What we’re about
We are a touring club in the Washington, DC area focused on 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. The excursions are led by a author-historian.
We add to the pleasure of a sociable outing 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 guests to share their knowledge of the architecture, human history, and natural history, of the area with the group.
Our current focus has been on the rich political and cultural history of the Capitol region.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Bastille Day Month Tour, Famed French-Americans, Lafayette Square, DC, July 22!Lafayette Square, Washington, DC
The Bastille Day Month, Tour of Famous French-Americans, Lafayette Square, White House Neighborhood DC!
Celebrate the culture of France and its long-term alliance with, and influence on, America, with a White House area history tour of famed French-Americans!
Where: Lafayette Square, D.C.
MEET at the Battle of New Orleans/Andrew Jackson statue in middle of the Square.
Length: About 2 hours
Email: 191.EP.JM.56@proton.meYour guide, an ex-Tonight Show writer and former Presidential speechwriter, is the author of a history of Lafayette Square:
https://www.amazon.com/White-Houses-Unruly-Neighborhood-Lafayette-ebook/dp/B082ZVDCD7
And a new thriller set in Georgetown:
https://www.amazon.com/Femme-Fatalité-Lizzy-Thorne-Novel-ebook/dp/B0F4945MR5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0And a presidential history:
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Term-Jinx-Presidents-Washington-Theodore-Roosevelt-ebook/dp/B01K0NT0CK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Pre-Register and Pre-Pay via:
Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bastille-day-month-tour-famous-french-americans-dc-lafayette-square-dc-tickets-1501837890559?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or pay $22 in cash at the start of the tour.Learn about the great deal of French and French-American influence right in America’s founding park, Lafayette Square!:
• The Frenchman who joined George Washington’s army as a teenager, as a major general!
• The French pirate who helped the Americans win a famous victory.
• The French-American officer who won a famous victory over pirates.
• The remarkable White House area constructions during the two world wars to save France.
• Lafayette's astonishing 1824 tour--by steamboat, skiff, and horse--of every state in the U.S.
• The surprising origin of France's Declaration of the Rights of Man
• How a First Lady of French descent saved Lafayette Square.
• The American President who saved the Marquis of Lafayette’s life!
• The First Lady who saved Lafayette’s life a second time!
• The renowned African-American sculpture by a French-American sculptor.
• How a brilliant spy helped a general of French descent win a major Civil War battle.
• The hero of the French, American, and (stillborn) English Revolutions
• The American President with ancestors from an oppressed French religious group.
• The teacher of French ancestry who inspired the Lewis and Clark expedition.
• The French explorer critical to the success of that expedition.
• The French commander who was key to winning the American Revolution’s climactic battle.
• The French-born architects who designed the Capitol Building, and the Square's grandest mansion and church.
• The Bonaparte who was refused by D.C.'s most eligible woman.
• The American Renaissance Man who secretly built the White House from a French design.
• The French philosopher who invented the American form of government.
• The French financial wizard who cut the nation’s debt while funding the largest real estate deal in history.
• The African-American who brought French cuisine to America.
• The spy whose husband brought Franco-American cuisine to its peak.
• The French aristocrat who acted as a secret American agent for the largest real estate deal in history.
• The French-born civil engineer who founded, and was fired by, “Washington”.
• How the Louvre influenced Lafayette Square.
• The congressman of French descent who saved the American President from a charge of manslaughter!
• The French steward who saved a President from drowning!!
• And more!!We’re TripAdvisor’s highest-rated tour in the capital city:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28970-d12791843-Reviews-Lafayette_Square_Tour_of_Scandal_Assassination_Intrigue-Washington_DC_District_of.html
Vive la France! In Lafayette Square D.C.! On the 201th anniversary of Lafayette's 1824 reunion tour of the U.S.!
MEET at the Battle of New Orleans/Andrew Jackson statue in middle of the Square.
- “The Annual British Conquest and Burning of Washington Tour Aug 24 DC!”InterContinental the Willard Washington D.C., an IHG Hotel, Washington, DC
“The Annual British Conquest and Burning of Washington Tour, August 24 DC!”
Special Anniversary Event!
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.
August 24, 5:00 pm.
Length of tour: About 2 hours. Prices start at: $22.
Nearest metro stops: Metro Center and the SmithsonianPre-Register and Pre-Pay at—
Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-annual-british-conquest-and-burning-of-washington-tour-august-24-dc-tickets-1419284731839?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or, PayPal, sending $22 to 191.EP.JM.56@proton.me
https://www.paypal.com/us/home
Or, pay $22 in cash at the start of the tour.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
• The unsung hero who saved the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
• How First Lady Dolley Madison bravely faced the approach of the British.
• 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 an esteemed 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 formidable British commanders that day
• 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=1Ed 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-catcorrAnd his latest, a spy thriller set in Embassy Row, Femme Fatalité:
https://www.amazon.com/Femme-Fatalité-Lizzy-Thorne-Novel/dp/B0F5NPSKDS/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0And The Two-Term Jinx, a presidential history:
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Term-Jinx-Presidents-Washington-Theodore-Roosevelt-ebook/dp/B01K0NT0CK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Think history is boring? Not on this tour!
Meet in the historic lobby of the Willard Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
