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 (4+)
See all- Mystery History Tour, Lafayette Square & White House Neighborhood DC!, Sept. 15!The Octagon House, Washington D.C., DC
Secret History Tour of Lafayette Square & the White House Neighborhood, Monday, Sept. 15!!
Let's take a fun trip back into the wild history of D.C.’s most famous sites!
Where: Meet outside the Octagon House, 1799 New York Ave NW, DCPre-Register and Prepay via—
Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mystery-history-tour-lafayette-square-white-house-neighborhood-dc-tickets-1683997063549?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or PayPal, sending $22 to paypal.me/EMoser460
https://www.paypal.com/us/homeWhat: Perhaps because of its proximity to great power and wealth, the White House, Treasury Building, and Lafayette Square have been witness to two centuries of astonishing events. We will visit many actual sites of startling history, drawing from the following:
• The bodyguard who saved Lincoln's life, and the soldier who failed to do so
• The hidden architecture of the White House
• The enslaved woman who triggered a civil rights revolution
• The cunning Mata Hari of the Civil War
• Treasury, State Department, and Defense Department spies
• The biggest sex scandal in American history
• White House ghost tales
• The tragic end of a noted female artist
• The greatest slave escape in American history
• The secret symbols within the Square
• The hero of two continents
• The hero of three nations
• Horse races and graveyards in the Square of old
• When an invading army arrived at the Executive Mansion
• The femme fatale who nearly broke up "Camelot"
• Where America’s most uplifting martial anthem was penned
• The Civil War—of Alexander Hamilton!
• The Midnight Ride of—not who’d you’d expect
• The First Lady who saved President's Park
• Duels to the death in the Old Republic
And more!!Who: Your host is a former writer for Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show”, the author of the book America from A to Z, a former presidential speechwriter, and writer of a book on the history of Lafayette Square:
https://www.amazon.com/White-Houses-Unruly-Neighborhood-Lafayette-ebook/dp/B082ZVDCD7/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1555118270&sr=1-1-catcorrAnd his latest, a thriller set in Georgetown--
https://www.amazon.com/Femme-Fatalité-Lizzy-Thorne-Novel-ebook/dp/B0F4945MR5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0And his book on the secret history of the Capitol Building and Congress!:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lost-history-of-the-capitol-edward-p-moser/1139708776We’re on TripAdvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28970-d12791843-Reviews-Lafayette_Square_Tour_of_Scandal_Assassination_Intrigue-Washington_DC_District_of.htmlNearest metro stations: Farragut North and West
Restaurants nearby for afterwards at the Old Ebbitt Grill and the HamiltonQuestions? Ask here, or at: 191.EP.JM.56@proton.me
Think history’s boring? Think again!!
- A Halloween GHOST Tour of Old Town, Alexandria VA, Fri, October 31, 4 pm!Windmill Hill Park, Alexandria , VA
A Horrifying Halloween History GHOST Tour of Old Town, Alexandria Virginia, October 31!!
Ye Olde Town Alexandria--filled with scores of centuries-old houses and the scene of war, murders, and fatal accidents--is one of the most haunted places in America. And one of the most historic, being the hometown of George Washington.
On Halloween Night, take a horrifying stroll to visit the city’s many terrifying real-world sites of the supernatural!
When: October 31, 4 pm!
Where: Meet at Windmill Hill Park, 501 S Union St, Alexandria, VA 22314. Next to the haunted tunnel.Pre-Register and Pre-Pay at—
PayPal, sending $22 to: paypal.me/EMoser460
Or Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-halloween-ghost-tour-of-old-town-alexandria-va-fri-october-31-tickets-1656941920889?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or, pay $22 in cash at the start of the tour.Length: About 2 hours
Our most scary itinerary will select from:
• Ghosts from a doomed Navy voyage
• The headless sailor of King Street.
• The unsolved antebellum murder, and the murdered man’s actual mysterious ghost!
• Ghosts from a doomed Army voyage
• The bizarre plan to revive George Washington from the dead!
• Scary visits to locales of our published murder mystery!
• A shocking mortuary from olden days
• The smallest park in the nation.
• The smallest house in the nation.
• The unknown tomb of the Unknown Soldier
• The untimely death of the Mysterious Woman
• Apparitions along the Underground Railroad
• The loud ghost of the devilish Black Cat
• The mysteriously disappearing house
• The mysteriously disappearing spy
• The mysteriously disappearing presidential ballroom
• Confederate graves and Union surgeons
• A real-life pirate
• Trick or treat on a President
• The house of a notorious blackmailer & seductress
• The warriors who were skinned alive
• Washington's terrible final hours
• The warring ghosts of the War Between the States
• High spirits: Old Town's hard-drinking Irish of yore
• The tragic bride who was killed on her wedding day
And more!Your host is an ex-Tonight Show writer, & former White House speechwriter.
The Host's books on his tours!
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Lost_History_of_the_Capitol/MsM3EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcoverOur murder mystery set in Alexandria!:
THE OLD TOWN HORROR: Murder and Theft in America's Most Historic Locale by Edward P Moser, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)Our Top-Ranked TripAdvisor Reviews!
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g28970-d12791843-Reviews-Lafayette_Square_Tour_of_Scandal_Assassination_Intrigue-Washington_DC_District_of.htmlMeet at Windmill Hill Park, 501 S Union St, Alexandria. Next to the ghostly tunnel.
Join us on this horrifying history tour!!
Faint of heart & courage?: Avoid this event!! - Special 250th Independence Day Tour! Thomas Jefferson’s Wild Life & Times, D.C.!The Willard Hotel, Washington , DC
Special 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 WestLafayette 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/B0F4945MR5Also 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
Bring your walking shoes, and perhaps water and sunscreen.
Kick off this special Independence Day weekend with this unique tour!
Think history is boring? Not on our tours!
