TMP Covert Ops — Episode 15 Before Arlington’s white rows became the symbol of American sacrifice… before marble markers flowed across the Virginia hills like silent waves… there was another place. A quieter hilltop. A desperate solution. A burial ground born not from ceremony, but from crisis. Welcome to the United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s … Read more
TMP Covert Ops — Episode 12 When you only have a sliver of time before a corporate hackathon, you learn to move like a shadow. The mission kicked off the day before with my visit to President Lincoln’s Cottage and was filled with many historic sites around the area. Day Two of my Bethesda mission … Read more
When Dusty and I found ourselves wandering the quiet early morning streets of Dothan after visiting the Cherry Street AME Church, we weren’t expecting to be stopped in our tracks by a federal building. But there it was — rising at the corner of West Troy and North Foster — a granite-anchored, column-crowned monument that … Read more
TMP Covert Ops — Episode 14 There’s a hilltop in Washington, D.C., where the city softens, the breeze picks up, and time seems to slow its breathing. From that rise, you can look out over the capital and almost forget the noise below. Almost. This is the Armed Forces Retirement Home, better known historically as … Read more
TMP Origins – The Early Roads When Dusty and I crossed the street from Greenwood Cemetery and stepped into St. Patrick Cemetery No. 2, we didn’t know what we were walking into.We weren’t researching yet.We weren’t documenting stops, tracing lineages, or unfolding entire histories like we do today. We were just… wandering. Two travelers trying … Read more
Some stops don’t call ahead — they just wait quietly until you stumble into their orbit. On the last morning of Alabama Road Trip #2, Dusty and I found ourselves with a little time to kill before the Dothan Visitor’s Center opened. So we did what any good backroad wanderers do: we followed the trail … Read more
TMP Covert Ops — Operation Iron LanternMcLean, Virginia — Scott’s Run Nature Preserve A Gorge Older Than Memory Just a few miles from the buzz of Washington, D.C., there’s a forest that doesn’t quite feel like it belongs to this century. The canopy muffles sound, the creek hums a steady hymn against stone, and the … Read more
TMP Origins – The Early Roads | New Orleans Trip #2 A Cemetery That Broke Every Rule New Orleans cemeteries are famous for their tall walls, vaulted tombs, and tightly woven “Cities of the Dead.”But Greenwood Cemetery?It took one look at tradition… and politely declined. Born in 1852 during a yellow fever crisis that left … Read more
A Juicy Detour at Sunset There’s a certain kind of road-trip delirium that only shows up near the end of a long day—when the sky turns purple, the gas station lights hum awake, and everything starts to feel a little surreal.That’s the exact moment Dusty and I rolled into Clanton, Alabama, chasing the most gloriously … Read more
The road to Pensacola crawled that morning. Dusty and I had already conquered every cup of coffee the truck could carry before we finally reached the causeway that led into Gulf Islands National Seashore. Traffic melted away as white dunes swallowed the skyline, and the Gulf turned the color of polished glass. Somewhere under a … Read more