CHRISTINAÂ F. BAUER (1948-2024)
2024 marked Christina Bauer’s 10th anniversary as a Washington Walks guide. In late July 2024, while on her annual family vacation in Maine, she died suddenly.
All of us at Washington Walks were heartbroken. What penetrated the numbness, though, is the bright reality of the myriad ways Chris contributed to the success, high quality, enjoyment, and joy that defines Washington Walks for all of us and our customers.
Embassy Row, Gilded Age Washington, National Mall Memorails: The Backstory, and the U.S. Capitol and Houses of Congress were the walking tours Chris led for Washington Walks. In 2016, in conjunction with the centennial of World War I, she created and led The Imprint of World War I, a walking tour that highlighted D.C. sites connected to the city’s involvement in the Great War.
Newly-hired Washington Walks guides learn how to lead a particular tour not only by shadowing an experienced guide, but also by absorbing the information found in the extensive background document developed for each of our walks. Thanks to Chris, these background documents are both comprehensive and easy to digest. She’s the person who suggested and then created a template to organize all the content. It is a thing of beauty. We dedicate this website, launched at the time of her death, to Chris.
Where Chris would take an out-of-town visitor: “When visiting the Lincoln Memorial I delight in leading my guests through the colonnade to the side facing the river. There we marvel at the view of Memorial Bridge symbolically and literally linking North to South, look up at Arlington House standing majestically above the Cemetery, and contrast the skyscrapers of Rosslyn with the height-limited streetscapes of DC. As we stroll to the front of the building, folks are awed by the magnificence of the National Mall view framed by the Lincoln pillars. It thrills me every time! The Lincoln Memorial perfectly combines the familiar with the unexpected!”
