Mount Vernon

George Washington's home and burial place on the Potomac — and a plantation where more than 300 people were enslaved.

Something I only connected after the fact: this is where the Purple Heart comes home. All through the trip I kept passing road signs for "Purple Heart State" and "Purple Heart Trail" without knowing what they meant. The medal — given to service members wounded or killed in action — traces straight back to Washington. In 1782, at his Newburgh headquarters, he created the Badge of Military Merit: a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk with the word Merit stitched in silver. Congress had barred him from promoting enlisted soldiers to reward bravery, so he invented a badge to honor them anyway — and awarded it to just three men. It fell out of use after the Revolution and was revived in 1932, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, as the Purple Heart we know today. Purple has long stood for courage.

And the signs finally made sense: the Purple Heart Trail — a national network of highways and monuments honoring recipients, running through 45 states — begins right here at Mount Vernon, the home of the man who created the award.