A Walk and a Smile

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A Walk and a Smile Welcome to a Walk & a Smile! I am a certified, professional tour guide and am licensed in Washingto Welcome to A Walk and a Smile!
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Whether you’re visiting the National Capital Region (NCR) for the 1st time or are a long-time resident, the area always offers something new to see, learn, and explore. At A Walk and a Smile, we love introducing people to these many wonders and creating fun, engaging, and customizable experiences for our guests. Walking tours allow you to truly immerse yourself in all that the area has to offer. A

s you stroll, a friendly and knowledgeable local guide will share the history and stories behind what you see. We look forward to welcoming you on a tour and introducing you to all the NCR has to offer.

Spring and summer tour season has begun! Off to spread a little happiness on a 3-tour adventure. Stop 1= Boston. Let'...
10/05/2024

Spring and summer tour season has begun! Off to spread a little happiness on a 3-tour adventure. Stop 1= Boston. Let's do this!

❤️

Sometimes, you have those groups where you just click with everyone and they are so much fun! I had one of those groups...
02/05/2024

Sometimes, you have those groups where you just click with everyone and they are so much fun! I had one of those groups last year.

So this year, when one of those guests from the UK was going to be in town, she asked if we might meet. I am with a student group, who was in the Smithsonian, so I said I had enough time to run out and get a hug and that was about it.

So I did that. What are the chances that you then run into them AGAIN at another museum?

So great to see you TWICE! Have a blast in DC.

Farewell, my friend!Sadly, I didn't get to see you in blossom this year. I'm so glad that I got to see you one last tim...
08/04/2024

Farewell, my friend!

Sadly, I didn't get to see you in blossom this year. I'm so glad that I got to see you one last time before the executioner's blade is put to your trunk.

Every year, for the last several years, I have marveled that you burst into bud once more, even when so much of you had already been lost to the elements.

Thanks for the memories, the inspiration, and the perseverance--you will be missed!

🥺😢😭

Today I was both honored and humbled that my colleagues awarded me the Rookie of the Year Award. While I have been lead...
02/04/2024

Today I was both honored and humbled that my colleagues awarded me the Rookie of the Year Award.

While I have been leading tours for a while, last year was my 1st full season dedicated to Destination America.

To receive this reward is a great honor and it must be shared with all my incredible colleagues who work behind the scenes at the office and, most especially to my fellow travel directors who helped and supported me throughout.

One of my favorite parts of this career is that we are like family and help one another out whenever we can.

A huge shout out and THANK YOU to all those many individuals (you know who you are) that have encouraged, supported, and assisted me along the way.

This honor belongs to you all.

Had the pleasure of spending the last four days with this AMAZING group of young adults. Thanks Mobridge for making my...
23/03/2024

Had the pleasure of spending the last four days with this AMAZING group of young adults. Thanks Mobridge for making my 1st student tour of the season extra special and super fun. Hope there isn't too much snow back home!

Tucked away in Section 15 are the graves of three axis power soldiers--one German and two Italian. All three were POW's...
12/03/2024

Tucked away in Section 15 are the graves of three axis power soldiers--one German and two Italian. All three were POW's, captured in North Africa during WWII.

There were 19 POW camps in Maryland, and these three individuals were all in camps on the eastern shore. The men were allowed to leave camp to work, mainly on farms. The POW workers are credited with saving Maryland's tomato crop in 1945. Local farmers relied on them to work the fields and bring in the harvest since most able bodied American men were off at war.

They were paid about the equivalent of a US private; Geneva Convention rules required they be paid for any labor. But they were paid in scrip which could only be used in camp.

The Geneva Convention also required that any POW who died while on foreign soil be given a proper burial in the closest National Cemetery. Arlington was the closest one to the camp, which is how they came to be here. In February of this year, the Chief of the German military laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and visited Sgt Hilberath's grave.

The early morning light on these dried seed heads is a lovely send-off from this park and lodge. The lodge and staff he...
26/02/2024

The early morning light on these dried seed heads is a lovely send-off from this park and lodge. The lodge and staff here are simply delightful. A wonderful, warm Kenyan welcome for my first time visiting this incredible country. Thanks and and for a great start to this African adventure.

