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Medgar Evers is an American martyr. He grew up in Mississippi.  After high school he joins the army and fought in the battle of Normandy in WWII. He returns home and graduates from Alcorn State College.  Evers was an insurance salesman, but…

This house won’t be on an FBI tour of DC.  Even though it must be the worst kept spy secret in the city.  I first learned about the it in the early 80s when a friend lived in a group house a…

If you are planning a trip to Washington DC, you may have some well-known landmarks on your itinerary, like the White House and the National Mall, but to get a real taste of this city that has served as the…

If you are traveling to Washington DC, you must visit some of the most famous Washington DC landmarks and memorials. This blog post will tell you which ones are the most famous Washington sites, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the…

Washington DC is a city rich with symbolism, power, and history. Much of our country’s accomplishments are on display in fascinating museums throughout the city. The following are the seven must-see stops you need to make.1. Smithsonian National Museum of…

The events of January 6, 2021 were not the first time our Capitol has seen invasion and violence. Sitting atop a small hill, this living symbol of the first branch of our government is a natural target for those choosing destruction…

On Capitol Hill in Washington, DC’s in Stanton Park you won’t find a statue of Edwin Stanton, but you will find one of Nathanael Greene.Greene was from a prosperous Quaker family from Rhode Island. And he is probably one of the…

Stanton Park is named after secretary of war Edwin Stanton who presided over the army in the Civil War. But the statue in Stanton Park is not Edwin Stanton. Surprisingly, there is no statue of Stanton in Stanton Park. But let’s be honest: It would…

The case of KGB Col. Vitaly Yerchenko remains a Cold War spy v. spy mystery. He defects to the US then months later re-defects to the USSR. Did he change his mind, or was that the plan all along? Learn the full story here.

Washington, DC is at the confluence of power, money, and politics. So, it’s a natural setting for some great movies. Now lots of movies take place in Washington, but not all of those are filmed here. Brooklyn, Baltimore, and Richmond often stand in…

On the four corners of Lafayette Square across the street from the White House are statues of heroes of our Revolutionary War, without whom, victory would have been very difficult. And they all have one thing in common: None of them were American.Marie-Joseph…

Albert Einstein, everyone’s favorite physicist contemplates the universe from his perch on the lawn of the National Academy of Science on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC.Einstein’s best known for developing the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics and numerous other…

On Sheridan Circle along Embassy Row one is surrounded by elaborate Gilded Age mansions that have been converted into embassies. They’re the site of elegant parties and diplomatic intrigue.But this is also the site of the only act of state-sponsored terrorism…

Its summertime and whether you’re at the beach or by a lake you may be looking for a good book. So, I thought I’d share with you what I think are some of the best books about Washington, DC.At the top…

Protests happen every day in Washington.  Some are big with hundreds of thousands of marchers.  Others are just one person with a sign.Regardless of size, it’s one of the things I love about this city – seeing people gather to exercise their…

The Department of Labor building at the base of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC is nothing special to look at. Built in the 1970s, it’s about as uncreative as a government office building can be. But the person it’s named after is…

It was hot the morning of June 17, 1864. At the Washington Arsenal munitions were being made for the Civil War. Twenty-one young women, wearing the constrictive clothing of the time, dresses with high collars and hoop skirts, were sitting at…

The Federal Triangle section of Washington exudes the power of our democracy. Wedged between 6th and 15th Streets and Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, the ten buildings of Federal Triangle are exactly what you’d expect from structures that are meant to convey strength, confidence,…

While visiting the Washington National Cathedral’s Bishop’s Garden, I came across a plaque commemorating the donation of the garden’s sprinkler system by the family of Frank Gardiner Wisner. The name seemed familiar.Frank Wisner is responsible for some of the most reprehensible…

Washington National Cathedral is one of my favorite places to take visitors. Styling itself as a House of Prayer for All People, it is a masterpiece of gothic architecture, stained glass, music, hand carved wood, and wrought iron.Regrettably it’s closed right…

