Trip #12 New York City area



Grant's Tomb New York, NY




Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip: #26 Theodore Roosevelt   Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY 36 of 38
                                                          
                                                            #18 Ulysses S. Grant   New York, NY 37 of 38

                                                           #22 and #24 Grover Cleveland  Princeton, NJ  38 of 38

Presidential Gravesite revisits: #32 Franklin D. Roosevelt   Hyde Park, NY

                                             #26  Theodore Roosevelt   Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY

                                             #15   James Buchanen   Lancaster, PA

                                             #13  Millard Fillmore   Buffalo, NY


   Only 10 short weeks passed from my March TN / St. Louis trip to my June NY/NJ trip. It was a busy 10 weeks of ups and downs. But knowing that I would complete my quest of visiting every Presidential Gravesite on this trip was very exciting. In the last week leading up to the trip my nephew Christopher, who just graduated High School was able to come along. After helping lead his quiz bowl team to the National competition in Atlanta, Chris is as much a history buff as I am, if not more so. So it was great to have him along with my parents, wife and kids.

  Dad got off of work early on Saturday June 9th. We were on the road by 9am. Our goal for the day was to drive out to our home for the week. A house we got through Mom and Dads time share. We got out there by 5pm and started to settle in. The place was beautiful! Our rental house was alot bigger then anticipated and the surrounding scenery was amazing to! Our place was near East Stroudesburg, PA. Right along the Delaware River, with a nice view of New Jersey on the other side of the river. We did have a problem though and some of us spent much of the night at the local ER. All was well when we got back to the rental house a little after midnight. Mom and Dad decided to take it easy at the rental house the next day, and to keep the kids with them.


June 10, 2012  Theodore Roosevelt

   With Mom, Dad and the kids staying at the rental house, that just left Chris, my wife and I for the days adventure. We left the rental house at 6 am and started heading towards New York City. My original plan was to see TR's Sagamore Hill on Long Island, then TR's grave, then Grant's Tomb on the north end of NYC. After that I was going to start heading north and hit a couple of cemeteries, hoping to run into a couple of friends along the way. Then drive to New Haven, CT for some Bush related sites. But after the late night at the ER a decided to cut out New Haven, and head back after the cemeteries.

  We arrived in Oyster Bay on Long Island around 8:30 am. We came upon Youngs Memorial Cemetery before we got to Sagamore Hill. We stopped quickly at the cemetery to discover that the gate was locked. I wasn't to worried since the sign said that it would be open at 9. We continued onto Sagamore Hill. We weren't able to tour Sagamore Hill, due to them recently starting a 2 to 3 year renovation. But we wandered the property for a little bit. We made it back down to the cemetery around 9:30 and this time were very annoyed to find that the cemetery gate was still locked. Not sure what to do, I considered jumping the gate. But my wife was in the van, texting me that the local cops kept cicleing the area. Chris and I snuck into the nature preserve next door. Then I saw it up on the hill. TR's grave! We proceded to climb a very steep hill only to be stopped by a fence about 10 feet away from the inner fence surrounding TR's grave. This fence was near transparent, as I didn't see it when I first started the hike up the hill. I thought about jumping, but again, my phone was ringing like crazy with text from my wife, worried that we were going to get arrested. I got what pics that I could and we continued onto Grant's Tomb. It continued to eat at me that I didn't get a better view of TR's grave. So I would eventually rearrange my scheduel later in the week so that I could see TR's gravesite properly.




Theodore Roosevelt Youngs Memorial Cemtery Oyster Bay, NY


June 10, 2012  Ulysses S. Grant

   We left Oyster Bay and headed for Grant's Tomb, o:n the northern end of Manhattan, New York City. In our travels, my wife has became a very good navigator. But she was terrified of navigating around NYC. But it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it may be. We got back into Manhattan with little trouble, and then we got off of the Interstate and started driving on the streets. Again it wasn't to bad. But the intimidation factor of NYC was clearly getting to my navigator. Especially when dozens of people on bicycles started weaving in and out of traffic with me and the other cars. I will admit, that made me a little nervous also. Hoping I wouldn't accidentially hit one of them, or all of them.

  We approached Grant's Tomb from the north and could see it a few blocks away. Not sure what parking would be like next to the Tomb. We took a parking spot on a bridge just north of the Tomb. Now I heard that Grant's Tomb was big, but it was still bigger then anticipated. We got up to the door to the Tomb and found it to be locked. I went down to the nearby National Park Service headquarters and the Park Ranger told us that the door would reopen at Noon. I looked at the time. It was 11:15. My wife then said, "We aren't really going to wait that long, are we?!" I then said something along the lines of, "You bet your ass we are!" After the dissappointment of TR's gravesite, I wasn't about to miss going into Grant's Tomb. We sat down in the visitors center and heard the Park Ranger talk about Grant, and the Tomb until it was time to reopen the Tomb's door. We finally went inside the Tomb and found it to be a very nice, respectable Monument to a man who was pivotal in preserving the Union. The large Tomb reminded me of McKinley and Garfield's Tombs. All 3 Tomb were built within 25 years or so. It was definatly the Victorian age thing to make things big.

After Grant's Tomb we started heading for Woodlawn Cemtery in the Bronx. But somehow the GPS died on us in a major intersection and we ended up New Jersey bound on the George Washington Bridge. At this point I wasn't about to turn around in New Jersey and pay another 12 bucks to cross back into New York. So I started to think, Now what? I remembered that Grover Clevelands birthplace was nearby, and that they were open that day. Unlike the next day, when I originally was planning on seeing it. So after eating some Chipotle. We took a nice tour of Grover Clevelands Birthplace in Caldwell, NJ. Which was something that I originally didn't think that I would get to do. So in the end, that worked out well.

We then headed back to the rental house, and took the kids swimming.

Gravesite of Ulysses and Julia Grant in Grant's Tomb, New York, NY

June 11, 2012  Grover Cleveland

   I hadn't given much thought about the fact that my birthday fell in the same week as our vacation until we booked out rental house. Then I started to think that it would be appropriate if I put the day that I planned to see my final Presidential Gravesite on my birthday. So I did.

  We all loaded up and left the rental house around 6:30 am. We arrived at Washington Crossing first. We went to the visitors center and watched a video. Then we drove down to the area in which George Washington's Army crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776 to defeat the Hessian Mercenaries at The Batte of Trenton. It was a desperate time for the Continential Army, and the victory at Trenton was a much needed victory for us. This was very cool to see!

