The Stamp Guys: Washington, D.C.: Hobnobbing with the Futbol Glitterati, Touring Civil War Battlefields and Gettin' a LOT of Stamps

On Friday, July 29, 2011, I boarded a 6:30 a.m. flight from Port Columbus that arrived at Reagan National Airport in downtown Washington, D.C. at 7:46 a.m. I was alone for this trip. Tim had intended to accompany me (and I had purchased a ticket for him and reserved a room for two a hotel), but the long absence from his family and his two jobs due to our trip to the Sierra Nevadas (see Stamp Guys post Bear Republic Review, Phase I, dated August 12, 2011) made him reconsider and then regretfully cancel. However, he hated not going, and I tormented him all weekend by texting photos of where I was and what I was doing.

The timing of this trip was not ideal for me either, but there was no helping it. The reason I was in DC that weekend was that I had been invited to accompany the famed soccer coach Sir Alex Ferguson on a tour of the Manassas Battlefield. Sir Alex was in town at the tail end of Manchester United's exhibition tour of the United States to play a friendly against Barcelona on Saturday evening, July 30. I had become acquainted with Sir Alex over the past couple of years through a mutual acquaintance, and I had set up tours for him at Civil War battlefields around the country. In 2010, Sir Alex invited me to come to Houston and see Man U play the MLS All Stars in a friendly, and since I represent The Columbus Crew, it was an easy decision to make. Alex and I hit it off, and we planned to do a tour together in 2011. When Alex quizzed me on the best cities to play in so that we had easy access to battlefields, I of course put Washington, D.C. at the top of the list; I was not shocked when the 2011 tour was announced with the final stop in D.C. I may have a decent idea on where the 2012 tour is going to visit, but my lips are sealed!

Of course, Sir Alex and team President David Gill had also assured me that I would get tickets to the Barcelona match, and that was no small incentive either. So, despite my post-Sierra fatigue, missing another day of work, and leaving my family behind after my wife had just returned from a month at the cabin in Minnesota, I ventured forth.

I took a cab from Reagan Airport over to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is close to the Jefferson Memorial. I checked in, but of course no room was available for me that early in the morning, so I checked my bags with the bell captain and wandered over into the dining area for breakfast. I saw Sir Alex and David Gill sitting at a table with several other coaches, and I stopped by to say "Hello" and express my delight at the prospect of seeing the Manassas battlefield with them on Saturday. Alex warmly greeted me after a moment of indecisiveness (he had never seen me wearing a ball cap before, and He immediately lit up when I removed it). He invited me to sit with his group, but I begged off because I knew they were working and that he had a busy day ahead of him on this Friday. I then grabbed a nearby table, sipped on a cup of coffee, checked my emails and read the newspaper for a few moments. As I was relaxing, a shadow fell across my Wall Street Journal. I looked up, and a guy who looked like he was from India was standing there. His pretty Indian girlfriend (or wife) stood at his elbow, He asked me "Do you know if Sir Alex will sign an autograph?"

Now, I have represented a number of prominent companies during my legal career, but I have never been in a situation when I had to deal with fans and celebrities. For a moment, I was taken aback, but then I told the couple that I really didn't have anything to do with Sir Alex, that I was merely an acquaintance, and that they probably should let him finish his breakfast and then approach him. They followed my advice, returning to their table and eagerly eyeing every movement from the crowded table that was surrounded by the Man U brain trust. As Sir Alex got up to leave, the pretty young girl approached him and Sir Alex signed an autograph for her. The couple then came over and thanked me profusely; I have no idea what for, but they were very excited and probably simply wanted to share their joy.

I then talked to Alex for a moment, and assured him that I would love to accompany the team to their practice later in the day at Fed Ex Field, and then he was off to visit the White House and the CIA Headquarters. I then headed out for that rarest of gifts: a full, unplanned day in Washington, D.C.