Our next destination awaits later today.

As a child, I often said I wanted to be a Park Ranger when I grew up. During my recent string of tours in the Florida K...
20/02/2024

As a child, I often said I wanted to be a Park Ranger when I grew up. During my recent string of tours in the Florida Keys, I reconnected with that dream. I'm officially a Junior Ranger at Dry Tortugas National Park.

While designed for children, it's a great way for adults to learn about the parks too.

Sometimes, as a guide and program leader, you get to do something very special. Today was one of those days. Two of my...
09/02/2024

Sometimes, as a guide and program leader, you get to do something very special. Today was one of those days.

Two of my guests have a tradition of renewing their wedding vows whenever they visit a new state.

The person they had arranged to do this for them here in Key West was suddenly unavailable. I was honored that they asked me to officiate the ceremony for them. It was a special moment for all involved.

I thought I had found a dead crab in the seaweed until I got close to take the photo, and it jumped up and started movin...
11/01/2024

I thought I had found a dead crab in the seaweed until I got close to take the photo, and it jumped up and started moving.

Some of the most interesting patterns come from nature, like this sea fan washed up on Bushy Key.
11/01/2024

Some of the most interesting patterns come from nature, like this sea fan washed up on Bushy Key.

Wildlife abounds at Dry Tortugas National Park. Watch your step--you never know where you might find its smaller denize...
11/01/2024

Wildlife abounds at Dry Tortugas National Park. Watch your step--you never know where you might find its smaller denizens.

After being down for the last several days with a cold, finally made it out of bed and wandered to the mailbox. What a ...
23/12/2023

After being down for the last several days with a cold, finally made it out of bed and wandered to the mailbox. What a treat to find a lovely thank you note and t-shirt from my last student group of 2023. It was just the pick-me-up I needed after being cooped up for too many days. Thank you Blooming Prairie!

Wreaths InToday is Wreaths In at cemeteries around the country. Wreaths are placed on the graves of veterans to honor t...
16/12/2023

Wreaths In

Today is Wreaths In at cemeteries around the country. Wreaths are placed on the graves of veterans to honor their service.

As I was making sure that all the graves had gotten a wreath I came upon this one. Not often you come across a War of 1812 veteran. I did a Google search to see if I could find anything about him.

What I discovered was that he was born in 1794 in the same town I grew up in as a child. What are the chances?

A Charlie Brown ChristmasThe frangipani is going into dormancy and shedding its leaves. So the dying leaves and bare br...
06/12/2023

A Charlie Brown Christmas

The frangipani is going into dormancy and shedding its leaves. So the dying leaves and bare branches just reminded me of the tree in a Charlie Brown Christmas.

And just like that tree, this one is beautiful in its own way.

A Festive Air to a Somber PlaceDuring the Great Depression, hundreds of WWI veterans were put to work building the Over...
02/12/2023

A Festive Air to a Somber Place

During the Great Depression, hundreds of WWI veterans were put to work building the Overseas Highway. They were housed in ramshackle camps on the coast of the Keys.

It was Labor Day Weekend of 1935, and a storm was approaching. A lack of accurate forecasting and a cascade of poor decisions meant the evacuation order for these camps was not made in a timely manner.

The rescue train arrived, was loaded, and was just pulling away when the storm blew ashore nearby as a category 5 hurricane and the most intense storm ever to hit the US at that time.

An 18-foot storm surge and winds of 200 mph flung the cars from the tracks.

The storm left 485 people in the keys dead--260 of them WWI veterans from the work camps.

To prevent disease, the governor ordered the mass cremation of the victims. Funeral pyres were made, and the victims' bodies were stacked and doused with gasoline or oil and ignited. Beneath this memorial are the ashes of more than 300 of the victims.




Tomorrow is not promised.In the fountain beneath the bench, the leaves of the crepe myrtle tree formed a beautiful mosai...
20/11/2023

Tomorrow is not promised.

