Moved deeply by the desire to create a national hymn that would allow the American people to offer praise to God for our wonderful land, a twenty-four-year-old theological student, Samuel Francis Smith, penned these lines on a scrap of paper in less than thirty minutes in 1832. Yet even today many consider "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" their favorite patriotic hymn and call it our "unofficial national anthem."
A year has almost passed since I had the pleasure of visiting our Nations Capitol, and to pen my wife's most repeated phrase of our visit "I always feel so patriotic being in our capitol", this being said with a broad grin and visible pride. I wondered why most programs consider DC an overnight layover on an escorted tour series, rather than the destination?
My visit was graciously supported by Renee Youngs, of the Washington Hilton hotels, I was afforded a nice room at the Capitol Hilton. Only two blocks from the most coveted view of the White House, the address reminded me that Hilton has always, and always will have prime locations within any given city.
Upon my arrival I was invited to drinks with a warning that it would have to be quick, because of a previous obligation with another receptive operator. This quickly was extended to full on dinner with assurances by Renee and Michael Weinberg of the DC Tourism Office, that Washington is truly a non-partisan town, and they were not wrong, we had a great time as well as a delicious offering by the newly renovated Capitol Hilton's Restaurant.
Washington proved to win over my jaded affections quickly, as if it were my first time visiting! In the early 80's when I visited the city at least once a week, and at times thrice, I was always surprised that this city was our capitol. Today the city is spotless and majestic, peppered with coffee shops and tourist, it certainly has come a long way in becoming a world class Capitol City, the recently finished WWII Memorial brings tears to one's eyes, especially when you realize that so many of our WWII veterans are passing.
I always think about John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and so many others portraying America at its' best. Movies depicting New York, San Francisco and Hawaii during the war always make me nostalgic. I sometimes long to have lived in that era. America at it's wholesome best.
Washington is that. Forget the politics. Walk the streets, and you will experience all walks of life visiting, and experiencing the American dream. While visiting the WWII memorial I observed, as not only Americans beamed with well deserved pride, but also, not less than 15 different languages being spoken, and all demonstrating the same reverence. What struck me was the barrage of unintelligible words followed by "AMERICA" and then a broad grin.
We are blessed with beauty and American values not all of which I can truly say I agree with, but then again , as an American I have that right too. As a RTO (Receptive Tour Operator) it is my job to weigh all of what America has to offer, and present it, in a manner that I believe will most benefit the markets I serve.
The RTO comes from many walks of life, and we represent a cross section of the world that wishes to experience America in the very little time their vacations allow. Together with our suppliers, and DMO's we can convince our clients to send more visitors, more times to more places in this great land of ours.
The result, more people understanding why America is always at the forefront of every issue,
whether right or wrong. Once they've come here, and experienced the beauty that GOD entrusted to us, they too will ramble on, until they get to the punchline "AMERICA" which always ends in a grin.
So maybe our national motto should be "America, it always ends in a grin"