Sacred shrines tell the American story, from Boston Harbor to Pearl Harbor

Travel America, Sept-Oct, 2005 by Randy Mink

THERE ARE certain icons of freedom that every red-blooded American feels duty-bound to visit at least once in his or bet lifetime. No matter bow many times you've seen pictures of these shrines to our nation's heroes and heritage, it's a star-spangled thrill to witness them in person. From sea to shining sea--and in Hawaii, too--dozens of memorials, monuments and museums, many of them manned by National Park Service rangers, appeal to our patriotism and love of liberty. Stirring words and music, moving ceremonies and riveting films rekindle pride in country even among casual observers, in many cases leaving them misty-eyed and brimming with emotion. Paint your next vacation red, white and blue with a pilgrimage to one or more of the following must-sees, patriotic places that remind us what it means to be an American:

STATUE OF LIBERTY

For generations of immigrants as their ships steamed into New York Harbor, the colossal figure of a woman striding with uplifted flame was an over-powering symbol of American freedom, a beacon of hope and opportunity. A gift to America from the French people, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886 and remains first on the checklists of many visitors to New York City.

The interior of the statue's pedestal, after being closed more than two years for renovations and security upgrades, was reopened to visitors last year. Timed-entry tickets now are required to go inside the monument to see the exhibits, view the i copper statue's inner structure through a new glass ceiling and visit the observation deck. Those without reservations still can tour the grassy grounds of Liberty Island with a ranger or opt for an audio tour. The statue's crown and torch are not accessible.

Engraved on the base of the statue are these lines from the Emma Lazarus poem The New Colossus:

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuge of your teeming shore,

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Ferries to Liberty Island leave from Lower Manhattan's Battery Park and continue on to neighboring Ellis Island, where 12 million immigrants arrived for processing between 1892 and 1954. Excellent exhibits and videos in the Ellis Island Immigration Museum tell their stories.

THE LIBERTY BELL

In Philadelphia, the birthplace of our and its capital from 1790 to 1800, the star attraction enjoys a new light-filled home on the three-block expanse known as Independence Mall. A glass wall in the Liberty Bell Center affords good sight lines between the 2,080-pound icon and Independence Hall, where it rang out July 8, 1776, to call citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. After viewing larger-than-life historical documents, a History Channel-produced film and X-rays of the bell's famous crack and inner workings, visitors enter a shrine-like room where they are encouraged to observe the bell in silence.

The new National Constitution Center, anchoring one end of the mail, brings to life the world's most revered blueprint for democracy in a multimedia extravaganza designed to engage even the most civics-challenged tourist. Traditional sights within "America's most historic square mile" include the petite house of Stars and Stripes seamstress Betsy Ross, a Benjamin Franklin museum complex and handsome Christ Church, where Ross, Franklin and George Washington worshipped.

Come back at night for the "Lights of Liberty Show," a dazzling sound-and-light journey through Independence National Historical Park. Wearing surround-sound headsets, audience members walk five city blocks past hand-painted images projected on buildings, listening to narration of Revolutionary events provided by the likes of Walter Cronkite and Charlton Heston.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." Inscribed on the white marble Tomb of the Unknowns at Virginia's Arlington National Cemetery, these simple words--and the solemn guard-changing ceremony staged throughout the day and night--make a deep and lasting impression on Americans touring their nation's burial ground. Overlooking the Potomac River, just across from Washington, D.C., the hallowed site contains the remains of three anonymous soldiers--one each from World War I, World II and the Korean War. (The body of the unknown Vietnam soldier was disinterred in 1998 when DNA testing identified him as Lt. Michael Blassie, whose family buried him in his hometown of St. Louis.)

Rows and rows of simple white headstones sweep across Arlington's wooded hillsides, as far as the eye can see. The most visited gravesite is that of President John F. Kennedy, marked by an eternal flame.

Adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery is the powerful U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, popularly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial. Modeled after a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during World War II, the dramatic bronze sculpture depicts six men raising the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima.