Dream On

You'll notice I've told the story of our trip to Washington D.C. mostly in pictures. There's a reason for that. Although it has many landmarks and is the political centre of the country, it doesn't have the heart that many other U.S. locations have. The South, for example, is famous for its culture and food. Alaska is famous for its mountains and bears, which I'm sure we would have seen if it wasn't raining all the time we were there.
I'm not saying Washington has no heart (although some may dispute that!) but it's harder to discover it in a weekend than other places that wear their hearts on their sleeves. We never met any locals. Much like London, it's somewhere where business is done and tourists flock, but certainly the downtown area doesn't seem to be where people actually live.
It was truly amazing to see the Lincoln Memorial and the Capital building etc, but I wasn't as moved as much as I thought someone living the American dream should be. What moved me most were the videos in the Newseum about the people who tell America's story.
To me America is a Mardi Gras parade, New York on fast forward, Paula Deen's laugh, the waves crashing on the coastlines of Maine. Above all, it's the diversity of a world population who see it as their promised land.