From Shakespeare and Dickens to presidents ranging from Madison to Theodore Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter, it’s been quite a summer of Nerd Trips. Here’s a sneak peak of where we’ve been.

As we finish our trip to Grant’s tomb, it’s time to take you inside this massive mausoleum. Many disabled Civil War soldiers had to be carried up the stairs to the shrine, which became a popular pilgrimage for veterans on both sides of the conflict.

The Taft house in Cincinnati is big and it’s yellow. The Taft family moved to Ohio from Vermont in 1838. President Taft’s father, an attorney, moved his family to this Greek revival style home in 1851. The following year, Mr. Taft’s first wife Fanny died, leaving him with two small sons. He then married Massachusetts schoolteacher Louise Torrey, and they had four more children, including our future president, William Howard Taft, born September 15, 1857.

Our first official stop was Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of our fifth president, James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson wanted the Monroes to live nearby, so he encouraged his friend to buy this property down the road from Monticello.

Nerd Trips may now be helping me with the crossword puzzle! Yesterday’s (1/17) New York Times crossword featured the following clue: “President who was once New York’s governor.” Unfortunately, we have not had a major Nerd Trip to see places associated with this man, so I didn’t get it right away. But, I knew the puzzle had a Sesame Street theme, so with the letters I had, I was able to fill in “Grover Cleveland.”
This prompted me to look up Grover Cleveland in the presidents’ guide. There are definitely some locations we need to visit!

Hi Nerd Nation, Do you recognize this house? Do you know where it is? As more of my friends and family learn about Nerd Trips, they keep suggesting Nerd Trips when I visit. The problem is, I am getting very, very backlogged on posts. I am going lots of places, but haven’t had the time to write them up. To keep things moving, I will post some Nerd Trip teasers:...