Beginning with this post, I’m starting a series about things to do and see in Butler County, PA. This is the first installment. To see others in this series (once they’re published), click on the label “Butler County” below this post. Looking to enjoy the fall foliage? Take a boat ride on the Nautical Nature! […]
Year: 2017
Ghost Hunt: Carrie Furnace
The Carrie Blast Furnaces, overlooking the Monongahela River in the industrial town of Swissvale, PA, remain an eerie reminder of Pittsburgh’s steel industry past, and the conditions the workers there went through. When an opportunity came up to participate in an “intimate ghost hunt” of the former steel mill, I lept at the chance. Built […]
Autumn Drive Through Adams County Apple Country
Adams County is a picturesque rural county in south central Pennsylvania. Although synonymously known as Apple Country, it is most well known for the little town of Gettysburg, the site of the most famous Civil War battle. But as I’ve posted in this blog before, there is more to Adams County, and Gettysburg, than the […]
Mt Hebron Cemetery Holds 35 Thousand Stories
It’s a cliche, but still true, that you can discern much about a town by its cemetery; Mount Hebron Cemetery reveals Winchester’s secrets. Mount Hebron Cemetery, in Winchester, VA started modestly, in 1844, adjacent to two much older cemeteries: the German Reformed Church Cemetery, chartered more than a hundred years earlier, and the Lutheran Church […]
“Yaking” in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
I’ve been to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) several times, always excited to see and enjoy the birds and wildlife. With the purchase of our new kayak earlier this summer comes the opportunity to explore it by kayak. We visited the refuge about 2 weeks ago, in mid-September. Blackwater NWR was established in 1933 as […]
Grave Creek Burial Mound: Last Remnant of an Ancient American Culture
Long before the European invasion, in what is considered to be the “Early Woodland” period, there was a remarkable, pre-Columbian Native American culture, which existed between 1000 to 200 BCE, referred to as the Adena. Although all those who are considered Adena shared cultural similarities — such as sharing a burial complex and ceremonial system […]
Stonewall Jackson Winchester Headquarters
Beginning with this post, I’m starting a series of posts about Frederick County and Winchester, VA. This is the first installment of this series. To see others in this series, click on the label “Winchester and Frederick County” below this post. Between November 1861 and March 1862, Confederate Major General Thomas J. Jackson — more famously […]
Adams County (PA) Photo Safari
This is the first of periodic “photo safaris” of places the Blog has visited! I hope you enjoy this vicarious visit to Gettysburg and Adams County, PA! An historic car show at one of the annuaal Apple Harvest Festivals. The backyard of the Shriver House Museum. Many Gettysburg houses still bear the scars of the […]
Tunnel of Green: Appalachian Trail to Weverton Cliffs
The hike from Gathland State Park to Weverton Cliffs is a lovely walk in the woods, and is an ideal day hike that provides a taste of what through-hiking the Appalachian Trail is like. Plus, you’re likely to encounter some AT through-hikers, and they’re always interesting to chat with. The plan for the hike was […]
Photo Safari at Gunston Hall
Janice, Danielle, and Rachel greeted us at the door. On a recent Sunday afternoon, I went on a second Washington Photo Safari, and it was amazing — I learned so much. The jaunt was led by David Luria, a professional photographer, who focused on getting us away from using the “automagic” setting on our cameras […]
Transcending the Everyday Annapolis
I’m constantly trying to improve the blog — coming up with new ideas for destinations or things to do, providing tips, improve the information, and yes, improve the photos. I recently discovered Washington Photography Safaris, with a variety of destinations (several of which you’ll see in upcoming posts over the next couple of months). I […]
Turning Abandoned Space into a Lovely Park: NYC’s High Line
Lisa Schwartz guest blogs this week about a relatively recent addition to NYC’s attractions. Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Rockefeller Plaza, etc. are all iconic and wonderful places to visit when touring New York City. I have visited each of these locations several times, and they are definitely worth checking out. A […]
Ten Great Ghost Tours You Shouldn’t Miss!
September and October are the season most folks check out ghost walks and ghost tours — one of my favorite activities! Ghost tours are always intriguing — they’re a little bit of sight-seeing, a little bit of ghost story, and usually a lot of history. It’s a good way to get to know a city or […]
Kykuit: Retreat of the Rockefellers
The John D. Rockefeller estate, Kykuit, is a 40-room National Trust house in Westchester County, NY, built by oil tycoon, capitalist and Rockefeller family patriarch John D. Rockefeller. Conceived largely by his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and enriched by the art collection of third-generation scion, Governor of New York and Vice President of the United […]
A House for the Masses That’s Perfectly Unique: Kentuck Knob
“[Kentuck Knob]…is of a spectacular beauty that never palls whatever the season and whatever the gap between visits, whether one month or ten minutes.” — Lord Peter Palumbo Kentuck Knob began in 1953 when the Hagans, owners of a major dairy company in Western Pennsylvania, purchased 80 acres of mountain land east of their native […]