Twisted Tour Guide Northern Virginia

Evade the Tourist Herds and Enter Into An Insider’s Guide to Northern Virginia.

Known and unknown history, hidden delights and fascinating stories pervade the history of Northern Virginia. This kaleidoscope of discovery, personalities, egos, scandals, conflict framed by sheer beauty creates a vivid tapestry defining over three centuries.

This guide transports you to the precise famous and infamous locations where history occurred. The scenes may sometimes appear ordinary, weird, but often illuminate the physical background and descriptions behind events. Many of the narratives defy believability, yet they are true.

This Twisted Tour Guide is your alternative to conventional travel. It accommodates the restless visitor, tourist and resident seeking a unique and different perspective to traditional tourism. Northern Virginia remains one of the most beguiling, historic and enchanting regions of the United States.

Arlington
Preserving the Declaration of Independence, Arlington National Cemetery, Actress Pola Negri’s Lovenest, Watergate’s Deep Throat, Serial Kill Timothy Spencer, Vincent Foster’s Suicide, Spy Aldrich Ames, 9/11 Memorial and Congressman William Jefferson. General Rochambeau,

Alexandria
Margaret Brent, George Lincoln Rockwell, George Washington and Mount Vernon, Cameron, John Carlyle, Duvall’s Tavern, Colonial Michael Swope, Lee-Fendall House, Pineapple Symbolism, Potts-Fitzhugh House, St. Mary’s and Contrabands Cemetery, Yates Gardens, Malpractice Killing of George Washington, Dr. Elisha Dick, Colross Estate, Alexandria’s Shameful Surrender, Female Stranger Gravestone, Devil Bat, Fire of 1827, Slave Trader Sites, Lyceum Theatre, Alexandria Canal, Windmill Hill Park, Oscar The Manaquin Guard, Wilkes Street Tunnel, Floating Brothels, Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, Forts Ellsworth, Williams, Hunt and Willard, Bank of Alexandria Building, Battery Rodgers, Black Diamond Catastrophe, Burned Bride, Confederate Funeral Markers, Shiloh Baptist Church, Benjamin Thomas Lynching, Homicidal Clem, Silent Sentinels Trial, Sergeant Elton Hummer, Washington Masonic Memorial, Civil Rights Sit-In, Gerald Ford, U2 Pilot Gary Powers, Loving versus Virginia, Murders of Donita Cutts, Carol Ann Dodd, Constance Mellon, Betty Ayele, and Elizabeth Elliot, Police Officer Charles Hall, Purple Heart Trail Origins, Serial Killer Charles Severance, Ship Excavations, Congressman Steve Scalise Shooting and Appomattox Monument Removal.

Fairfax
Battle of Fairfax Courthouse, Execution of James Lewis, Motorcycle Gang Madness, The Christmas Tree Lady’s Puzzling Suicide, Spy Robert Hanssen and Mayor Scott Silverthorne.

Fredericksburg
St. George Episcopal Church, Mary Washington, George Carter’s Gambling Losses, Battle of Fredericksburg, Chatham Manor, Confederate Treasury Embezzlement, John Washington, Freedom of Religion Monument, Serial Killers Melvin Rees, John Muhammad, Steven Briel and Lee Malvo, Police Burglary Ring and Pre-Pay Funeral Scandal.

Richmond
Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Theatre Fire, Confederate White House and Civil War Museum, Canal Walk, Hollywood Cemetery, William Grant House, Union Spy Elizabeth Van Lew, Belle Isle, Samuel Putney House, Civil War Abandonment, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Ulysses S. Grant, Stewart-Lee House, Church Hill and Monte Maria Academy and WRVA Complex, Washington Monument, Collectible Trading Cards, Former City Hall Building, Valentine Museum, Main Street Train Depot, Edgar Allen Poe Shrine, Public Bath Houses, First National Bank Building, State and Local Politic Scandals, Oliver Hill, Tobacco Row, Richmond’s Gay Godfather, Golden Years Serial Killer(s), Baron Otto von Bressensdorf, School Board Eviction and Removal of Confederate Civil War Monuments.

Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions.

He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86.

Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com.

Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography.

His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism.

He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.