List It Tuesday: What I Love About Where I Live

It's time again for Aimee at Artsyville's List It Tuesday. Thanks, Aimee!  Here's my list with what I love about where I live:

1. Four seasons.  Warmer than New England and the Midwest. Far enough south yet feels like the north. Spring arrives early and Fall lasts a long time. But we still get to experience snow and stifling heat, too -- a place doesn't feel like home to me unless it has all four seasons!
2. Cherry blossoms. Not just around the Tidal Basin, our area is blanketed with them. They get so full of blossoms that they look like swarms of pink and white butterflies lining the street.
3. Incredible museums and institutions.  Lots are free to visit, and there is something for everyone. Among my favorites: seeing the Star-Spangled banner at the Smithsonian/American History, the sculpture garden at the National Gallery of Art, and George & Martha Washington's Mount Vernon.
4. So lucky that our schools feel like they are neighborhood schools, even though we are part of a huge school district. Love our teachers, our Friday night lights, the fantastic music department, and the really involved parent organizations.
5. Blue crabs and Old Bay's. We never tire of cracking and picking crabs, especially when we can do so waterside in an old crab house in Annapolis or Baltimore.
6. We lucked into a family-friendly neighborhood, with a great mix of original owners from 45 years back as well as new families with new babies. Big old trees, and walkable roads. Traditions that include an annual 4th of July bike parade for the kids, an active neighborhood pool, and a Fall Festival that we look forward to year after year.
7. The incredibly diversity of the entire DC/MD/VA area. Ethnicity, nationality, race, age, political persuasion and personal preferences that are so varied. Love, love, love this.  
8. Planes, trains, (buses) and automobiles. A fantastic place to raise your kids to be travelers. We take advantage of the three airports every chance we get.  And Metro (subway) is the best: fast, safe, and clean.
9. And, DC itself:  intrique, politics, and history. The place takes itself too seriously and often thinks it is the center of the universe, but it is never boring!

Go visit Artsyville and check out some more . Thanks for the great meme and inspiration, Aimee -- I have loved reading and learning about so many great places from this week's participants.  (And I'm definitely going to have to start ahead to be able to include doodles -- so thanks for the hint about the 'overheard' theme for next week! :-)