Final thoughts on historic travel | Get out of the city | The Tribune

I've been writing about moving out of the city for nearly eight years now. But this will be my last column. At least my last for the Tribune. My wife and I are moving to Northern Colorado to be closer to family. Specifically, our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. I will continue to travel and hope to continue offering tours of historic sites. Those of you who have read my articles may know that my most entertaining tour is of the presidential homes of the “Virginia Dynasty”: Mount Vernon (Washington), Monticello (Jefferson), Montpelier (Madison) and Highland (Monroe).

I realized early on that not everyone is excited about the idea of ​​traveling to historical places. The fact is, some people just aren't that interested in history. (Want to see someone's eyes glaze over quickly? Then start talking about history with someone who has no interest.)

Many people believe that vacation is not about visiting a historical site, but about doing something fun like skiing, camping, hiking, going to the beach, etc. I understand this and try to remember a quote from Will Rogers: “Don't let yesterday consume too much of today.” With all due respect to teachers who teach history in an interesting way, many people I talk to about history say something like, “In school, they just made us memorize dates.”

With that in mind, I want to show you that as an informed citizen, you need to know at least a little about U.S. history in order to vote. To do that, I'm going to ask you some questions that I hope will get you thinking.

First, do you believe in a national election of the president by the people? (I'm not going to suggest an answer to this – that would take a while. But you should at least know something about the Electoral College and how it was created.)

Second, why is the U.S. House of Representatives based on population, while the U.S. Senate has two senators per state? (Again, there's no answer to this, but it's worth thinking about the concern that large states might overrun small states.)

I cover these topics in detail when I visit Montpelier, home of James and Dolley Madison. In addition to governmental issues, I like to remind people that our founders faced personal challenges as well. So in Montpelier, we also talk about James and Dolley's unusual marriage. More specifically, how did James manage to court Dolley? He was 43 years old, 17 years her senior, when they married. She was outgoing and vivacious; he was small and well-read. How did that happen?

Another local travel example: Did you know that a famous Civil War battle took place in New Mexico in 1862? (Yes, New Mexico.) Were Coloradans involved? (The answer is yes.) Very few people I've asked in recent years know this. I know quite a bit about the Civil War, but I didn't know about the battle until about 10 years ago. A tour I lead to New Mexico visits the site of the battle and includes some sights (and restaurants) in Santa Fe. We also visit Taos.

Some final thoughts on historical tours, especially if you have younger children and they show no interest at all. Don't give up hope, you never know. My daughter wasn't the least bit interested in US history as a child. But recently she has shown some curiosity and actually went on a tour in Virginia. She also hosts my podcasts on the Presidents of Virginia and “interviews” me. (Search Ear Tours – American History.)

It has been a pleasure to share my travels over the years, especially those to historic sites, and I wish everyone well as they leave the city.

Doug McCormick retired from the Air Force after 21 years as an astronaut. He spent 14 years as a defense contractor for the Air Force Space Command. He is now a tour guide and has founded his own company, American History Tours, LLC. He specializes in taking people to places associated with significant American history. His email address is [email protected].