Book: 'Assassination Vacation'

The other night, on the news they were saying that there was a new recording of the time when Ronald Regan had an assassination attempt on his life when he was shot by John Hinckley.  That reminded me of a book that I had read last summer called 'Assassination Vacation' by Sarah Vowell. (2005), Simon & Schuster paperback.  It is/was a New York Times Bestseller. I'm in a book club and it was picked for the summer as a light fun read.  If it wasn't for my book club, I seriously doubted that I would have ever picked this book to read.  But then as I read it I really got into it.
  When I started to read it I was about to take a vacation, with my husband, to Nashville TN. In the book she briefly mentions Andrew Jackson.  So when I got to Nashville I just had to see the Hermitage.  Then as I read the book, it excited me because it was mentioning some places that I actually had been too and have photos of.
Here are a couple of photo's of the Hermitage and the surrounding area:

The Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson, Nashville TN (taken 7-14-2010)

Andrew Jackson's tomb at the Hermitage (taken 7-14-2010)

Black Eyed Susans a the Hertimage (takes 7-14-2010)

Black-eyed Susans

Crepe Myrtle (7-14-2010)

Aster's?

I found the flowers in the gardens that Rachel had started were very beautiful and enjoyed them as I walked around.

  Getting back to the book, 'Assassination Vacation' is about this girl that decides to spend her vacations studying the different assassination of the Four Presidents that were shot and killed. Andrew Jackson was like I said briefly mentioned because he was in some duels in his lifetime and was almost assassinated and thus the reason for the mention in the book.
    In the book she only really studies three of the four assassinated Presidents since the last one is Kennedy and so much is already known about that assassination.  In the book she researches:  Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley.

    The book is written in the first person, so you never really know if this is an autobiography or if it is considered a work of fiction.  I liked the way the book was written because it was witty and easy to read.  What excited me so much was the fact that I had visited a lot of the places she had mentioned in the book.  And the one thing that did disappoint me was there were no photo's in it, thus giving it a fiction feel to it.
  One of the things that struck me was when we were discussing this book was to find out how many people thought that most of the Presidents were buried in Arlington Cemetery like JFK was. That idea had never crossed my mind since I grew up visiting Garfield's tomb in Cleveland Ohio and McKinleys in Canton, Ohio.
My friends were surprised that I had actually visited some of these places too like the girl in the book. Most of them had never considered visiting a tomb like that before they read the book.
   Because there were no photo's in the book I decided to bring some of my own. I was glad I had brought some pictures with me so that they could see these places for themselves.  So here's some of the stuff I shared with my friends:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Tomb

and Memorial

Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC (taken 10-21-06)

Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC (taken 10-21-06)

the reflecting pond in front of Lincoln memorial, Washington DC (10-21-06)

World War II memorial (taken 10-21-06)

     This was also mentioned in the book.
 

World War II memorial, for the state of Louisiana (10-21-06)

JAMES A GARFIELD Tomb
Lakeview Cemetery

The reason I have photos of the Lake View Cemetery is two fold  When I was going to school in the area sometimes my geology classes would go there to study all the different types of rocks that the monuments were made of. And we would also study the Allegany formation which out cropped there.
The other reason is my older brother is buried there.

Garfield's Tomb, Lake View Cemetery

Enterance to Lake View Cemetery

Red Maple in fall, Lake View Cemetery

the meditation area at Lake View Cemetery

Not Garfield's tomb but someone else that is pretty famous.  If I'm not mistaken I think this is John D Rockefeller's tomb

Back side of Garfield's tomb.

WILLIAM MCKINLEY TOMB
 I thought I had some but don't even though I have visited the place more than once.  It's not too far from the Football Hall of fame, which is another popular place to visit while in Canton Ohio.


I must conclude if you ever have a chance to go visit these places, please do they are fascinating spots with a lot of information connected with them.