Today, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 and humankind’s first footsteps on the moon, I take off for Florida, the state which launched that famous spaceship.

Even on television a rocket launch is a grand and awe-inspiring sight. Here in D.C., they’ve turned the Washington Monument into a light show of the Saturn V rocket, an inventive and whimsical creation that seems just the right touch for the day.

However you celebrate it, July 20 is an awesome day to be an American, and, as always, an awesome day to be alive.