Walking Backward: Presidential Tours

18/10/2024

Your tour guide was part of an event at the on Thursday and worked in a visit to the new "treasures of the library" exhibit. They have lots of fascinating stuff, including ...

1) everything in Lincoln's pockets when he died
2) James Madison's crystal flute
3) Robert Mills' sketches for the original design of the Washington Monument

The Library is awesome! Be sure to visit

18/10/2024

Not since 1814 has anyone brought this much heat to the Library of Congress.

It was great fun to host a pun competition to close out the comedy edition of "Live at the Library." They're doing a lot of fun events in DC's most beautiful building -- if you're ever in town be sure to check out the LOC.

26/09/2024

Your tour guide starting off the comedy show at Lincoln's Cottage! [photo courtesy of Bruce Guthrie]

24/09/2024

I visit presidential sites whenever I can, but the one I revisit the most is President Lincoln's Cottage. Starting in 2016 (with a asterisk for 2020), I've been there three times a year, to produce the Two Faces Comedy series. People actually get to do stand-up (and improv, and puns) in a parlor where Abraham Lincoln liked to unwind.

The 2024 series starts tomorrow, and I am proud to say that the first show is already sold out. You can still get tickets for October 16 or November 13, but those will likely sell out too -- so plan ahead!

Thank you to the team at the cottage and the The DC Improv Comedy Club for letting me work on this project over the last decade. I love sharing history with people and this is one of the most brilliant ways to do it.

24/08/2024

Happy 210th anniversary to the burning of Washington DC!

22/08/2024

September and October tours are now available!

19/08/2024

Tour guides gotta tour too! A trip to the Dakotas included Mount Rushmore, the game lodge where Coolidge vacationed in 1927, the high school where Coolidge announced his retirement, TR's relocated ranch cabin, and the original site of his Elkhorn Ranch.

29/05/2024

The tour schedule is now updated through Labor Day!

15/04/2024

This weekend I had a blast running all three routes: Kalorama, Lafayette Square and the new Assassinations Capital. If you're looking for a novel way to spend a morning in DC, check us out!

05/04/2024

Tour guides need vacation too! Taking in the Clinton library (and the White Water Tavern, a late '70s Clinton hangout) during a few days in Little Rock.

17/03/2024

Visited the FDR Memorial on a nice spring Sunday! Scroll through to see the "secret" on the FDR statue. The sculptor discreetly included a wheel on the bottom of FDR's chair -- an accurate detail, as FDR often modified regular furnishings to help him get around his homes.

16/03/2024

Happy birthday James Madison! For the last 16 months of his presidency, JM and Dolley lived in one of "the Seven Buildings." (Remember, the White House had been destroyed in August 1814.) Their fancy townhome, on the 1900 block of Pennsylvania Ave., no longer exists. But the facades of two of the neighboring buildings are incorporated into the Embassy of Mexico.

The Seven Buildings were seven townhouses constructed on the northwest corner of Pennsylvania Avenue NW and 19th Street NW in Washington, D.C., in 1796.[1] They were some of the earliest residential structures built in the city. One of the Seven Buildings was the presidential home of President James...

12/03/2024

If you like trivia nights, your trusty tour guide will be hosting a trivia night at the DC Improv on March 21. Free admission!

03/03/2024

Tour season has begun! We kicked off the 2024 slate taking some recent DC transplants on the new "Assassinations Capital" tour.

Available tours are now posted through Memorial Day weekend.

03/03/2024

The first tour of 2024 is tomorrow!

29/02/2024

We just passed the anniversary of this crazy story ...

The first USS Princeton was a screw steam warship of the United States Navy. Commanded by Captain Robert F. Stockton, Princeton was launched on September 5, 1843.

20/02/2024

Your fearless tour guide went back to basics and toured the Capitol this afternoon. There are always great presidential tie-ins at the home of the legislative branch -- the building has tons of president statues in its collection and the interior of the dome is all about George Washington.

Plus Statuary Hall was once the House chamber, which means many presidents had desks there. They have plaques on the floor where they sat. The most notable is for John Quincy Adams. On Feb. 23, 1848, the former president rose to speak in a debate about the war with Mexico. He suffered a stroke and collapsed on the spot. He never made it home; eventually he was moved to the Speaker's chamber, where he passed away.

JQA is my favorite so it was special to see that spot again.

18/02/2024

No, it's not the last shot from The Shining... It's a panoramic photo of the Senators and Giants at Griffith Stadium before game 7 of the 1924 World Series! Look dead center and you can see President Coolidge in between the two managers. Grace is to the left.

This fun little exhibit of huge panorama photos is really cool. Get to the DC History Center and check it out!