   We then made a quick stop in Trenton to see the gravesite of Civil War Union General George McClellan. Then it was off to the highlight of the day in Princeton. We arrived at Princeton Cemetery and got a map. There were a few points of interest here. But first and foremost was the Gravesite of President Cleveland. We started to drive into the older area of the cemetery and it didn't take long for me to recognize the Cleveland family plot. It was a great feeling knowing that I had finally seen all 38 Presidential Gravesites. However I did feel that my collection wouldn't be 100% complete until I was able to make it back and get a better look at TR. But for know, I was enjoying it. Cleveland definatly has one of the simpler gravesites of all the Presidents. If you didn't know, and weren't looking for it. You would never guess that a President was buried there. After a few pictures we headed to see all of the other points of interest there. We found Vice President Aaron Burr, Signer of the Declaration of Independence John Witherspoon, and Theologian Jonathan Edwards, who also happened to be Burr's Grandfather. After a little while we started to load up. I decided to change my shirt, and pay President Cleveland another visit before we left. In a way paying him 2 non consecutive visits for his 2 non consecutive terms as President.

   After we left the cemetery we made some quick stops at 3 private property, Presidential residences. First we stopped at Grover Clevelands "Westland" home. This was the home he was living in when he died in 1908. Then we got some quick pictures of 2 of Woodrow Wilson's houses that he lived in when he served as President of Princeton University. Then we headed to New Brunswich, NJ for lunch. A few weeks before the trip, I discovered Man V. Food on Netflix. This gave me some idea's of places to eat on the trip. Before the end of the trip we would eat at 3 different places that I saw on the show. We grabbed some sandwhiches at R U Hungry on the Rutgers University campus. Every sandwhich gets covered with fries. Very good!

We made one last stop that day at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson, NJ. McKinley Vice President Garret Hobart has a very large Tomb there. I was also able to meet up with my friend Frank, who I met online after finding his website on Political Gravesites. Here is a link to Franks website:  www.mcgady.net/ms/dpotus/main.html . After visiting with Frank for awhile. We were on our way back to the rental house for the night. With it being my birthday, my Mom started making us a considerable amount of homemade Mac n Cheese, one of my favorates. And later that night I was surprised with a DQ Ice Cream Cake. It was a pretty amazing birthday!

 

Grover Cleveland Princeton Cemetery Princeton, NJ

  The next day was the Lighthouse and Beach day that I promised my wife. However, no beach happened since it was cold and raining all day. We first stopped in Atlantic City and saw Absecon Lighthouse, which was closed, but seeing Atlantic City was pretty cool. Next we stopped at Barneget Lighthouse, we were able to get in and climb to the top of that one. Then lunch at Chicken or the Egg, another place we saw on Man V. Food. Next stop was in Long Branch, NJ at the Death site of President Garfield, then we stopped at the nearby Church of the Presidents, in which 7 Presidents had attended services at one time or another. Then Sandy Hook Lighthouse, which was downpouring rain, so we didn't get out. Then a quick stop at Twin Lights State Historic site. After this we started the long trip back to the rental house. But first I made a quick stop at The Quick Stop. If you are framiliar with Kevin Smith's movies, Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, ect.. we stopped the conveinence store in which Clerks was filmed.

   The next day was Valley Forge Philadelphia day. Now I had never been there before and this trip gave me a good idea of how long I would want to set aside for the various sites next time. It was a very rushed day, but fun. We got to Valley Forge around 8:30 am. We went and saw the big memorial arch. And then headed for Washington's headquarters. I learned that next time, I could easily spend half a day there, taking it all in. We then headed into the Independence Hall area of Philadelphia. We parked at the Independence Hall Visitors Center parking garage. We started walking around and saw a bunch of sites in that area, Independence Hall, Ben Franklins grave, Congress Hall, ect... After awhile we headed over to the Reading Terminal Market to try out Dinic's Roasted Pork Sandwhich that I saw on Man V. Food. When I eventually ate the sandwhich I can easily say that it was the best sandwhich I ever ate! We took them to go and started to head for Laurel Hill Cemetery, where I met up with another Presidential Gravesite enthusiast that I met online, Rich. Rich gave us a nice tour of the cemetery. Civil War General George Meade of Gettysburg fame is buried there, as is Signer of the Declaration of Independence Thomas McKean. A few movies were filmed there including Transformers 2, Rocky Balboa, and Law Abiding Citizen. We saw the patched pavement that had to be fixed after an explosion ruined it during the filmed of Law Abiding Citizen. And the Adrian Balboa gravestone used in Rocky Balboa. After we left we headed for Germantown to see the Deshler Morris House, the house that George Washington escaped to during a Yellow Fever outbrake during his Presidency. Making it the first Presidential retreat. Then we went back into Philadelphia to try some Cheesesteaks. On the way we parked illegally, Chris and I jumped out as we got some quick pics of Vice President George Millfin Dallas gravesite. When we got to the Cheesesteak places we split up and some of us got some Pat's and some of us got some Geno's. We all agreed that Geno's was better. On the way back to the rental we again parked illegally in front of the Art Museum and ran up the Rocky steps, and got some pictures. It was a nice Philadelphia experience.


June 14, 2012   Franklin D. Roosevelt  gravesite revisit

    My original plan for this day was to drive along the Hudson River valley, revisit the 3 Presidents along the Valley (FDR, Van Buren, and Arthur), pick up 2 VP's and see the Grant Cottage north of Albany. But after seeing TR's grave earlier in the week didn't go as planned, I changed plans. I decided to see the 2 VP's, then see FDR's Library, then take another run at visiting TR's grave. On this day, my wife decided to stay at the rental house with the kids. So around 6 am, Mom, Dad, Chris and I headed out. First we visited the gravesite of Madison's Vice President George Clinton in Kingston, NY. Then we crossed the Hudson River and saw Ben Harrison's Vice President Levi Morton in Rhinebeck, NY. We then headed south to the FDR Library/ National Historic Site in Hyde Park, NY. When I originally visited FDR in September 2009 we only took time for the house tour. This time I wanted to see the Library/Museum. When we got there we found that most of the Museum was under renovation. Only a temporary exhibit was available for us to see. So we went ahead and saw what we could. But they said that if we make it back after the renovation and show our tickets, that we can get into the newly renovated Museum for free. After we saw the temporary exhibit. Mom and Dad headed back to the car to make sandwhiches while Chris and I went to see the house and gravesite. Before long we were leaving the FDR site and decided to make a quick stop at Eleanor Roosevelts nearby Val Kil home. Then it was off to Long Island again. To make another run at seeing TR's gravesite.

