capitol, Supreme Court, and Library of Congress.
• The dramatic events at the Marine Barracks and Navy Yard.
• The wild Battle of Bladensburg, Maryland
• How First Lady Dolley Madison bravely faced the approach of the British.
• The unsung hero who saved the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
• The brave doctor who treated the wounded, and gave up his house to the British!
• President Madison, the only Chief Executive to lead America's troops in battle.
• The cowardly Secretary of War, and how a diplomat took over the War Department!
• How the ruse of an Irish washerwoman gulled an English admiral
• The dilemma the war posed slaves: how African-Americans fought in the conflict.
• How the war nearly triggered the secession—of the North!
• The amazingly motley army behind Andy Jackson's stunning victory at the Battle of New Orleans.
• The Washington Typhoon!
• The original war hawks, and doves.
• How volcanoes in Iceland affected the course of the conflict!
• The 1812 Navy hero of Lafayette Square, killed by a fellow Commodore!
• How a Renaissance Man saved the invaluable inventions at the Patent Office.
• The mysterious Curse of the Washington Woman
• Looting along Pennsylvania Avenue, and in the White House!
• The only nation to beat the U.S. in war--twice
• The epic, follow-up Battle of Baltimore
• And more!
Your guide is a former writer for the “Tonight Show”, and ex-White House speechwriter, and author of a book, The Lost Capitol, on the history of the Capitol Building, including a chapter on its burning in 1814:
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-History-Capital-Tumultuous-Congress/dp/1493055909/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&asin=1493055909&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1
Ed is also author of the book The White House’s Unruly Neighborhood, on the wild past of the area we’ll walk through:
https://www.amazon.com/White-Houses-Unruly-Neighborhood-Lafayette/dp/1476674868/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1555118270&sr=1-1-catcorr
Think history is boring? Not on this tour!
- Ed
- 1 attendee
Past events (345)
Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial
- Ed
- amypb
- David M.
- 5 attendees
