Those of you whose hands are not up—you’re showing your age.

Memorial Day poster, showing graves at Arlington National Cemetery

In the small town in Ohio where I grew up, the cemetery was up on the hill behind the Church of Christ. It was called Schoolhouse Hill, because the school stood beside the cemetery.  And every Memorial Day in my childhood, the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) put down their beer bottles, donned as much of their old uniforms as they could still get in to, and held a ceremony up on the hill, distributing flags to all the graves of old soldiers.

Red poppy "In Flanders' Fields, the poppies blew..."

Every house flew a flag, and most people pinned on red artificial poppies that they bought from the VFW–the funds going to veterans in need.

Fallen warriors were not the only ones honored, though. It became a day to honor one’s ancestors as well.  That was the day that people cleaned up the area around family plots, put flowers in pots, or planted them in the ground and stood and thought a minute or two about each ancestor.  People still do that in small town America. So in the spirit of a Memorial Day that used to mean something more than “Sale”, here are some past posts about America and patriotism in travel and books to add to your travel library. So plan a trip, read a book, remember.

WW II Re-enactment

A ceremony in Fredericksburg Texas and a magnificent World War II museum. The book: Fortress Rabaul:  The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943.

Memorial at Normandy World War II American Cemetery

Visiting a cemetery in Normandy, France, and the battlefields of D-Day. The book: The Steel Wave by Jeff Schaara.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

A visit to the cradle of America, Philadelphia. The book: Miracle at Philadelphia

Ohio Grave of Civil War Veteran, Henry Allen Butts

A salute to veterans in my own family, and books about war. The books: Several by Michael Schaara and Jeff Schaara

George Washington

Revolutionary War and early American sites to visit. The book: 1776 by David McCullough.

Here’s a touching post from Vacation Gals about a visit to the Pearl Harbor WWII site in Hawaii.

Remember, you now are able to rate posts (even old ones). Let me know which ones you like and you’ll get more of the same.

For your convenience, I put several links to Amazon in this article. If you buy anything at all at Amazon, please click through one of my links or the Amazon search box. You’ll be showing your support of A Traveler’s Library, and helping me pay the rent on my Internet address. Thanks so much!

Thanks, as usual to those photographers at Flickr who took some of these photos. I took the Normandy, the Civil war grave and George Washington photos. If you are interested in using a photo, be sure to ask the photographer for permission.

Happy Memorial Day weekend. What are your plans?

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

United States Flag

Destination: Philadelphia

Book:

Miracle in Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen

Happy Independence Day!

Ever since I traveled to Philadelphia a few years ago, my thoughts wander to the birthplace of the United States on July 4th. Even cynics may have a hard time remaining uninvolved with the Fourth of July celebrations after reading this book. We already covered 1776. This book takes us to 1787 and the Constitutuion that finished the job started by the Revolutionary War.

The book Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen takes its name from a quotation by George Washington. “It appears to me, then, little short of a miracle, that the Delegates from so many different states (which States you know are also different from each other), in their manners, circumstances and prejudices, should unite in forming a system of national Government, so little liable to well founded objections.”

I read this book in a special slipcovered edition published for the bicentennial–yes, way back in 1976. I will never forget the way the book helps you travel back through time. I could see images of the framers of the Constitution meeting in the sticky summer heat in Philadelphia, windows shut so that rumors would not leak out.

The arguments flew.  Some were hot-headed, some conciliatory, as they tried to get their minds around new ideas–a new form of government.  They knew they could not continue as scattered communities along the Eastern shore. But how to solidify independence, now they had won it? Some sort of government must substitute for the former Royal colonies.

The previous arrangement suited some people just fine, but for safety and for economic reasons, they knew that they must band together.

It is safe to say that when they started talking, none expected their actions to lead to a national government. And even when they finished, none realized how long their Constitution would last and how strong it would prove to be.

The gathering in Philadelphia needed to deal with economic self-interest, but surely more lofty goals and thoughts of the rights of man entered into their thinking. Shouldn’t this new country have a king? some wondered. Would it be safer to have a committee at the head?  How to be fair to large states and small?

“The situation of this assembly–groping as it were in the dark to find political truth,” said Benjamin Franklin.

Miracle at Philadelphia traces the Federal Convention from May to September of 1787, introduces life in various states, and ends with the year it took to get ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

I love this book because it reminds me why we celebrate the 4th of July. Yes, it celebrates a Declaration of Independence, but without the Constitution, that would have been a hollow victory.

As I read, I mind travel to Philadelphia as it brings to life all the men who formed the Constitution, their struggle and their triumph.  And marvelously, you can travel to the same city and stand in the same hall where they debated. You can eat at a Philadelphia restaurant that recreates the one that stood on the spot where delegates met to have a pint. You can stay in a Philadelphia hotel across from that restaurant that dates to the late 1700s.  It is exciting to walk in the footsteps of those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, whether on the 4th of July or some other day.  When you go to Philadelphia, please also visit the new National Constitution Center on Independence Mall, just two blocks from Independence Hall. This marvelous institution reminds us through movies, images, and role-playing, that the Constitution does not sit on a shelf–it lives.

Photograph by Jonathan D. Colman, from Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Do you have a favorite book about United States History that you think about during this patriotic season?

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Nevermore

Books: Anything by Edgar Allan Poe

Destinations: Boston, Richmond VA, Philadelphia, Bronx and Baltimore.

If you hurry, you might still be able to take a road trip to Poe Places during the 200th anniversary month of his birth. He was born January 21, so your humble blogger has fallen behind in talking about Poe.  And come to think of it, his books and poetry did not rely so much on those cities he lived in.  But I happen to like Poe, so recommend you pour a glass of sherry, turn off most of the lights and dust the cobwebs off your Poe library.  He just may be one of the most underrated American writers.

Have you visited the Poe House in Philadelphia? The Poe Museum in Richmond? The gravesite in Baltimore? What is your favorite Poe tale?

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.