Connect to the Past

Travel to two of our nation’s most majestically historic places.

By April Cumming

This land is your land

This land is my land

From California to the New York island

From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me

It’s often the shortest sentences that impart the most meaning and evoke the most emotion. When American folk musician Woody Guthrie penned that harmonious string of lyrics in 1940, he unknowingly stitched together a national sense of shared connectedness, responsibility and pride in the process.

Guthrie’s song, “This Land Is Your Land,” serves as a reminder of what we all as a country and as a community have in common: the place we call home. With the President’s Day holiday taking place Feb. 15 this year, there couldn’t be a better time to celebrate the history of our nation.

From the metropolis of our nation’s capital to the mountains of the American heartland, we mapped out the unique offerings of two destinations sure to give you a good dose of gratitude.

Mount Rushmore, S.D.

When to visit: It’s best to visit June through September, when the onsite studio of sculptor Gutzon Borglum—the man responsible for the stone-carved faces—is open for tours, and evening lighting ceremonies of Mount Rushmore take place on a nightly basis.

Go see: Beat the crowds firing off their cameras at the base of the monument and take to the sky to see Mount Rushmore from a new perspective. Get a 360-degree view of the sculpture on a 10-mile helicopter ride with Black Hills Aerial Adventures. You’ll be eye to eye with U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. coptertours.com

Go experience: An hour and a half south of the monument is a horse lover’s dream. Spot hundreds of wild American, Spanish and Sulphur mustangs roaming free across windswept prairies at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. wildmustangs.com

Go eat: Housed in a 1915 firehouse, the Firehouse Brewing Company in Rapid City, S.D., (35 miles northeast of Mount Rushmore) is the oldest operating brewery in the state. Appealing in both the aesthetic and appetite sense, the brewery tempts locals and tourists to order a craft beer on the outdoor patio, listen to some live music and stay a while. firehousebrewing.com

For dinner, nosh on savory bites like prosciutto-wrapped scallops at Jake’s at The Midnight Star, an hour north of Mount Rushmore in Deadwood, S.D. The restaurant, owned by actor Kevin Costner, was listed in Patricia Schultz’ book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. themidnightstar.com

Go stay: Just 3 miles from Mount Rushmore, K Bar S Lodge in Keystone, S.D., is the perfect basecamp in the Black Hills. Make sure to book a room with a balcony if you want to soak in profile views of the presidents as you sip your morning coffee. kbarslodge.com

Detour: If you’re an adventurer at heart, exploring the extensive underground cave system at Wind Cave National Park by candlelit lanterns might sound right up your alley. (If you’re a claustrophobic, maybe not so much.) More than 84 miles of passageways with notable formation names like Post Office (named for the extensive box work on the walls) wind through this labyrinth-like cave system, one of the longest in the world. nps.gov/wica

Washington, D.C.

When to visit: The best time to visit this year is between March 20 and April 17 for the Cherry Blossom Festival. nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

Go see: While the White House is the most obvious sightseeing option in D.C., there are less time-sucking ways to spend your day than taking hundreds of selfies as you stand in front of the building waiting to catch sight of the president’s dog, Bo, bounding across the lawn.

If you want to get the walk of your life in (or maybe just prove to your Fitbit once and for all that you can achieve 10,000 steps in one day), this city has your back. Or opt to rent a bike at one of the many bike-share stands throughout town and start pedaling.

Play the part of a tourist and check out the National Zoo, the National Air and Space Museum, and the International Spy Museum, where you’ll be surrounded by international espionage artifacts like lipstick-tube pistols and a shoe phone with heel-transmitter, courtesy of the KGB.

Or pack a picnic, grab a Frisbee and head for the grassy knoll around the Washington Monument, spending the better half of your afternoon people watching and pretending to be a local.

Go experience: See the city and its many monuments in a different light by hopping on a trolley to take a moonlit-tour of the town. Window watch in awe as you listen to expert guides spout off historical anecdotes about presidents of past. trolleytours.com/washington-dc/night-tours.asp

During the warmer months, take to the water to do your sightseeing. Rent a kayak or stand-up paddleboard from Boating in DC, or watch as the city wakes up while on a Capitol Riverfront Twilight Tour along the Potomac River. boatingindc.com

Go eat: Sip on a specially crafted cocktail and soak in the views of the White House, the Treasury and the Washington Monument all from one place at POV, the swanky rooftop lounge at the W Washington D.C. Hotel. wwashingtondc.com/pov

After you’ve worked up an appetite from all that walking, find your way over to Founding Farmers, a farm-to-table restaurant that serves scrumptious dishes like peanut butter banana toast with marshmallow creme and chocolate pearls (for brunch) and chicken pot pie or skillet corn bread with sea-salted honey butter (for dinner). wearefoundingfarmers.com

Go stay: One of D.C.’s oldest hotels, the Tabard Inn, is comprised of a series of traditionally furnished 1800s townhomes. It’s an elegant and affordable sleeping option in the heart of the city. tabardinn.com

Mount Rushmore photo by Lucy Froemmling. Beer photo courtesy of Firehouse Brewing Co. Horses photos by Karla R. LaRive. Lodge photo courtesy of K Bar S Lodge. Cave photo courtesy of NPS. POV photo courtesy of W Washington D.C. Hotel. Cherry blossoms photo courtesy of NCBF. Lincoln Memorial photo by Lucy Froemmling. Kayak photo courtesy of Boating in DC.