Hollywood Cemetery is a classic example of the Victorian notion of creating park-like cemeteries, where families could go spend the afternoon or picnic in a picturesque and natural setting, contemplating nature’s beauty amidst reminders of life’s certain ending. Hollywood Cemetery is definitely a destination cemetery for sight-seers, even if you are not into tombstones. History, art, and […]
Year: 2014
NCR Trail in PA: Exploring Heritage Rail Trail Park
Wonderful summer weather lures all of us outside. Always on the lookout for new destinations, we decided to bike the path that continues on from Maryland’s NCR Trail (read about our exploration of that here). Established in 1992 and covering 176 acres, the Heritage Rail Trail County Park is 21 miles long and runs north […]
Beach Combing at Calvert Cliffs State Park
It can be really fun to go fossil hunting — at least, it sounds fun to a 12 year old. It sounded fun to me too. That’s why an early summer Saturday found us on our way to Calvert Cliffs State Park. Calvert Cliffs State Park is unique among hiking opportunities in the region for its […]
Checking Out Chesapeake Bay Light Houses
If you’re a landlubber like me, a day out on the water is a treat. And how better to start the Memorial Day weekend than by spending a day checking out Chesapeake Bay light houses. The boat tour left out of the Knapps Narrows Marina at 10ish; Knapps Narrows separates Tilghman Island from the mainland […]
Fun Times at Wine Festivals: Wine in the Woods
It’s more than wine. Wine in the Woods is all about the crowds, the music, the colors, the socializing… and yes, the wine, which is the excuse for some 30 thousand people to gather in one spot to listen to some good music (and some not) and to enjoy the outdoors and of course, to […]
Brandywine Valley Wine Trail: Three Very Different Wineries
Just over an hour north of Baltimore and maybe 45 minutes from Philadelphia lies the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, a string of six wineries along the trail that ranges some 50 miles. The last weekend of April found us veering out of Maryland to check out three of the wineries that were closest to the […]
Brookside Gardens: Oasis in Suburbia
I decided to write this blog as a Mother’s Day special — for all those looking for a lovely place to bring their mums! An overcast Saturday afternoon found us heading over to check out Brookside Gardens, in Wheaton, MD; I had my new macro lens in hand and was eager to experiment. Thunder bumper […]
Scenic Vistas Along the Indian Head Trail
We would see amazing things if we could learn to be travelers in our own neighborhoods, Henry David Thoreau once said. Since beginning this blog last June, I have discovered some hidden delights in the mid-Atlantic region: Susquehanna State Park’s Rock Run Historic Area and Hampton Mansion both come to mind. And once again, this […]
“Mystery Trip” Ends Up in Monticello, Jefferson’s Masterpiece Mountaintop Retreat
Gail writes about a recent day trip she took with her retirement community: The day was one of those rare ones this past March that was warm and pleasant for our day at Monticello, in Charlottesville, VA. We were on a retirement community trip – a “Mystery Trip that we’d signed on for not knowing where […]
Battles of Bull Run: Manassas National Battlefield Park
When we headed to Manasses, VA on a spring day, I realized we were not the first tourists to have visited and wandered the battlefields there. In fact, the very first sight-seers were those rather naive Washintonians and Congressmen, who, in mid-July 1861, followed Gen. Irvin McDowell’s army of some 35,000 green Union soldiers on a […]
Patapsco River Valley State Park Part 2: Everyone Can Help
This week’s blog — Part 2 of last week’s blog on Patapsco Valley State Park — isn’t really about a day trip — but it is about activities my family and I participated in, on two separate days this spring. We decided to volunteer to help out in the park. It was certainly a different […]
Patapsco Valley State Park and a Rant: Part 1
The park is a perfect place to tire out kids and beagles. The benefit to living near a state park like Patapsco Valley State Park is being able to grab a beagle or two and go for a walk in the woods whenever it’s convenient. I am very grateful to have, by chance, bought a home […]
Biking, Lunch, and then Some Wine: The NCR Trail, Woodhall Winecellars, and Royal Rabbit Vineyards
Courtesy of Maryland Department of Natural Resources There is not much that wine doesn’t enhance. Is there any better way to round out a few hours biking on Maryland’s Northern Central Rail Trail (renamed the Torrey C Brown Rail Trail) than with a trip to two local wineries? The itinerary for this day trip — […]
Three Wineries on a Spring Sunday
A warm March Sunday beckoned me out of my winter hideout, and what better way to do than to go visit a few wineries in the beautiful Maryland countryside? I’ve lived in my neighborhood for over a decade, but I’ve not been a good neighbor. I like my neighbors but I realized recently I hardly […]
Cookies are the Goal on the B&A Trail
The recent warm weather in Maryland enticed me to try out my new bike. Since I hadn’t ridden a bike for 20 years, we decided to start with small goals. A comfortable 2.5 mile ride to — get this, a coffee shop along the scenic Baltimore & Annapolis Trail purported to sell the most delicious […]