Dear Uncle Sam, Thanks for the great weekend. Love, Jules

Well, well, well there are "free" things in the U.S. I think they're all in DC and I paid for them in taxes, but still. I decided to spend our nation's Bday in none other than Washington DC. I do not consider myself a particularly patriotic person (I do like America), but being in the capital makes me want to be one...at least for the weekend.

The real reason I went down to DC is because my good friend Stephanie lives there and I hadn't visited her yet. I also got to catch up with an old college friend that I used to volunteer at the hospital with as well. :) It was a great weekend with great people Lincoln and Jefferson included.

I had never been to DC, so I didn't know how clean their subway was, how free all of the things to do are, and how friendly it was (especially compared to New York). Not only can you get into all of the memorials for free, but the museums and the monuments are free too! Unlike the Statue of Liberty...you can go inside the Washington Monument (and up near the top) for nothing! I thought it was the most fabulous thing. A great place for a poor person like me to visit. Although I don't understand people's need to build huge marble buildings to honor the dead I sort of liked seeing them. The memorials, though sad, were powerful and Arlington Cemetery was eerie and not in a good way. It was interesting to see, but very sad...as cemeteries typically are.

Overall DC was fabulous. I still can't get over the fact that all of the Smithsonian museums have free admission. At least we know we can benefit in some way from our government. They may stink at invading countries (post 2000) and keeping our public schools funded and many other things I wish not to dive into, but they sure can keep our monuments and museums up to snuff. Everyone should go whenever they have the chance. Let your government give back to you for once!