When I was a child I read a story called "Country Mouse, City Mouse" about finding your place in the world.

The original Aesop's fable told the tale of a city mouse visiting his country mouse cousin. Appalled at the meager existence of the country mouse, the city mouse invites him to visit his home in the city.Although country mouse found a rich and delicious metropolitan feast in the city, he was turned off by the perils of city living.The country mouse was happy to return to his country home where he could bask in a lifestyle more suited to his nature.I always knew I was a country mouse. The longer I went through life, the more I knew my happiness was in being a country mouse.I loved growing up in a friendly small town where everybody knew everyone and there was no such thing as a stranger, at least not for long.When I got married, my husband and I both agreed that while we probably could find more career opportunities in a city, we preferred staying in a small town.We loved everything about living in a small town and never wanted to trade it for city living.At one state journalism conference I was approached by a big city editor who gave me an amazing job offer. He stressed that taking the job with the tempting salary was "now or never."It took me about 30 seconds to decide: Never. All that money would have been wonderful. But I was happy being a country mouse.Imagine my surprise when our two daughters graduated from college and announced they wanted to work in a big city. One chose Philadelphia while the other one chose Washington, D.C.(In the interest of fairness I have to say they don't regard those places as "big city.")They both live in nice neighborhoods with a small-town feeling. My daughter Andrea calls living in her suburban home "the best of two worlds." While she has all the benefits of small-town living, in 20 minutes she can be right in the heart of the city.Maria keeps telling me how thrilled she is to back in the city. She claims to love every bit of the big city environment - except the traffic jams. "It's where I truly belong," she says.She insisted I plan a vacation to visit her so she could show me the wonders of city life.That she did. She planned activities that captured the heart of her journalist mother. She treated Andrea and me to a day at the Newseum, a seven-story structure on Pennsylvania Avenue devoted to every aspect of the news.Sponsored by the Freedom Forum, the Newseum tells more than the story of journalism. It tells our nation's story in gripping photographs and news clippings.One entire gallery is devoted to coverage of Sept. 11. In addition to displaying front-page coverage from many newspapers, a documentary from those on the scene was compelling. It was impossible to see without getting tears in your eyes.On both the outside and inside of the building the day's front pages from around the world are displayed. I could have spent more time in that section.Initially we thought we could do the Newseum in two hours but we were way off the mark. After tramping through seven floors for several hours, we all thought we needed to come back another time to see it all.My favorite part was the photo display of Pulitzer Prize winning photographers starting from when the awards were first given and continuing to present day. The documentary film of the prize winning photographers was spellbinding.Some of the exhibits, such as the one showing hunger around the world, were too painful to contemplate. But that's the power of journalism at its best - it makes us feel.If you sightsee in our nation's capital, you might enjoy adding the Newseum to your list of places to see. It's not just for journalists. Millions of people tour it each year.While Maria's pick of the Newseum was a home run, the cherry on top of the sundae was the talk given by famed reporter Bob Woodward where we had second-row seats.Woodward proved he does more than write well - he's also a captivating, candid speaker.Although I was only in Washington for two days, Maria crammed our schedule with interesting things to do. She proved her point: Big cities have many cultural advantages.One highlight of the trip for me was seeing a performance of "Beautiful," the Carol King Musical, at the wonderful Kennedy Center.One part of the trip I didn't find enjoyable was being in city traffic. My daughters told me I had to stop making alarming noises every time I thought another car was about to smack into us.Here's my conclusion: Cities are a treat to visit. I enjoyed my trip so much that I'm looking forward to doing it again.But you know the old saying: A great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.As much as I loved my city vacation, I was ecstatic when I got back to home base, my beloved small town.I've always been a country mouse and always will be.Email Pattie Mihalik at

newsgirl@comcast.com.