When they’re not in the classroom teaching history, Tara Mills and Jenni Watson are out exploring it—one gravesite, battlefield, and quirky roadside attraction at a time.
Classroom to Cemetery: Unexpected Travel Partners
It began with a teacher conference in Charlottesville. Mills and Watson discovered they traveled well together and were “up for some adventures.” This spark ignited years of historical expeditions that would take them from presidential gravesites to shark tooth islands.
Their backgrounds contrast sharply. Watson comes from a family of educators—a third-generation Radford teaching graduate who initially planned to pursue law. Mills began as a pre-vet major at Virginia Tech before chemistry pushed her toward history, with a chance day of teaching cementing her career path.
The Presidential Collection
After a weeklong course at Montpelier, James Madison’s home, Mills developed an unusual hobby.
“One night several of us teachers took a wine bottle out and had a drink with James and Dolly,” Mills recalls. “This led me to want to ‘collect’ all the dead presidents.”
The quest expanded when she visited Millard Fillmore’s grave in Buffalo and discovered Rick James was buried in the same cemetery. Now, the duo finds history wherever they travel, using apps to uncover hidden gems—from the Jolly Green Giant statue in Minnesota to a Wizard of Oz-themed park in Illinois.
Memorable Misadventures
Their travels are defined as much by laughter as by learning, with Mills developing a reputation for planning trips that lead to memorable mishaps.
“Last spring break we went to Atlantic Beach and decided to take a trip to sand dollar island with little investigation,” Mills recounts. “We were dropped off on a sliver of sand in a rainstorm. I’m not sure we have ever laughed so hard.”
In Savannah, Mills signed them up for an excursion to shark tooth island. “We landed in a muck I was sure we were going to die in. We fought for our lives to get to shore.”
Watson’s take is succinct: “If you want to experience an adventure, just let Tara plan the trip and the accommodations. That is all I have to say about that…”
Eerie Encounters
Not all their experiences have been lighthearted. Both women have encountered sites that left them with chills.
“Gettysburg is by far the most eerie place I have been,” says Mills. “There are certain places on that battlefield where you can feel what has occurred there and you certainly don’t feel alone.”
For Watson, the Oklahoma City Bombing Museum created haunting memories, particularly “when we went in a room and sat to listen to a recording of a water rights trial, and you hear the bomb go off.”
Personal Connections
For Watson, one of the most impactful experiences involved family history. “Being in Pearl Harbor and having my grandfather point to the lock that his ship was moored at was a life-changing event,” she recalls. As the granddaughter of a Pearl Harbor survivor, she had the honor of accompanying him to the 60th anniversary commemoration.
Mills finds meaning in unexpected places, like Arlington National Cemetery, which houses “the mast, anchor, and bell from the USS Maine,” and even “a radioactive grave of a soldier who was the victim of the first nuclear accident.”
Bringing History Home
Their travels directly influence their teaching. “As teachers, we consider ourselves storytellers,” they explain. “It is the stories that connect students to events that make history more realistic.”
They incorporate their adventures into lessons and, as BETA club sponsors, take students to historical sites during national conventions. “We love that we have inspired students who tell us they have gone on to do the same thing.”
Adventure Continues
Their most challenging journey involved a whirlwind week through Illinois and Missouri with their daughters. True to form, Mills packed in as many stops as possible—from Adlai Stevenson’s grave to Lincoln’s tomb.
The trip included a Memphis mishap where Mills had accidentally booked them into what they quickly realized was a “traphouse.” They didn’t stay, but the experience became “a cautionary tale we tell the kids to remind them when they travel if your gut tells you to not stay, don’t stay.”
For these two history teachers, the journey is as important as the destination. Through presidential graves and suspicious accommodations, eerie battlefields and muddy islands, they’ve created their own history—one adventure at a time.
