Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[L Verge]

(10-06-2017 11:44 AM)Veronica Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 11:41 AM)L Verge Wrote:  With that description, I would think it has to be a 20th-century First Lady because the streets were not always broad and beautiful. Wild guess - Lady Bird Johnson.

Whoever said it, I have to agree. I know I count myself as a Washingtonian, having been raised on its front porch in Maryland; but it truly is a beautiful city. I spent a summer touring Europe in my single days, and only Vienna, Austria, impressed me as much as D.C.

Amsterdam is also an option, very easy going, two steps and you've seen it all.

Amsterdam was the last city I visited way back when, and I did enjoy it - especially the canal boats, the flowers, the cheeses, and the beer factory! However, the train station in Amsterdam scared me to death.

In those days (early-1970s) it was the "residence" for many hippies and druggies. They used the lockers to hold their things, the bathrooms for their necessities, the seats for their beds, and spent time outside doing what hippies of that era did. As soon as the brewery (Heineken, perhaps?) opened for tours, they headed there for brunch -- beer and cheese.

Otherwise, I did enjoy the city and its environs and particularly the ride down the canal, wondering how some of the leaning houses along the canal had managed to stay upright for centuries. Great architecture, also.

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I did run across Henry Wainwright and the dreadful story of his Harriet Lane while searching for what I guess is the American naval history that incorporates the names that you had given.

George Cockburn is not a popular name here in Maryland since he and his troops were responsible for a great deal of damage in the southern part of our state (including my home county of Prince George's) as they marched (with little resistance) through our farmland en route to Washington City - where they set as much afire as they could. Some of our buildings were only saved because Mother Nature literally RAINED down on his parade! He and his men then marched back through our area to board their ships once again, taking our local man Dr. William Beanes as a hostage. Key was friends with Beanes and ended up being snatched also when he tried to negotiate for his release. This led to Key going onboard the ships bound for the destruction of Baltimore and watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry and being inspired to write the poem that later became our "Star Spangled Banner."

Just a note that Francis Scott Key was actually the second cousin (not uncle) to Mary Victorine Hunter, who married John Harrison Surratt, Jr. after his Civil War-related adventures. And, the tiny hamlet known as Waterloo, where Mary Surratt was born, would now lie within Andrews Air Force Base/Joint Base Andrews, home to the President's Air Force One and fleet. All vestiges of the village were wiped out when the government built the giant military base early in WWII.

Thanks for a good mental challenge. It's been a stressful week at work, and next week isn't looking any better.