If you’re a history buff, at some point you’re probably going to be tromping through an old cemetery. On a recent tour with the Baltimore Heritage Foundation, I finally had the opportunity to explore Old St. Paul’s cemetery. I wouldn’t say I was dying to get in there, but I have always wanted to see inside.

O! Say Can You See. In this post, we will see more from our tour of the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House in Baltimore. Flag maker Mary Pickersgill and a team of eight other women, including indentured servants, took just six weeks to sew the mammoth flag that survived the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, inspiring attorney Francis Scott Key to pen a poem that would become our national anthem.

We found a way to make the War of 1812 celebration a little nerdy with an excursion to the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, home of flag maker Mary Pickersgill, whose mother was a flag-making “rival” of Betsy Ross when both lived in Philadelphia.

“Can you tell me where Dolley Madison’s dogs are buried?” asked the very direct woman at the Montpelier visitors’ desk. This is one of the strangest questions I have ever heard on a Nerd Trip, and it is part of why I enjoy them – you meet some kooky characters along the way. Who would know that Dolley Madison’s dogs are buried at Montpelier?

For a president who only served a month in office and who died in 1841, William Henry Harrison is certainly hot these days. His name keeps coming up in things I see and read. Part of this interest probably comes from the publication of New York Times columnist Gail Collins’ new book on Harrison, who was 68-years-old when he was inaugurated (at a time when life expectancy was around age 40). Collins has written about Harrison in her column, making parallels between Harrison and the 2012 election. A co-worker recently stopped in my cube to ask if I had seen the recent article on our ninth president.

Happy Birthday to James Madison, born March 16, 1751 in Port Conway, Virginia. Here are some not-so-random facts about our fourth president.