Franklin D. Roosevelts gravesite Hyde Park, NY

                                    

June 14, 2012  Theodore Roosevelt  gravesite revisit

            After a couple of hours we were back in Oyster Bay. We got to the cemetery and were releaved to find that the gate was open. We continued onto Sagamore Hill so that Mom and Dad could see the house. Then we went back to the cemetery. We walked into the cemetery, up the hill, and found 26 steps leading up to TR's gravesite. This was a great feeling! No more loose ends in my quest to visit all 38 Presidential Gravesites. I felt a deeper sence of completion then I did when I visited Grover Clevelands grave a few days before. TR has a simpler headstone that reminded me of Calvin Coolidges. It is a nice ane respectable gravesite to one of our nations greatest Presidents.

    We started to head back to the rental house. In what should of been a 2 hours drive back took 5 hours. Apparently President Obama was coming to town to tour the World Trade Center site, and the added security caused serious traffic. It was a very exhausting experience that contributed to the choice to not take a train to NYC the next day.

Theodore Roosevelt Youngs Memorial Cemetery Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY

June 15, 2012  James Buchanen  gravesite revisit

  We only had one more day in the area and that day was going to be the day that we hopped a train into NYC to walk around. The night before Mom, Dad and Chris said that they just wanted to take it easy at the rental house that day. So I planned to get up at 4am so that we could be at the Train station by 7. It was just going to be my wife and I. She was very hesitant about going to walk around NYC. So when the alarm rang at 4, I was very exhausted and it didn't take much arm twisting for me to decide to not go. We slept another couple of hours. I got up and started thinking of something else we could do that would be a little more relaxing. After exploring some options I decided that we would head to Lancaster, PA to see some James Buchanen sites. The house was closed when I stopped by 2 years before. So this time around we took the time to tour the house. We then revisited the gravesite.

   After that we stopped at a Pizza Hut lunch buffet and headed back to the rental house. We started packing for the early departure time the next morning.

James Buchanen Woodward Cemetery Lancaster, PA

June 16, 2012  Millard Fillmore  gravesite revisit


    Well, we had a very productive week that I was pretty happy with. On the way out there we didn't make any historical stops. Just gas and food. I didn't want the way home to be that boring. So we left the rental around 5 am and started heading north. The highway travel was refreshing. After being in alot of stop and go traffic all week, I really enjoyed cruising around 80 mph in the early morning hours. We hit Millard Fillmores birthplace marker in Summerhill, NY, William Sewards grave in Auburn, and Frederick Douglas's grave in Rochester, NY. We then headed to Buffalo. There was a series of quick historical markers that I wanted to get pictures of in Buffalo that I missed last time. First we hit the historical marker for the McKinley shooting site. Then we revisited President Fillmores grave, where I met up with another Presidential history buff Pat, who I met online. Pat's website is http://www.patspresidentialplaces.com/ .

  After visiting with Pat a little bit we started preparing to head out. I took one last picture of Fillmores grave. When I went to view it, the image on the camera was scrambled. I started to freak out a bit at the idea of losing all of the pictures that I took that week. I was going to hit some other sites in the cemetery but my mind was so preoccupied that I forgot. I wanted to get to a Wal Mart picture center to see if the camera chip was ruined. So I had my wife type into the GPS for home, figuring we would pass a Wal Mart somewhere along the way. But as we started following the GPS, it started taking us down the street with a few of the quick historical markers that I wanted to see. So I took a deep breath and made those stops while we were there. First I got out my phone and got pictures of the William McKinley death site. Then we went down to the TR Inaguaral Site. My wife saw a Walgreens across the street from the TR Inagural Site. So she took the camera chip and went to check it out. After browsing the gift shop I ran across the street to Walgreens to see what she had found out. Most of the pictures were fine. But about 20 of them that I took at Laurel Hill Cemtery in Philly were ruined. This was a relief for the most part. We then headed to a small town south of Buffalo to see Millard Fillmores house in East Aurora.

Millard Fillmores graveste in Forest Lawn Cemtery Buffalo, NY

Well, that completes the series of Presidential Gravesite trips (until any of the currently living former Presidents pass on). I hope you enjoyed them, and / or found them helpful in your own quest.

Trip #11 Tennessee, Kentucky and more

Tennessee State Capital Building Nashville, TN. Site of President James K. Polk's gravesite.

Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip: #17 Andrew Johnson Greeneville, Tennessee 35 of 38


Presidential Gravesite revisits: #7 Andrew Jackson Nashville, Tennessee
                                             #11 James K. Polk Nashville, Tennessee

Vice Presidential Gravesite: Alben W. Barkley Paducah, Kentucky


   It has been a very fun and productive last few years for this hobby. In early 2009 I decided to start visiting the gravesites of the Presidents with the intention to see them all someday. In April 2009 I made my first trip of this quest by going down to Marion, Ohio to see President Harding. By the end of 2009 I would of collected 20 of them. In 2010 I collected another 9. 2011 brought another 5. That leaves just 4 more. After my unexpected trip to L.A. in October 2011 to see Nixon and Reagan (Which were clearly to 2 toughest to see), I began to see the light at the end of the tunnell. The 4 remaining wouldn't be to hard to complete with 2 seperate trips in 2012. This is the first of those trips.

After the sucess of last years March western trip, I wanted to do something simular. But I wanted it to incorperate Andrew Johnson sites in Greeneville, TN. I kicked around alot of ideas. There have been alot of sites that I have seen on the fly. That for one reason or the other I needed to cut the stop short. And I always hope to see these sites again someday to take it in properly. Andrew Jackson's Hermitage was one of these sites. And I figured that while I was going down to Tennessee to see Andrew Johnson sites. That I may as well stop by the Hermitage and take it in properly. As I talked with one of my friends in Nashville a lot of other possibilities in Nashville opened up. Eventually I decided to head towards St. Louis after our time in Nashville. My wife has for a long time wanted to see the St. Louis Arch. And there is also a bunch of stuff that I wanted to see in St. Louis as well. As it always does, trip time arrived before we knew it. And we were heading south towards my 35th Presidential Gravesite.


March 23, 2012  Andrew Johnson

I got home from work around 5pm on Thursday March 22. My wife had the day off and was doing last minute trip preparation that day. My parents were there to get the kids. So, Luckily I got to see the kids for a few minutes before Mom and Dad had to leave with them. Once they left I got cleaned up, changed and we were on the road by 5:17. We would drive all the way down to our hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee for the night. We made great time and arrived at our Knoxville hotel around 11pm.