I asked the hotel concierge for directions to Theodore Roosevelt Island. After some (predictable) confusion while she tried to direct me to the FDR Memorial on the Mall, she gathered herself, saying "We don't get asked for THAT site very often" and then gave me directions. I walked out of the Mandarin's front door, and grabbed a cab. My driver had to be about 75 years old, and his grasp of the English language was fragmentary at best. However, after I repeated the directions to him 1700 times, he was able to get on the correct road going out of D.C., the George Washington Parkway, and we spotted the parking area on the right as soon as we crossed the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge over the Potomac river to the Virginia side. He pulled in, and I paid the fare, and then he asked me directions on how to get back into D.C. I told him that I had no idea, but that I was sure he could figure it out. Sheesh.

I followed the signs to a footbridge which spanned a channel of the Potomac to an island, which I found out from the park brochure is Theodore Roosevelt Island. The island is a bird and animal refuge in the heart of D.C, a fitting tribute to TR. It has a circular walking path around the edge of the island, and a large plaza in the middle of the island that contains a statue of Roosevelt and large stone tablets containing quotes on various topics from the Great Progressive. I strolled around the plaza, which was the site of a lot of construction work as it is being rehabilitated with stimulus dollars. I was the only person on the plaza, even though there were a number of locals jogging on the path through the trees. Birds sang their songs; the morning sun crept over the trees, bathing the plaza in light & warmth surrounded by the cool, wet shadows; and commercial airplanes passed overhead, tilting crazily as they jinked back & forth on their restricted way to Reagan Airport. I (of course) took pictures and texted Tim, and then my daughter called me from South Africa and I was able to bore her senseless while waxing rhapsodic about the great Renaissance man, TR.

Unfortunately, there is no Visitor's Center on the Island, and you have to go to an NPS office in Virginia to get the stamp. Since I didn't have my own car, I decided to scrap that expedition this time around, and decided to walk back over the Francis Scott Key Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial. The day was warming up, and I began to sweat freely in the bright sun as I walked back toward the Greek temple to our Civic god. My conditioning was still very good from the Sierra trip, and I enjoyed the exercise of the walk. I approached the Lincoln Memorial from behind, so I had to swing around to the front side. I stopped at the NPS station on the road in front of the Memorial, where I received a nice brochure on the Mall area, and stamps for the National Mall, the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial and the Korean War Memorial (which I have seen many times).

I then headed up the steps into the Lincoln Memorial, which was thronged with tourists from all over the world. I heard many different languages, and saw many children and families. The powerful words of the Great Emancipator apparently have universal appeal. As I headed into the Main gallery, the crowds became thicker but less unruly, and there were many people staring at the seated marble Lincoln, or pondering the words of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural (my second favorite American speech of all time, next to G.K. Warren's impassioned plea to the Maryland Brigade at Laurel Hill on May 7, 1864). I slipped into the tiny Eastern National bookstore, where the stamps are located, and got my cancellation for the Lincoln Memorial along with a hat pin. They also had a cancellation for the John Ericcson Memorial; I asked the young female Eastern National clerk, and she informed me that it was a statue behind the Memorial. So, now I had my next destination, which I quickly located on my NPS Mall brochure.

These are the stamps I received at the Lincoln Memorial and at he NPS Kiosk outside.

I headed out of the main gallery and down the steps of the Memorial, where I saw that the entire reflecting pool had been drained and was undergoing extensive repairs. I have been critical of the Obama Administration of failing to follow the path of FDR in using the CCC and the WPA to help improve the National Parks, but I have to take some of my harsh rhetoric back. They are certainly allocating a lot of dollars in Boston and DC to improving NPS sites.

The Monument to the inventor of The Monitor sits appropriately near the Lincoln Memorial (because Lincoln may not have ever gotten a memorial if it weren't for John Ericcson and his timely invention).

