Beyond the Tourist

The state of the economy has made breaking into tour directing difficult at best, so I decided to concentrate on two avenues: developing my own tours through Beyond the Tourist Tours LLC (I actually followed through and not only got my Alexandria business license, but also became an LLC to protect my assets) and ensuring student tours in the spring. The summer heat wave has made the walking tour quite undesirable, so I am concentrating on evening tours in hope that the cooler night will be more enticing. I also am concentrating on Old Town Alexandria; this is where I live and know the best, so why not start right at home.

The work starts with research. I am very surprised how much I love the research, almost as much as the tour itself. When I find a story that I think would be a great addition to a tour, it's like finding a hidden jewel. But I also learned that a lot of people aren't as interested in the historical aspects as I am. The tour of historic homes in Old Town was great, although the wine-tasting at Prince Michel's on King Street was what really pulled it together. On that tour I asked for ideas, and Randi Adleberg had a great one: Sex and the Old Town.

I started researching immediately. I learned that there were 75 brothels in Old Town during the Civil War, a great place to start. I already knew the story of George Washington's love interests in other local women, and I could bring that to the tour. In my research I learned the legend of the Female Stranger whose husband carried her to Gadsby's Tavern (then City Hotel) where she died. She was buried in an expensive funeral in the Old St. Paul's Cemetery; when they came to collect the $1,000 from her husband, he had disappeared. Her ghost is said to still roam Gadsby's Tavern.

A trip to the local history room at the Barrett Library was particularly helpful. The librarian helped me find some great resources, and when I located several of the brothels with good stories, he also helped me translate the addresses since the streets were all renumbered after the Civil War. A tour of Sex and the Old Town wouldn't be complete without the biggest modern scandal -- the sex shop on King Street (now there are actually two of them, but Lotus Blossom, the more upscale one, closes too early for the tour). I have tried several times to contact the central office of the store as suggested, but they don't call back, so we will just visit the store at the start of the tour. We will end the tour with a fancy cocktail at PX, the speakeasy in Old Town. Reservations are limited to 6, so I limited the tour to 12 and will make two separate reservations. You can preview the tours with pictures on Facebook on Beyond the Tourist Tours page. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Beyond-the-Tourist-Tours/119823191393227?ref=ts

At this point I am happy developing the tours (and very happy that I can live on my retirement since I am not making any money yet) and knowing that the student tours will come in the spring. World Strides has promised employment for the student season which is fron March 1 through July 1. Gerber Tours has said that they would hire me as well, and Capitol MusicFest, who gave me my first break, said that they would give me as much work as they can, but they are a small company. My priority is to work for Capitol first; I like them and I like the way they do their business. Gerber Tours has a great reputation, and I like the way that they organize their tours, still using a tour leader for each group. World Strides, being the largest student tour company, has gone to hourly leaders rather than dailies, so I hope to be able to figure out a way to work for them to "fill in the days."