BEING A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

Last summer we took a big trip to the Balkans, and during our journey we were constantly reminded of the war-torn history of the former Yugoslavia. Our cameras were often turned on bombed-out buildings, and we marveled at the history, resilience, and beauty of the countries we visited that had been so recently destroying each other.

Belgrade, Serbia

Prizren, Kosovo

Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Traveling in this former war zone made the reports of the conflict we read so casually in the 1990s suddenly engage our interest and touch our hearts.

STAUNTON, VIRGINIA: WOODROW WILSON HOME

From Monticello we headed towards Staunton, Virginia, via Charlottesville so that my husband could take a quick look at the University of Virginia. (He has a weird affinity for university campuses.) A block or two from the campus we ran across this majestic statue of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The proud and resolute eight-foot-tall figures stand on a six-foot-tall base. At the center of an intersection, it is hard to miss.

VIRGINIA: JEFFERSON'S MONTICELLO

Have you ever seen pictures of a place or heard stories about it, and then when you got there is was just "meh"? That is not the case with Monticello, which lived up to and surpassed all of my expectations.

Thomas Jefferson began building Monticello in 1769 when he was just 26 years old. Originally a tobacco plantation farmed by slaves, it comprises 500 acres. Jefferson designed the 11,000-square-foot neoclassical home himself, and redesigned/rebuilt it many times over the next 40 years.

VIRGINIA: SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK AND A BEAR SIGHTING

Skyline Drive is a scenic road through Virginia's Shenandoah National Park. The Blue Ridge Mountains are on one side of the road, and the Shenandoah Valley and River are on the other. Traffic was very light the morning we were there, and the ranger at the entrance, in response to Bob's hopeful query, told us that yes, a bear had been spotted just yesterday in one of the trees alongside the road. Bob's Bear Radar went into full gear as we started our excursion along the twisting pavement.

WEST VIRGINIA: HARPERS FERRY

Harpers Ferry (officially written without an apostrophe in "Harpers") is a small, historic town located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers:

MARYLAND: ANTIETAM BATTLEFIELD

Antietam, marked with an "X" on the map below, is an hour-and-a-half northwest of Washington, D.C.

The first major battle of the Civil War on Union soil was fought here, and this battleground has the dubious distinction of having hosted the bloodiest single-day battle not just of the Civil War, but in all of American history. All told, 22,717 soldiers were killed, wounded, or declared missing on September 17, 1862.