Spring Break Like A Boss: Part 2

U - S - A.
U - S - A.
U - S - . . .  you get the point.
Well, okay, just in case you don't get the point: I love America. Yes, we have problems here, just like anywhere else, but I've seen some things in the last couple of days that everyone who lives in America should see. Really, truly.
First is Arlington National Cemetery. It's really beautiful and peaceful. But at the same time, it was kind of shocking for me. All I could see was endless rows and rows of white headstones. Some with crosses, some with stars, but all of them marking the burial place of someone that died for this country. If you live in the U.S. today, then you enjoy marvelous, wonderful things that you could never enjoy if it weren't for them. I know we've heard that a million times, but just think about it for a minute. No matter what we think about war itself, we have to support our military. We have to admire their ability to face incomprehensible danger and unimaginable situations so that we won't have to.



Now before I start rambling, here's everything else I've done/seen/visited so far:

• Arlington House (it's where General Lee lived)
• The Kennedy's graves (also at Arlington)
• The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (also at Arlington)
•  Iwo Jima/Marine Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• Vietnam Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• World War II Memorial
• Washington Monument
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
• Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial
• National Museum of Natural History
• National Museum of American History
• National Gallery of Art
• National Holocaust museum
• Gettysburg - including the National Soldier's Cemetery, Little Round Top, and the Gettysburg visitor's center (they've got a way cool museum in there, just so ya know)
• Good N Plenty in PA (awesome family style restaurant)
• Amish Country
• Street hot dog stand (sorry, just had to throw that in there!)

Maybe I'm just weird, but I seriously love museums. It kinda makes me nervous about how I'm going to be when I'm old. Will I be the most boring grandma ever? I'll at least keep good candy at my house . . . yeah . . .
Ahem. Anyway. I've seen so many old artifacts in the last two days I think my head is going to blow. Abraham Lincoln's top hat, the Star Spangled Banner,  the Scarecrow's hat, a mammoth skeleton, dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond, a bajillion Monet paintings, the largest oil painting in the U.S., you know - normal national museum stuff. Whee!

The point is, we should love America, in spite of its flaws and the flaws of its lawmakers. We should respect and support our military in spite of the principles behind war. And we should all be more educated about our very own history (not just America - I mean wherever you're from).

U-S-A!
P.S. you should be proud of me for refraining from buying American-flag striped sunglasses at the Gettysburg gift shop. I was very, very close. But I got Confederate playing cards instead! How rebellious am I?