Rapping Hamilton Across Nebraska

We drove from Pennsylvania to Colorado for our summer vacation, nineteen hours in a minivan with three kids. I was dreading it. Then my oldest put on the Hamilton cast album.

By Ohio, the kids knew the first song by heart. By Indiana, my ten-year-old could rap Lafayette's fast verses. By Iowa, my husband was doing a spirited version of King George, complete with a British accent.

Somewhere in the middle of Nebraska, with corn as far as the eye could see in every direction, all five of us were shouting "I am not throwing away my shot!" at the top of our lungs. A trucker in the next lane honked and gave us a thumbs-up.

We listened to the album eleven times on that trip. It was the best road trip of our lives. My six-year-old still sings "Dear Theodosia" to her baby brother at bedtime.