In the fountain beneath the bench, the leaves of the crepe myrtle tree formed a beautiful mosaic.

It reminded me of the fragility of life and to live and love each day as if it was your last.

I so love my purple haired, purple wearing friend, , and yet, I'm sensing an intervention may be in order?!?!?! 🤣😘 ...
15/11/2023

I so love my purple haired, purple wearing friend, , and yet, I'm sensing an intervention may be in order?!?!?! 🤣😘

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Today, my office is a Nashville recording studio where my group gets to spend the day recording a few songs. (Video sharing with permission of the band and the president of the studio). The band is warming up and doing their sound checks. #tourguidelife #bestjobever #musiccityusa #nashvilletn #imaginerecordings #soundstagestudios

When the owner of the bar asks if she can tell the band that there are college music students in the house, you say YES! Thanks Hammerstones and Uncle Albert for making the 1st day of their music tour AMAZING! #hammerstones #UncleAlbert #stlouismo #musiccollege #musicstudent #tourguidelife #bestjobintheworld

THIS just happened! Sometimes, as a tour guide, you just get to witness the most amazing things. As we left the visitor's center today there was a veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He started in the army and then joined the navy, serving as a medic and a diver. He agreed to speak to our group and we all shook his hand and thanked him for his service. I was a bit choked up thinking about the three very different homecomings he likely received as our group applauded his service. #thankaveteran #thankavet #WWII #koreanwar #vietnamveteran #worldclassrooms #travelwithwc

Honor Flight from Greater Lafayette Indiana has arrived. A heroe's welcome is provided for all the honor flights here. Love the water canons! Volunteering my time today as a way to thank our veterans. #honorflight #honorandservice #honorourveterans #tourguidelife #giveback #payitforward

A new experience at Arlington! Yesterday my guests and I were fortunate to experience something I have never before witnessed @arlingtonnatl Two Medal of Honor recipients laid a wreath as part of a full honors wreath laying ceremony. It was full of pomp, ceremony, and quite a moving experience. #arlingtonnationalcemetery #fullhonors #wreathlaying #wreathlayingceremony #medalofhonor #thankasoldier #thankamilitaryfamily #thankaveteran

Awoke to a lovely snow this morning in Boston. I never thought about the need to shovel the deck of a ship. So, it was fun to watch the crew of the @uss_constitution shoveling the deck this morning. #ussconstitution #charlestownma #winterinboston #snowydays #tripschool #tripschoolrocks #tourguidelife #learninginthesnow

Lest we forget. Eishishok is a town in modern day Lithuania. For more than 900 years, it hosted a rich and vibrant Jewish community. These pictures rise for three floors and span more then 50 years. They are the work of 4 photographers who lived in Eishishok and photographed its Jewish inhabitants. In 1941, the SS systematically annihilated the Jewish inhabitants of Eishishok. In just two days, they erased entire families, an entire community, and more than nine centuries of history. #holocaustmuseum #holocaustmemorial #wemustneverforget #genocide #stophatred #lostforever

When art, technology, music, and transience meet. Well worth a visit to @artechouse to see their latest exhibit. #artechouse #transient #impermanence #technologyasart #musicandart #captivating

Ever heard of a photophone? That invention was first successfully used here at The Franklin School, now home to @planetworddc One of my favorite parts of the museum is the Speaking Willow sculpture. Rather fittingly, it combines light and sound to play 364 different languages--99% of the Native tongues of the world. Why fittingly you may ask? Alexander Graham Bell and a partner invented the Photophone. This device allowed the transmission of sound via a beam of light, instead of electricity. The first successful transmission was made from the roof of Franklin School--making it the first wireless voice transmission. Because of technological constraints of the day, the invention did get much recognition. Today, however, it is largely known as the precursor to modern day fiber optics. #photophone #fiberoptics #alexandergrahambell #rafaellozanohemmer #speakingwillow #wireless #sculpture #planetword

Thank you for your service Senator Dole. Rest in peace. Tom Hanks, memorializing the late Senator.

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