We made it to Greeneville that morning to see Andrew Johnson sites over a half hour before they opened. This gave us a good chance to walk around Greeneville and get pictures of the outside of Andrew Johnsons houses. We first got pictures of the replica birthplace and his early home near the visitors center. I glaced at a map that they had on display and we started walking down the street towards the Johnson homestead house. As we walked down I little ways we came across Andrew Johnson's backyard. We crossed an old, rickity bridge and walked through the backyard up to the back of the Homestead house. We got some pictures and before long we started heading back towards the National Park Service visitors center. We walked into the visitors center at around 9:02 and asked when the first available tour of the Homestead house would be. The lady at the desk said "Around 1:30 this afternoon". Apparently around 100 3rd graders had the morning tours all booked up. So this was kind of a bummer. But we went ahead and looked around the visitors center museum which included Johnson's Tailor shop. We also did the self guided tours of the early Johnson home and the replica birthplace.

It was then off to the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery to see the Presidents gravesite. Johnson was buried on top of a steep hill. I wanted to park by the gate and walk up the hill but a park ranger had the parking spaces there blocked. So we drove up the steep hill and found parking up there. It was a nice, peacefull gravesite that Johnson himself picked. There were 2 layers of fences circling the Presidents grave. After my wife got a picture of me at the gravesite I started looking at the fences. They were pointy and looked like they might hurt. But I could reach over the outer fence and could push the gate of the inner fence open. So if I could find my way over the outer fence I could make it all the way into the Momunent. So I found a spot where the fence wasn't as high and climbed over. I then walked around and opened the gate to the inner fence and I was in. So I got some pictures right next to the Monument. I then hurried out before they realised the hounds.

Andrew Johnson gravesite. Andrew Johnson National Cemetery Greeneville, TN

March 23, 2012 Andrew Jackson revisit


We left Greeneville ahead of scheduel since I had planned on touring the Johnson Homestead house. But we now had a roughly 4 hour drive across Tennessee to get to the Hermitage, Home of Andrew Jackson. Our last visit to the Hermitage was rushed, hot and we had our 5 month old Khloe with us. This time was much nicer. The weather was nice and mild. And we had nothing else planned to do that day. We got our headsets that offer information on various sites around the property. Making everything there, other then the house, a self guided tour. We took the house tour, and visited the rose garden where Andrew and Rachel Jackson are buried. We then headed out back behind the main house that we didn't get to explore last time. We walked back into the woods and found a large open field were the slave quarters once stood. We also found the little cabin in which Andrew and Rachel Jackson lived in for 17 years before the bigger Hermitage home was built. All in all it was a nice relaxing day of site seeing.





Andrew Jackson's gravesite at The Hermitage. Nashville, TN

March 24, 2012  James K. Polk revisit

This ended up being a very productive day in Nashville. My friend Josh, who I met on a facebook Presidents sites group, picked us up at our hotel around 8am to show us around Nashville. We first stopped at Mt. Olivet Cemetery were we found the gravesite of John Bell, a Speaker of the House, who ran for President in 1860. We hit a few more graves there and were off to down town to see some Polk sites. We revisited Polk's gravesite on the lawn of the Tennessee State Capital Building. We then walked around and saw the site of Polk Place, President Polk's home which was torn down. Now a Best Western sits on the site. We also stopped by 2 chuches with Polk connections. One is where his funeral took place, and the other is where he was sworn in as Governor of Tennessee. We then headed to the Parntheon replica. After that we stopped by RCA Studio B, where Elvis Presley and many others recorded. We then hit a couple more cemeteries. City Cemetery was the site where President Polk was originally buried. We then hit Woodlawn Memorial Park where we had to pull up some internet pictures to find what we were looking for. My wife has a great eye for these things and she found the gravesite of Country star Porter Waggoner. We also found Johnny Paycheck, singer of "Take This Job and Shock It". In the mauseleum there we found the gravesite of Jerry Reed. We also were looking for the gravesite of Tammy Wynette in the mauseleum. Josh had been there before but we just couldn't find it. We found out later that we were right there. They had just changed her name on the wall marker. We got lunch at a very good hot dog place and hit a few more country stars. We made it back to the hotel by 1pm. That night we saw a show at the Grand Ole Opry from back stage. It was pretty amazing!

President Polk's gravesite on the lawn of the Tennesse State Capital Building. Nahville, TN

March 25, 2012 Vice President Alben W. Barkley

#35 Alben W. Barkley (1877-1956)

                                      Vice President under Harry S. Truman from 1949 - 1953
  I recently made a posting of Vice Presidential Gravesites that I have seen so far. I only saw one more (2 if you count Andrew Johnson, but we already covered him) on this trip. So I figured I would add him to this posting.

The trip would continue the next morning. We left Nashville around 7 am and hit 3 sites on the way from Nashville to St. Louis. We stopped at Jefferson Davis' birthplace, Ohio Governor Charles Anderson's gravesite, and Vice President Alben W. Barkley's gravesite.

Barkley was a Congressman, Senator and Senate Majority Leader before he was picked as Harry Truman's running mate in the election of 1948. The Truman Barkley ticket narrowly beat NY Governor Thomas Dewey. Truman decided to not run for re election in 1952. Barkley was a short lived Canidate for the Decmocratic Nomination that year. But he was 74, and considered to old by most. Adlai Stevenson would eventually get the Democratic Nomination but would be defeated by Eisenhower.





Historical marker outside of the cemtery



...more info on the back




Me at VP Barkley's gravesite in Mout Kenton Cemetery Paducah, KY



Barkley's headstone

After Barkley's gravesite we headed to St. Louis. We first stopped by 2 cemeteries. Bellefontaine and Calvary. At these places we found the graves of Explorer William Clark, The graves of both Anheser and Busch, beer makers, Frederick Dent (President Grant's father in law), Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, Dred Scott and Tennessee Williams. It was then time to go to our hotel in downtown St. Louis. Once we checked into our room and opened the window we were very excited to see that we had an excelent view of the Arch from our room. We walked down to the Arch and toured the museum underneath. Which was very cool. We strolled around downtown St. Louis abit before we retired to our room for the night.

The next day we went to see the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis. We started heading home and hit Vincennes, IN on the way. Vincennes was the capital of the Indiana Territory and William Henry Harrison served as Territorial Governor there. Also nearby is the site where a 21 year old Abraham Lincoln first crossed into Illinios when he moved with his family. We hit one final site before heading home. Ohio Governor Othniel Looker was buried in a town 20 miles or so from Vincennes north along the IL / IN border in Palestine, IL.

To complete my collection of Presidential Gravesites I only have 3 left. Which I will be able to see this June. Ulysses S. Grant in NYC, Grover Cleveland in Princeton, NJ and Theodore Roosevelt on Long Island.

