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.

Many New York City tourists want to see the Empire State Building or Radio City, but history buffs may appreciate a trip to the Upper West Side to the final resting place of President Ulysses S. Grant.
The memorial is massive, rising 150 feet on a hill overlooking the Hudson.

“Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?” It’s a question that entered American pop culture thanks to Groucho Marx and the show “You Bet Your Life.” One contestant apparently shook things up with the reply that”no one” is buried in Grant’s tomb, which is technically correct and here’s why:

Even though you can visit Grant’s tomb in New York City and you can see the coffins (sarcophagi?) of President and Mrs. Grant, technically no one is buried there. And the whole argument hinges on the definition of the word “bury.”

He’s the man who followed Honest Abe, and let’s be honest, Andrew Johnson is one unpopular president. One book I have describes Johnson as a “hard-drinking, racist, self-made man from Tennessee who was snatched from obscurity by Abraham Lincoln only to become the first president in American history to be impeached.” Ouch.
However, after touring his boyhood home you may gain some respect for our 17th president – this guy went through a lot!

He’s one of the world’s most famous detectives with one of the most famous addresses in literature: 221B Baker Street, London. Sherlock Holmes’ fictional address is the real address of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. In summer 2013, I waited in line for two hours (including two brief rain storms) to tour the townhouse of this fictitious figure. The...

Just down the road from Lincoln’s boyhood home, we made a pit stop in Santa Claus, Indiana, “America’s Christmas Hometown.” Even though we visited on a brutally hot August day, it’s always Christmas in Santa Claus. The strip mall is called Kringle Place, home to Holiday Foods and the Santa Claus Museum. There’s Santa’s Candy Castle, and, across the street, you’ll find Lake Rudolph Campground and RV Resort. There was even a car wash covered in holiday decorations.

When planning a Lincoln trip, my first thoughts would be Illinois or Kentucky. But at a family reunion in Jasper, Indiana, a cousin changed all that when he asked, “Did you know that Lincoln grew up near here?” That launched my mom and me on a Bonus Nerd Trip to Lincoln’s Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City, Indiana!