We’re off on a patriotic trip this weekend to Washington DC …

We’ll be in the Nation’s Capital for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.  The National Mall’s Tidal Basin & Potomac Park will be lit up with the bright pink flowers of 3,700+ Japanese Yoshino & Kwanzan Cherry Trees.  They were a diplomatic gift of the nation of Japan in 1912 & 1965.  An additional 250 arrived this year for the United States’ America 250 Celebration.

I’m all-in on the country’s Semiquincentennial.  I was 10 years old for the Bicentennial in 1976, and I thought it was thrilling.  I doubt anything can match the grade-school perspective I had back then, but I’m going to do my best.  Perhaps only a 10 year old and an early retiree have time to enjoy the silliness.

In addition to Washington DC, we are going to start our trip with a drive down to Virginia to visit the ‘historical triangle’ of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown.  I first visited this area on a high-school civics trip. Next week, after the weekend in DC, we’ll take the train up to Baltimore for a day.

This is the first of a couple patriotic trips I would like to take on the East Coast this year. I haven’t figured out the dates (or talked my wife into any other trips), but I’d also like to go to Philadelphia, Valley Forge, and Gettysburg this summer.  Perhaps a side trip by train up to NY or Boston would be good, too. That would really maximize the historical theme.

Unfortunately, I haven’t spoken with anyone else that is very excited by ‘America 250’. Like many things, I think people are choosing to look at it through a political lens – and that’s never good. I hope people can take a break from the fighting to celebrate the good things that America has uniquely accomplished in our history.

Any plans to commemorate America 250 yourself in any way? Anything happening in your state?

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