Trip #10 Los Angeles area

Beautiful scenery at the Reagan Library. Simi Valley, California

Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip: #37 Richard M. Nixon  Yorba Linda, California  33 of 38
                                                  #40 Ronald W. Reagan  Simi Valley, California  34 of 38



When we got back from Texas I started getting used to the idea that we probably wouldn't do anything to big for the rest of the year. There was a possibility of going to Washington DC around Thanksgiving, but that fell through. I already had a pretty big year so I was pretty happy and I started gathering information for next years trips.

My sister travels alot for her work. In the spring of 2010 she went to San Fransisco for work and took my parents with her. This got me thinking. I had plans for finishing the Presidential Gravesites that I needed for my collection. All but the 2 in the Los Angeles area. I really had no idea how or when I might get around to seeing those 2. So awhile ago I told my sister that if she ever got a chance to go to Los Angeles for work to let me know.

So one evening in late July she gave me a call and told me of the possibility of going to Los Angeles the first week of October. At this point it was a long shot. Even if she would definatly go, I would need to see if I could afford the plane tickets, car rental, hotel, ect...

After about a week of us looking into things it all came together. Even now nearly 2 months after the trip it hardly seems real.



October 1, 2011  Richard M. Nixon

I got off of work 2 hours early on Friday September 30th. I rushed home, got a shower, double checked that I had everything, kissed my family good by, and was on my way to the Detroit Airport with my sister. This was a new experience since I hadn't flown in nearly 10 years, and I had seen all 32 Presidential Gravesites at that point by driving.

We flew out of Detroit around 730. We arrived for our layover in Denver just long enough to run the length of 20 terminals to make our flight to Los Angeles. I wasn't able to get any rest between Detroit and Denver. But somewhere between Denver and L. A. I dozed off. I woke up and looked out my window at the lights of Los Angeles and for the first time a saw the Pacific Ocean coast line. It was a pretty amazing feeling. We finally landed and hopped a shuttle to our rental car place and then drove to our hotel for the night. It was midnight L. A. time.

We woke up the next morning and got a pretty nice complementary breakfast at the hotel. We had 5 stops to make that day. The 2 Presidential Libraries were both open from 10 - 5, with a 2 hour drive inbetween them. Our first stop of the day would be the Pacific View Memorial Park, burial place of John Wayne. Thanks to information found on the internet we found John Waynes gravesite with little trouble. We still had some time to kill before the Nixon Library would open. So we found a beach to kill a little time walking.

We finally made it to the Nixon Library just as they were opening. I ended up enjoying the Library and Museum alot more I had expected. There are alot of interesting displayes in the museum. Most recently they put in a display on Watergate that doesn't hold any punches. Nixon is buried on the property just afew feet away from his birthplace home. It is kind of cool for people like me when the Presidents birthplace, library, museum and gravesite is all in one place. Very convenient.  Richard Nixon has a very simple black headstone. One of the simplist of Presidential Gravesites.

Richard Nixon's gravesite. Yorba Linda, California

October 1, 2011  Ronald W. Reagan


After about an hour and a half at the Nixon Library we were on our way to Simi Valley. It was a beautiful drive. More and more as we got closer. I could definatly tell why Reagan picked this site for his Library. It may be because Reagan is one of my favorates but so far the Reagan Library is my favorate Presidential site. 2nd favorate is a tie between the LBJ Ranch and Coolidges Vermont home.

Anyways we spent about 2 and a half hours there and really took it all in. Reagan is buried in the back of the property with an absolutely beautiful view.

Ronald Reagan's gravesite. Simi Valley, California

After the Reagan Library we headed into downtown Los Angeles to Pierce Bros. Westwood Memorial Park. It is a small cemetery that is the final resting place of several big names. Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and many more. After the cemetery we headed to have dinner at a place that our cousin recomended. Philippes french dip sandwhiches was a very good end to a perfect day of site seeing.

The next day we went on a 5 hour Hollywood bus tour. For just a weekend in L. A. this tour showed us alot of the big sites one would want to see. We saw the Hollywood sign, Chinese Theatre, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Muscle Beach and a bunch of other stuff. After the tour we didn't have alot of time. We hit one more nearby cemetery, Holy Cross Cemetery. We were able to find the graves of Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth, John Ford, Sharon Tate, and Lawrence Welk. We also made it into the mausoleum that John Candy and Fred MacMurray and buried, put were kicked out before we could find them because they were closing.

This concludes my trips for now. I still have 4 Presidents to see. Which will mena 2 more trips. One down to eastern Tennessee to see Andrew Johnson. And one more eastern trip to see Grover Cleveland, Ulysess S. Grant, and Theodore Roosevelt. And more trips will follow someday assuming I survive any of the living former Presdients.

Trip #9 Back to Texas

Lincoln birthplace Hodgenville, Kentucky

Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip:   future gravesite of #41 George Bush  College Station, Texas



It had been a full 2 years since I started this little hobby and it had expanded to basically any site to do with Presidents. Birthplaces, Homes, Libraries. I wanted to see them all, and still do. For the first time I found myself planning a big trip that would not include any current Presidential Gravesites.

Just like we did in 2009, we decided to make a trip down to Texas so that my wives family down there could meet our new baby. In 2009 it was our little Khloe that we were taking down to meet the family. In 2011 it was our little Nicholas that we took down. Of course Khloe went down this time also.

In 2009 we had seen all the the Presidential Gravesite on the way down and back. This time I explored several options of other stuff to see. On the way down and back I decided to keep it simple, not knowing how 2 little ones would or would not cooperate on such a long road trip.

We left about as quick as we could get around after work on Friday June 17, 2011. It was around 5 pm when we hit the road. We drove and drove all through the night and came to our first stop of the day in Hope, Arkansas early in the morning. We got some breakfast at the Waffle House in Hope. We then saw several sites that have to do with Bill Clinton's early life in Hope. We had alittle car trouble in Hope, so when we finally left we cut out any other possible stop and headed straight for my wives' cousins apartment near Houston, Texas.

We would leave the Houston area early on the morning of Monday June 20th on a little 2 day trip. Our first stop would be the George Bush Library and Museum in College Station, Texas. As we know George Bush is alive and well, but as is the case with several recent Presidents his burial site is prepared for when the time comes. And also like most recent Presidents he will be buried on the property of his Presdiential Library and Museum. While we were there I couldn't help but check it out.

Future burial site of George and Barbara Bush College Station, Texas

George and Barbara Bush are not buried there yet but it is a current gravesite. Sadly the Bush's had a little girl Robin who passed away at the age of 4. She is already buried in the small cemetery.

Young Robin Bush's headstone is off to the left

We all had a good time at Bush's Library. It was very well done. After we left College Station we headed for Austin. In Austin we visited the LBJ Presidential Library and also the Texas State Capital Building. He ended up spending the night in a town in between Austin and San Antonio. The next morning we headed to San Antonio. In San Antonio we walked some off the city's Riverwalk and of course we visited The Alamo. It was pretty cool to see such an iconic landmark. After The Alamo we started back to Houston.