The presidency is thrust on Harry Truman in the last months of World War II when Franklin Roosevelt dies after being president for twelve years. No one knows who Truman is when he takes over but the country warms to the…

The most unusual memorial to a president in Washington, DC is the one to our 26th chief executive. Theodore Roosevelt gets an entire island to his memory. Located in the Potomac River between Georgetown and Rosslyn, Va., Theodore Roosevelt Island is a…

J. Edgar Hoover spent his entire life in Washington. He was born on Capitol Hill and lived there until he was 43. With his mother.When Mother Hoover dies J. Edgar buys the house above in the Forest Hills neighborhood of…

Until last month our country had no national memorial commemorating World War I.In 1919 Congress debated constructing such a memorial, but aside from creating the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, nothing was done. So, after the war it was up to…

One of the newer sites in Washington is the Dwight D Eisenhower Memorial. It’s in a very convenient location for many visitors. Across the street from the Air and Space Museum and diagonal from the National Museum of the American Indian. And just…

Arlington National Cemetery is the resting place for people from all walks of life, including some accomplished actors.Lee Marvin was a popular character actor from Broadway to television to the big screen. He was in numerous movies including, The Dirty Dozen and had an…

OK, let’s end this myth once and for all:  Washington, DC was never a swamp. Only one percent of today’s city could ever be defined as swamp, and that was spread out over six different sites. That’s not to say it didn’t feel…

Washington is full of memorials to people or events. Most are big and impossible to miss. But some are rather small and almost impossible to find, like the memorial to the first scheduled air mail flight. You can find it along the river…

There’s only one radioactive grave at Arlington National Cemetery. It belongs to Richard McKinley who had the misfortune on being one of three soldiers to be the first casualties of a nuclear accident in the United States.McKinley had survived the fighting…

Everyone knows where the president lives. But few know that the vice president also has an official residence.Historically the office of vice president was rather unimportant. John Nance Gardner of Texas, known as Cactus Jack, who gave up the powerful position of…

Outside the British Embassy on Washington’s Embassy Row is Winston Churchill, a statue with a foot in two countries. Churchill’s father was the Duke of Marlborough. But his mother was an American from Brooklyn, NY. So, when it came time to commemorate Churchill’s…

Washington’s cherry blossoms attract thousands of visitors (but not in 2021) to the city. But visitors BEWARE the National Cherry Blossom Festival does not necessarily coincide with cherry blossoms blooming! Make no mistake, the Festival is a blast — a parade, fireworks,…

The only references in the constitution to installing a new president address the oath he or she must take and the date and time of the transfer of power. Everything else that takes place on inauguration day is based on the…

The images from the US Capitol following the recent terrorist attack are shocking. So, to try to return to some resemblance on normalcy, I thought I’d share some photos I took last year in the office of the Speaker of the…

One of my favorite things to do in Washington is trying to guess who’s in a passing motorcade. The president’s motorcade is easy to spot: Two identical limousines flying the US and presidential flags with a large number of support vehicles. Unfortunately, the…

Since 1970 the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service has provided the Architect of the Capitol with Christmas trees. The source of the trees rotates through nine national forests with this year’s 55’ Engelmann spruce coming from the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre…

One of the highlights of any family’s tour of Washington is seeing Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the pandas at the National Zoo. But unlike other animals there, the pandas aren’t owned by the zoo. Here’s the story of cute pandas and…

Here’s something you don’t see every day: A fifteen foot blue rooster. After spending eighteen months crowing over London’s Trafalgar Square, Katharina Fritsch’s “Hahn/Cock,” landed in Washington in 2016. Strutting on the roof of the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art,…

In Washington, we know how to do big events. Between marches and international meetings, we have lots of practice. But nothing beats an inauguration. While we’re months away from inauguration day, there’s lots to do to prepare. Above carpenters from the Architect of the…

You’ve probably driven by this memorial dozens of times and not noticed it. Between Memorial Bridge and National Airport (on your right heading south of the GW Parkway) is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove. Dedicated in 1977, three years after the…