Monuments by Moonlight

Well, George is back in the saddle. After his brief initial stint in the military and his unceremonious departure, we find that George has been bitten by the soldier's bug. After returning to Mount Vernon and contemplating his life as a planter, he discovers that he misses the fame, honor, camaraderie and power that comes from being an officer. So he begins his quest to return to military life and petitions to join General Edward Braddock's ranks. With the French and Indian War still percolating in the background, Washington again becomes a military man.

Seeing the name Braddock causes me to wonder if this is the same person that is remembered in the DC/NOVA (that's Northern Virginia for you "foreigners", which technically I may still be since I've only been here three years). Upon a quick search, I did find out that North Braddock, PA, was named after General Braddock. North Braddock is just outside of Pittsburgh making it approximately four hours from here. Since the Braddock Road Metro Stop is near Old Town Alexandria which is synonymous with George Washington, it's likely this is the case. I will keep researching and let you know if I find out definitively.

But I digress. The point is that Washington is back in the army and ready for his next big adventure. I look forward to learning more next week. You see, I'll be on vacation with lots of time to read. I won't have access to the Internet, so you'll be without blog updates until I get back, but by then, I should have some juicy George gossip to pass along.

Speaking of vacations, a few weeks ago some friends of mine were here for their family vacay. I suggested they take the Monuments by Moonlight tour to get a totally different perspective of this amazing city. This is by far one of the coolest things you can do in DC. In fact, I love it so much, I've been about six times. It never gets old and I always learn something new each time. My friends were gracious enough to include me on their family adventure, which I appreciated. The tour begins at Union Station and lasts approximately 2.5 hours. There are three stops where you have a short time to get out and explore the actual monuments.

Of course, during the tour, you learn lots of presidential tidbits. For example, did you know that Garfield was only president for four months before he was assassinated? Or that FDR actually has TWO memorials?

FDR was very explicit in stating that, if he was to be remembered, he wanted his memorial to be placed in front of the National Archives and the actual monument should be no larger than his desk (image courtesy of Wikipedia).


Of course, the later, more substantial memorial is along the Tidal Basin and was designed by the infamous (that means he's "more than famous" - bonus points if you can name the movie that quote is from) landscape architect, Lawrence Halprin (in architecture terms, Halprin might be the equivalent of Frank Gehry in terms of notoriety and style). The memorial consists of four outdoor "rooms" that represent FDR's four terms in office.

On this particular tour, we were not able to travel via trolley to the FDR memorial as the roads surrounding it were closed to anything but foot traffic due to the construction of a new memorial celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So, instead, we ventured to the Jefferson Memorial, also along the Tidal Basin, which was a treat to visit at dusk since I've only been to it during daylight hours.

Other presidential tidbits, William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech in history, which ultimately cost him his life. This gave him another distinction...the shortest presidential term. Yes, folks, his tenure was even shorter than Garfield's. Sadly, he only lasted one month before he died of pneumonia.

And on that sunny note, I'll close this edition. I look forward to rejoining you in a week or so with more information about George, and hopefully, a tan.

Epsewasson

Greetings from the home of Top Chef DC!

The show, which I've been watching for the first time only because it was filmed here on location, is about to begin, so this will be a short entry. True to my purpose, I began my first biography on Sunday afternoon. It is a slow read, but quite enjoyable. It is filled with wonderful details and descriptions, so much so that I am not able to speed read through it (this is a good thing). Here's are a few tidbits from Chapter 1:

• George Washington was born on February 22, 1732
• George was born to his father, Gus, and Gus' second wife, Mary Ball. George was close to neither of his parents.
  
• His role models were his older, half brother, Lawrence, and George William Fairfax, Lawrence's neighbor. Both educated in England, George emulated his entire demeanor after these two men in order to "refine" himself
• Mount Vernon was originally named Epsewasson, but Lawrence renamed it after Admiral Edward Vernon, whom he served with during the invasion of Cartagena
  
• George Washington was the person who actually started the French & Indian War (called The Seven Years' War in Europe). Tensions were building up to it, but George's attack on a small group (40) of French soliders actually kicked the whole thing off.

Stay tuned...there's more to come

Welcome!

I have been toying with the idea of writing a blog for years. Yes, I realize that it appears I am on the tail end of a trend; however, I was actually blogging before it was even a concept. Way back in 2001, I began sending a series of long e-mails every couple of weeks (or months when I was taking media law and media econ) to keep my friends and family posted while I was in graduate school. Some funny, mostly newsy, these were my attempt to stay connected to the world outside of group projects, reading, reading and more reading, pimping the benefits of university housing (that was my part-time gig - yes, I said 'gig') and the oh-so-fun comprehensive exams. On the whole, these e-mails were well received and I have always wanted to get back to it.

So here I am, a mere nine years later when blogging may not even be cool anymore. No matter, I've jumped in the ocean and can't wait to see what the tide brings in.

Why American Presidents? It starts with an Atlanta book club where one of the books we read was "The Know-It-All" by A.J. Jacobs. He took on a personal challenge to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, a daunting feat indeed. He did it and managed to write a very humorous and fun, fact-filled book about it. BTW, I highly recommend the book. I also read an excerpt of his latest book, "My Life as an Experiment..." where he eliminated multitasking from his life (it's much harder than you think). Again, witty and insightful. Needless to say, I am a fan.

When I moved the our nation's capital, I became fascinated with facts about American history, and in particular, our presidents. There have been some real characters in that big white house and I became interested in learning more. So I had an idea...what if I read a biography about each president?

Not dwelling on the sheer magnitude of that idea (you know that's 44 books, right?), I went out to my Facebook friends for recommendations. I entitled it "My Own FB Project - American Presidents" and I got some very good recommendations. That post was on July 13, 2009.

Okay, so life happened and I haven't started yet. But never fear! I have actually obtained the first book. It's an ambitious one (507 pages) and aptly named, "The First of Men-A Life of George Washington" by John E. Ferling.

Tomorrow, we begin this journey together. Me, George and then the 43 presidents who follow (I'll list them for you in a separate blog), and anyone out there in cyberspace who wants to tag along. Come on in...the water's fine!