Not much in the way of historical sites for the rest of the time down there. At one point we stopped by the church that George Bush attends. We also drove by the well guarded gate to the street that he lives on.

Early Friday morning we left Houston and had a long day of driving ahead of us. Altough we drove past several points of interest, there just wasn't time to stop and see anything. That night we arrived in Columbia, Tennessee for the night.

Saturday morning we left the hotel and drove into Columbia and saw the James K. Polk Ancestreal Home, aka his parents house. Then we headed north of Nashville to Hendersonville to see the gravesite of Johnny Cash. The first of many big name celebrity gravesite I would see this year. But more on that later. After Hendersonville we continured northward towards home and stopped by Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville, Kentucky. That was the last stop of the trip. It was a good time. That was seemingly the last big trip of the year. But life has a way of throwing some pleasant surprises at you from time to time.

Trip #8 Western Midwest

Place of Meditation. Burial place of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Presidential Gravesite seen on this trip: #33 Harry S. Truman  Independence, Missouri  30 of 38
                                                  #34 Dwight D. Eisenhower  Abilene, Kansas  31 of 38
                                                  #31 Herbert Hoover  West  Branch, Iowa  32 of 38

            Presidential Gravesite revisit #23 Benjamin Harrison Indianapolis, Indiana



After our June 2010 trip to Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington DC, we started preparing for the new addition to our family. It was a very exciting time. We did take some small day and weekend trips in August, September and October. We revisited Hayes home in Fremont, Garfield sites in Cleveland, McKinley sites in Canton and the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.

Nicholas was born in early November and we started settling in for the Holiday Season and Wintertime. In January we started discussing a possible weekend getaway once the weather breaks. One of our favorite bands the Christian band Third Day. So we started looking for where they would be stopping on their upcoming tour. 2 spots stuck out to me. Davenport, Iowa on March 12, and Johnson City, Tennessee on March 31. President Hoover is buried near Davenport, and President Andrew Johnson is buried near Johnson City. At that point we had taken 3 big trips, south to Texas, east to New England and east to Virginia. So I was itching to do a western trip.

We decided to do the Davenport show. After I looked into a few things we added a day to the trip in which we would see Presidents Truman and Eisenhower. I found a bunch of other sites to see along to way and before we knew it March had arrived and my wife and I were off on a 4 day trip, just the 2 of us since we left Klo and Nicky with my parents.


March 10, 2011  Harry S. Truman

On the night of March 9, 2011, we left home around 8pm. This was a strange feeling. It was the first time that both of us were going on a trip by ourselves since we had kids. It was a great time together. The plan was to drive 12 hours through the night and arrive at the Truman Library when they open. It was a long night. But knowing all that the next day would hold kept me going. We arrived in Independence with about an hour to kill before the Truman Library. We explored the town and walked some of the Truman walking tour. We saw 'Clintons Soda Fountain' where a young Truman had his first job, the courthouse where he was a judge, his home and his boyhood home. Finally the Library opened. We were the only ones there for a little while. So it was like having the place to ourselves. We took about an hour and a half to explore the Library. It is definatly one of the better ones. I think that it was because, for all of Truman's retirement he lived just up the road. He even had an office there. So in the early day of the Library, Truman himself would on occation give tours. After the Museum part we headed out to the courtyard where the Truman's are buried. Like most of the modern Presidents, Truman's gravesite is simple and respectable. I really enjoyed the Truman Library but we had alot to see, and a long way to go before the end of the day. So we were on our way.

The Truman's gravesite, Independence, Missouri

March 10, 2011  Dwight D. Eisenhower



We left Independence and crossed the state line into Kansas. We went through Kansas City and before long we were driving through the open plaines of Kansas. On the way out to Abilene and Eisenhower we made a quick stop in Topeka to see the gravesite of Vice President Charles Curtis. It was a very quick stop in that the cemetery was just off of the Interstate.

We finally arrived at the Eisenhower Center in Abilene, KS. It was a nice set up. His boyhood home, Library, Museum, and the Place of Meditation (where the Eisenhowers are buried) are all there. After driving all night to Truman's Library, and then driving another 2 hours out to Eisenhowers, we were pretty exhausted. Plus we still had to drive 4 hours to our hotel near Omaha, Nebraska when we were done in Abilene. So I decided to tour the boyhood home and skip the Museum since I heard that it wasn't one of the better ones. Now I really regret this choice since I can't claim to of seen Eisenhowers Library and Museum now. I guess that it gives me a reason to return someday.

After the house tour we walked around the loop on the property. There are a bunch of memorial plaques at the far end of the property and a statue of Ike in the center. We then made it down to the Place of Meditation. Which is a small chapel built to be the Eisenhowers final resting place. Inside are the graves of Dwight, Mamie and an infant son Doud.





Dwight Eisenhowers gravesite Abilene, Kansas



After the Eisenhower Center we got some Sonic burgers and headed north towards Omaha, Nebraska. We made a quick stop on the way in Marysville, Kansas which was the location of the Pony Express station #1. There is a prety cool statue of a Pony Express rider on his horse there. We continued into Nebraska as we were losing daylight. One last stop of the day was in Omaha at Gerald Ford birthplace. We got there just as the sun was setting. I'll bet that it's a pretty cool thing to see in the summer and in the daylight. It's a garden on the site of the house where he was born. After that we crossed our 6th state line in 24 hours from Nebraska into Iowa. We spent the night at a hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It had been a long tough day and we got to see alot. The next 3 days would be a little more easy and relaxed.



March 11, 2011  Herbert Hoover


We got a great nights sleep on the night of March 10th. We had a pretty simple day ahead of us with 3 stops. We would drive the entire length of Iowa that day and spend the night in Moline, Illinios. Just on the other side of the Mississippi River from Davenport, Iowa. We left our hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa around 8 am. First stop of the day was in Winterset, Iowa at John Waynes birthplace. After we toured the birthplace we headed to nearby Des Moine to see the gravesite of FDR's Vice President Henry Wallace. Then we continued east to West Branch, Iowa where both the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum are. We toured the small Hoover birthplace as well as some other buildings that were significant to Hoover's early life there. We then tour the Hoover Library and Museum. We really enjoyed the Hoover Library. It focused more on the humanitarian work that he did, than it did his administration. We then walked out to the Hoover gravesite. The whole Hoover experience was a pretty cool one.