I walked around the Lincoln Memorial, eyeing my map, and found the Ericcson Memorial across the street near an intersection. I did not wander across the busy street to see it up close. Instead, I continued on the walk along the river toward the Jefferson Memorial. As I made my way toward the Tidal Basin, I received a phone call from Frank DeLuca of The Civil War Trust. Frank had helped to coordinate the Manassas Tour that would be taking place tomorrow; in fact, he had intended to be part of the tour when it was originally scheduled for this Friday. Therefore, Frank told me that he would give me a tour of the Trust's headquarters and take me to lunch (I am a long time member of the Trust and I have become a more substantial donor in the last couple of years). I told Frank that I would catch a cab after touring the Jefferson Memorial, and come up to meet him.

Take a seat, rest your dogs, and imagine discussing the pros and cons of unicameral legislatures.

I made it to the Tidal Basin and discovered the memorial to George Mason. The Memorial sits across the street from the famous Jefferson memorial, and it is composed of a half-circle wall with benches on which a statue of George Mason sits, gazing out onto a pond that fills the area in front of the benches. The pond had seen better days; it was choked with algae. However, the half-circle stone wall is topped by a pergola and backed up with lovely shrubbery, making it a fitting tribute the gentleman farmer who was such a great influence on so many of his fellow Founding Fathers.

I then crossed the street to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which was also under construction ( a new retaining wall for the Tidal Basin was being installed). This memorial had a fairly large number of people viewing it, and it also had it's own Visitor's Center, where I got my stamp and pin. They did not have a pin for the George Mason Memorial. I cooled down from the heat of my long morning hikes around the Mall in the cool interior of the Memorial for a few minutes, and then I headed outside, caught a cab, and headed over to the CWT offices to meet Frank.

Frank gave me a brief tour of the offices, commenting on the decrepit appearance of my sweat-soaked Color Bearers (one of the Trust's giving societies) ball cap. Frank introduced me to Trust President Jim Lighthizer. Jim and I discovered that we have a lot in common: we are both (1) natives of Northeast Ohio (Jim from that cesspool Ashtabula, and me from the bucolic wonderland of Painesville Towhship), (2) graduates of the University of Dayton (Jim in 1968 and I received my B.A. magna cum laude in 1982) and (3) lawyers (Jim went to Georgetown in 1975 while I was hooded at THE Ohio State University College of Law in 1985). Jim had to go to some crazy meeting in Annapolis that he was already late for, so Frank and I walked a few blocks to a restaurant called Lincolns for lunch. We had an excellent lunch (I had a grilled chicken salad), enjoying getting to know each other. Frank promised to send me a new hat, and he did when I returned to Columbus.

Frank had to go back to work, and I received a call that the Mandarin had a room for me, so I headed back to the Hotel and moved into the spacious room intended for Tim and me. I tried to change to a smaller room, but everything was booked for the weekend, so I decided to put up with the luxury of two beds and a great bathroom. I received several texts from my friend Martin O'Connor giving me details on who to meet where in order to make it out to the Man U practice that evening. I stayed in my room, doing some work, taking a nap and then grabbing a shower before heading downstairs at about 5:00 pm to meet Colonel Sam Johnson, U.S. Army, a friend of Martin and Sir Alex, who was to accompany me to the training session.

When I went down to the lobby to find the Colonel, the scene was very different from the quiet, professional business hotel lobby it had been when I returned from lunch. There were many people milling around. Many were Man U fans trying to get a glimpse at their favorites. I was able to identify Colonel Johnson by his West Point golf shirt (he is the Assistant Athletic Director). Sam is a great guy in tip-top physical condition. He has done numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was honored to be paired up with him. Sam introduced me to Charlie Stillitano, another friend of Martin who works for the company representing Man U on their U.S. tours. Charlie provided Sam and me with all access passes for the weekend, and we loaded onto the media bus, which followed the team bus and its police escort, to Fed Ex Field for the training session. When we arrived at the field, Sam and I were allowed to walk on the field as the players went to the locker room, and then we stayed on the sideline during the training session, talking to David Gill and his family. I took a few pictures and sent them by text to my wife, who was watching my son's high school team play a round-robin pre-season scrimmage back in Columbus. She told me that they were under a lightning delay, and so I sent some pictures to my son and his teammates; they were appropriately jealous.