Herbert Hoovers gravesite. West Branch, Iowa

The trip would continue for 2 more days. On March 12 we left our hotel in Moline, IL and saw Ronald Reagan's birthplace in Tampico, IL and we also saw his boyhood home in Dixon, IL. We then returned to our hotel in Moline and rested for the rest of the day until our concert that night.

March 13, 2011 Benjamin Harrison revisit

On Sunday March 13 all we had to do is drive the 8 hours home, and hit a few sites along the way. We first stopped in Bloomington, IL to see the gravesite of the 2 Adlai Stevensons. One was Vice President under Grover Cleveland, and the other, his grandson ran for President twice against Eisenhower, and was Ambassador to the UN under Kennedy. We also stopped in Indianapolis at Crown Hill Cemetery to revisit the gravesite of President Benjamin Harrison, as well as the 3 Vice President buried there and John Dillinger.

Ben Harrison's gravesite Indianapolis, Indiana

Before we left Indianapolis we made a quick stop at Ben Harrison's home, which was closed. We then drove the 3 hours home and had a nice evening with the kids.

Trip #7 PA, DC and Virginia

National Cathedral in Washington DC. Gravesite of Woodrow Wilson

Presidential Gravesites seen of this trip: #15 James Buchanen  Lancaster, Pennsylvania 21 of 38
                                                  #35 John F. Kennedy  Arlington, Virginia 22 of 38
                                                  #28 Woodrow Wilson  Washington DC 23 of 38
                                                  #27 William H. Taft  Arlington, Virginia 24 of 38
                                                  #1 George Washington  Mt. Vernon, Virginia 25 of 38
                                                  #4 James Madison  Orange, Virginia  26 of 38
                                                  #3 Thomas Jefferson  Charlottesville, Virginaia 27 of 38
                                                  #10 John Tyler  Richmond, Virginia 28 of 38
                                                  #5 James Monroe Richmond, Virginia 29 of 38

Bonus President: Jefferson Davis #1 and only President of the Confederate States of America


This was a trip, in large part, to pick up some loose ends. 8 of the Presidential Gravesites that I saw on this trip were sites that I had seen at least once before. But I had few to no pictures of any previous visits. But I was happy to re visit them, since it had been at least 6 years since I had seen any of them.

2009 had been a great year with this hobby, seeing 20 Presidential Gravesites total. At the begining of 2010 I had hoped to add another 10 or more for the year. Then around March we found out that my wife was pregnant. This was great news! I gladly put some of my trip ideas on the back burner until the after the baby was born. Our little boy Nicholas was born then in November.

We agreed on one big trip for the year. I cut quite a bit out and turned what was originally a 9 day trip into a 6 day trip once we found out that we had a baby on the way. Before all was said and done we added a day at the end of the week to break up the trip home a little, making it a 7 day trip. So when the time came we were heading east to pick up 8 re visits, 1 new visit, and a bunch of other great stuff.


June 12, 2010 James Buchanen

We headed out around midnight on the night of Friday June 11th. We had the same travel group as the New York New England trip from the previous September. Mom, Dad and my cousin came along with my wife, Khloe and I. My plan for the day was to visit the Buchanen gravesite, a quick stop by Buchanen's Wheatland home, which I figured would be closed when we would be there, and they were. Then spend the rest of the day in Gettysburg.

A couple weeks before our trip my sister and her family went to Gettysburg and toured the battlefield with a CD that they put in their car that directed them where to go. The CD was made by 'The History Channell'. So it was really well done. Knowing that we were heading there she gave us the CD. So my plan was to see the the Buchanen stuff in Lancaster, PA, then tour the Gettysburg Battlefield,  tour the Eisenhower home at Gettysburg, then head to our Arlington, Virginia hotel for the night.

He made it to Lancaster around 8 am. We found the cemetery ok, but the gate was locked. My cousin and I got out on foot to find a way in as the rest of the van circled the cemetery in the van to do the same. After further investigation we found an area that didn't even have a fence. I missed the sign that directed you to Buchanen's Tomb. Instead I spotted a flag pole in the distance and made a bee line for it as my cousin followed. On the way I couldn't help but notice that most of the cemetery was in serious disrepair. But when we found the Buchanen grave it was easy to see that someone was maintaining his gravesite pretty well. Everyone in the van found us after a few minutes at the gravesite. It wasn't long and we were on our way to Gettysburg. All went as planned that day except that we didn't get to tour the Eisenhower Home at Gettysburg. But it was a very full day of site seeing. After Gettysburg we were all pretty exhausted and then were on our way to Arlington, Virginia for the night.




James Buchanen gravesite Lancaster, PA




June 13, 2010, John F. Kennedy

This turned out to be a day where not everything went as planned, but it all worked out in the end.
Here was my original plan: Drive the short distance from our Arlington, Virginia hotel to Arlington National Cemetery. Since I had a pregnant wife I figured that we would take the Arlington National Cemetery bus tour, instead of venturing into the massive cemetery on foot. The bus tour only stops at JFK's gravesite, The Tomb of the Unknown Soilder, and Arlington House, home of Robert E. Lee. After the bus tour we would go back to the hotel where everyone else would relax while my cousin and I would venture back into the cemetery on foot and see President Taft as well as some other points of interest. We would return to the hotel in time to get everyone else and drive out to the National Cathedral to see the gravesite of Woodrow Wilson. After calling ahead I found out that on this day I only day a window of one hour to see President Wilson's gravesite between 1 and 2 pm. We would then return to the hotel, hop on the subway and head to the Holocaust Museum and then spend the rest of the day walking the main mall area.

What really happened: We got to the cemetery when they opened just like a hundred other people. I underestimated how long it would take to buy the bus tour tickets, wait in line for the bus, and take the tour.  First stop of the tour was JFK's gravesite. It is a nice and respectable gravesite. Probably one of the most visited of all Presidential Graves. JFK's brothers Bobby Kennedy and Teddy Kennedy are buried nearby. There is also an area nearby that has a bunch of Supreme Court Justices buried in it. Including Chief Justices William Rehnquest and Warren Earl Burger. Justice Thurgood Marshall is also there, he was the first black man appointed to the Supreme Court.

John F. Kennedy's gravesite. Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia

June 13, 2010,  Woodrow Wilson

By the time we were done with Arlington National Cemeteries bus tour there was no time for anyone to relax at the hotel. And no time to see President Taft's grave. We HAD to get moving to the National Cathedral or else we would miss our one hour window of oppourtunity to see Wilson. So we left ANC for the National Cathedral. When we got there my wife, cousin and I hopped out and headed into the Cathedral while Mom and Dad stayed with a sleeping Khloe. Wilson's gravesite in a beautiful part of the Cathedral including stained glass windows and a marble casket. After seeing Wilson we explored the Cathedral a little more, and then were on our way back to our hotel in Arlington. Once we got there we packed up and headed for the subway to go into DC. We got to the Holocaust Museum which my cousin really wanted to see. We went inside and I had to throw away an unopened bottle of Pepsi Max in order to gain enteree. But once I got in there they said no more civilian tours for the day, only government employees for the rest of the day. Which really pissed me off. We checked out a couple of temporary displays and were off to the Mall area. We saw the Washington, Jefferson, FDR, Lincoln, Vietnam, WW2 and Korean War Monuments. I decided that we would have to make an unexpected stop back at Arlington National Cemetery on the way to Mt. Vernon on the next morning to see President Taft.