After training, we loaded back on the bus and returned to the Mandarin. Charlie introduced Sam and me to Keith, the head of Sir Alex's security detail in the U.S., and the three of us had a great dinner together in one of the hotel restaurants. We headed to bed after a couple of glasses of really good wine, because we were all excited to go on the Manassas tour with Sir Alex in the morning.

Saturday July 30, 2011

I met our group for the Manassas tour in the lobby of the hotel at about 9:00 am after breakfast. Through Frank DeLuca of the Civil War Trust, I had arranged to have Garry Adelman serve as our guide. Sir Alex, Charlie and I jumped into one vehicle, and Martin, Colonel Johnson and Keith followed in the other Mercedes sedan limousine. We made our way through D.C. and then out into the Virginia countryside to Manassas National Battlefield Park. We were running late because of traffic, so we met Garry and his assistant in the parking lot and pitched right in to a description of the First Battle. After a short walking tour to the Henry House, the Bonham Monument, the Jackson Statue and the place where Griffin's section was overrun by Stuart, we returned to the Visitor's Center, and I managed to get my stamp and pins while everyone else hit the rest room.

We then headed out to the Deep Cut field for a description of that epic attack. Garry wanted to show us the amazing tree clearing that has recently taken place at this site, and to describe the recent (and pending) acquisitions by the Civil War Trust that are adding so much to the interpretive allure of this vastly underrated site. Garry explained the negotiations to acquire the last tract of heavily forested land from a local cemetery company along the left side of the federal attack front, and encouraged all of us to help the Trust in its efforts. All in all, it was a short but informative tour, and it whetted the appetite of Sir Alex for a more in-depth tour at another time.

We returned to DC and then dealt with the press of fans in the Mandarin lobby as we readied for the Barcelona match that evening. Colonel Johnson and I boarded the press bus and rode to Red Ex Stadium with various press types and other "hangers on" like us, and then we were permitted to be on the field during warm ups. We went up to a loge to watch the match, which Man U won decisively. Sir Alex and the team headed to the airport for the flight home to England, so we said our goodbyes and then boarded the bus and returned to the hotel, where we celebrated the victory int he hotel bar.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

John Paul Jones

Because I had business in DC on Monday, I spent Sunday in DC rather than flying back and forth. I started off from the Mandarin early in the morning, and made a loop of the sites around the mall that I had not seen on Friday. I hit the FDR Memorial first, and then John Paul Jones.

I walked past the site where the Martin Luther King Memorial was being prepared for its grand opening, and the site where the World War I Memorial was being rehabilitated.

The "other" side of the John Paul Jones monument

I then headed to the Washington Monument, which had sold out all its tickets for tours that day, but which had stamps for sites that didn't have Visitor's Centers such as the District of Columbia World War Memorial (the aforementioned WWI structure) and the John Paul Jones Memorial.

I headed up toward the White House and visited the museum at President's Park, and then wandered over to Ford's Theatre. I took the tour of the rehabilitated theatre, which has a GREAT museum with lots of Booth's personal equipment, including the Derringer that Did the Deed. The Peterson House (where Lincoln died) was closed for repairs. The Stamps for these two sites are set forth on the July 29th page above.

After Ford's Theatre, I made my way to the Navy Memorial and toured the museum there. There were great bas relief plaques showing famous scenes from US Navy history; my favorite was one of TR (see picture below) witht he Great White Fleet. I passed many famous Civil War-related statutes: General Sherman, General Meade, General Hancock, the Grand Army of the Republic and the General Grant statue in front of the Capitol. It was a warm, sunny day, and I was happy that I had worked hard to get into decent physical shape for the Stamp Guys trip to the Sierra Nevadas, because I was able to handle the long, hot walk through DC well. I returned to the hotel for a nice meal from room service and a couple of pops, and then hit the hay early so I would be ready to return to the real world of business and work on the following Monday.