Woodrow Wilson's gravesite. National Cathedral Washington DC

June 14, 2010  William Howard Taft


After an exhausting day in the Washington DC area we all got a good nights sleep. The original plan for this day was simple. Be at George Washingtons Mt. Vernon when they open, then make it down to James Madisons Montpelier before the end of the day, then continue on down to Charlottesville for the night. But since the day before didn't go quite as planned we had to make a quick stop at Arlington National Cemetery to see President Taft. Now on this trip I really came to hate the roads around Arlington, Virginia. We missed our turn and ended up driving past the Pentagon. We eventually made it all the way around ANC and got it right the 2nd time. We parked the van and my cousin and I headed in on foot. I knew that it wouldn't take long since Taft's gravesite is very close to the front gate. We made our way up to Taft's grave. It is a unique grave marker for the only man to serve as both President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Not far away was the gravesite of Robert Todd Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln's only son to live to adulthood. We made a quick stop at Robert Todd Lincoln's grave before heading back to the van. Then it was off to Mt. Vernon.

The day before I got a map of ANC and all of the graves of interest to me marked on them. Taking the bus tour I wasn't able to see very many of them. But unexpectedly I would be back in the Washington DC area 6 weeks later for the weekend to see my nephew in the Boy Scout Parade. On that trip I was able to go into the Cemetery on foot with my cousin and see alot of those loose ends, plus a bunch of stuff that I missed in DC as well.

Taft's gravesite. Arlington National Cemetery

June 14, 2010  George Washington


We left Arlington National Cemetery after seeing Taft's gravesite for Mt. Vernon. We arrived shortly after they opened. We waited in line to see the house and started heading toward the Tomb, seeing the old tomb on the way.

There are just a few Presidential Gravesites that I have visited that I had to wait my turn to see, and wait for the crowd to clear some, in order to get my pictures. Washington was one of them. Also in this category was Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy and Reagan.

I had last visited Mt. Vernon 6 years earlier on my honeymoon. In that time they had added alot. A museum, visitors center and reconstructed distillery. One could easily spend the whole day there, which I really hope to return someday and do. But we had a scheduel to stick to so we were on our way after a couple of hours.

Me at Washingtons Tomb

June 14, 2010  James Madison

After Mt. Vernon we were on our way to James Madison's Montpelier. Montpelier had undergone a huge renovation in recent years. The Du pont family owned the house for a long time and added to it over the years. The recent renovation restored the house back to how it looked in Madisons time. Having worked in Construction since High School I was very impressed with all that they had done. After the house tour we headed down to the family graveyard. James and Dolley Madison are buried together there. Dolley's smaller marker is just behind James's larger one. We then headed to our motel in Charlottesville. On the campus of the University of Virginia. Being on campus I figured that it would be a decent place. But it turned out to be a dump. After dinner we headed to the older parts of the U of V campus that Thomas Jefferson designed. It was pretty cool.

James Madison's large tombstone in the front. Dolley's smaller one in the back.

June 15, 2010  Thomas Jefferson


We got up early to leave the craphole motel, and head over to Monticello. I must of got bad information because we showed up at 8 when I thought they opened. The guy at the gate told us that they don't open until 9. He mentioned a donut place called Spudnuts nearby to kill time at. So we went there for some donuts. They were pretty good.

We made it back to Monticello in time for the first tour of the day. The house tour of Monticello is very interesting. Jefferson was a brilliant inventor on top of everything else, and his house is proof of that. Like Mt. Vernon, Monticello has also added a museum and other things that we didn't have time to see. So sometime I would like to return. After the house tour we walked the grounds alittle. It is a beautiful property that is mostly unchanged since Jefferson's time. We then headed down to the family cemetery where Jefferson's family members are still being buried on occation.

Thomas Jefferson's gravesite at his Monticello home. Charlottesville, Virginia

June 15, 2010  John Tyler
                       James Monroe


After we left Monticello we were making good time so we stopped by James Monroe's Ash Lawn Highland home. It was a nice tour. The home is owned by the College of William and Mary. After Ash Lawn we headed to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. The burial place of Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler, and also Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Confederate Generals J.E.B. Stuart and George Pickett are also buried there.

First we saw the 2 Generals. And then we headed to the area where both John Tyler and James Monroe happen to be buried near each other. There are 3 places that can claim 2 Presidential Gravesites. The first is the United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts where John Adams and John Quincy Adams are both buried. Another one is Arlington National Cemetery were William Howard Taft  and John F. Kennedy are both buried. The last is Hollywood Cemetery.

John Tyler's gravesite,  Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, Virginia. The black birdcage in the background to the left is the gravesite of James Monroe.

James Monroe's gravesite

June 15, 2010  Jefferson Davis CSA President


After we saw the 2 U. S. Presidents there was one last stop before we left the cemetery. Any real gravehunter can't visit Hollywood Cemetery and not visit the grave of Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America.




The grave of CSA President Jefferson Davis


That concludes the Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip. However the trip continued for 3 more days.

When we left Richmond we headed towards Williamsburg for the night. On the way we stopped at Berkeley Plantation, birthplace of W. H. Harrison, Sherwood Forrest Plantation, home of John Tyler, and the roadside marker marking the birthplace of John Tyler.

The next day Wendesday June 16th was the Lighthouse and beach day that I promised my wife. On this day we saw 4 lighthouses. One happend to be on the same island that Jefferson Davis was imprisoned for 2 years after the Civil War.

On Thursday we visited Appomattox Court House, where the Civil War ended. Then we hit Lexington, Virginia where Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried. And finally we stopped in Staunton, Virginia at the birhplace of Woodrow Wilson.

On Friday we stopped in Shankesville, PA at the Flight 93 Memorial. After the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001 there was a memorial started near the crash site of  Flight 93. It was a mooving experience. We then hit French and Indian War sites Fort Liggioneer and Fort Nessesity. Fort Nessesity is the site of George Washington's first battle.

All in all it was a pretty great week. We went home to soak it all in, and of course prepare for the arrival of our son Nicholas, who would be born the following November.