The Mount Vernon Trail is a paved multi-use trail that stretches from George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate to Theodore Roosevelt Island, paralleling the George Washington (GW) Parkway for its 18 miles. It connects with regional trails, including the Potomac Heritage, Custis, Rock Creek, Four Mile Run, and Woodrow Wilson Bridge Trails. Its paved surface was […]
Year: 2017
Savoring Gettysburg
There are so many different ways to explore Gettysburg. The Civil War history, of course, is what initially put Gettysburg on the day trip map, but as this blog has pointed out before, there’s so much more to Gettysburg and its surrounding environs than its battlefields. Gettysburg offers a (surprisingly) wonderful food scene, a culinary […]
5 Fabulous Forts to Bring Your Kids to this Summer!
Everyone’s probably heard of famous Fort McHenry in Baltimore — well worth a visit! This is the fort that was being shelled by the British during the War of 1812, immortalized in Francis Scott Key’s Star-Spangled Banner. But there are five other fabulous forts worth exploring: three in Maryland, and one each in Delaware and […]
Three Rivers Heritage Trail: A Great Way to Experience Pittsburgh
The Three Rivers Heritage Trail evolved from five separate trails and today comprises several unique sections. Most of these segments are riverfront trails along both banks of the three rivers that form Pittsburgh’s famous point: the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio. It’s also one of the treasures of Pittsburgh — a great way to get to […]
Returning to Hell House and Finding Everything AND a Kitchen Sink
Last year my husband and I climbed the steps from the still-active train tracks just above Ilchester Road to the old St Mary’s Seminary site, adjacent the Patapsco River Valley State Park. Where once there was a thriving men’s Catholic seminary, now — as it was a year ago — is just a pile of […]
Nine Places in Maryland You Don’t Want to Miss!
Summer is almost here, and that means, the peak of day trip season! If you’re getting ready for some day trips, then here are nine places in Maryland you don’t want to miss! Maryland offers astounding natural beauty, from its rivers to its mountains and forests, as well as history from its colonial past onward. Don’t check these […]
A Fort Not to Miss: Fort Delaware
Over the course of several years of writing this blog and just because of a natural curiosity about any potential day trip destination, I’ve visited the major forts in the immediate Maryland vicinity. It is true that each fort has something special about it — Fort McHenry has that magnificent historical attachment to the foundation of […]
Lovely Urban Oasis at the US National Arboretum
Dogwood Alley. I’m always excited to discover an urban oasis — a place to retreat far from the madding crowd! In fact, I spent this past Sunday morning exploring just such an oasis: the U.S. National Arboretum. The National Arboretum is a garden, a park, and a research institution, part of the USDA. Its 446 […]
Eagles at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to visit. Recently I unintentionally visited while exploring the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, retracing some of the important places to the African American community in the 1800s in Dorchester and a few of the stops along the Underground Railroad. The driving tour led […]
American Moses: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
Born in Maryland in 1820, Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 to become a leading abolitionist. She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom along the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she helped the Union Army, working as a spy, among other roles. After the Civil War ended, Harriet dedicated her life to helping […]
Exploring Kent Island’s Cross Island Trail
Just over the Bay Bridge in Maryland, the Cross Island Trail is a rail trail in Queen Anne’s County occupying a section of the abandoned Queen Anne’s Railroad corridor that travels the width of Kent Island. The trail begins in Terrapin Park, near the foot of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and brings you through both Terrapin Park […]
C&O Canal: Paw Paw Tunnel to Lock 56
Our destination on this lovely, late summer Sunday morning was 20 miles of the C&O Canal between the Paw Paw Tunnel (mile marker 156.2) and Lock 56 (mile marker 136.2), which is the terminus of the Western Maryland Rail Trail, which we’ve biked several times. The Paw Paw Tunnel cuts 5 miles length off of […]
Check-out the Bike Trail along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
Guest blogger Harry Schwarz describes an early fall bike-ride along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. My wife, Cathy and I, had a pleasant and engaging bike ride on Sunday Sept. 25th along a fully-paved recreational trail that extends 16 miles through the the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Wildlife Area. The trail follows the Chesapeake and […]
What’s Haunting Dorchester County?
On a recent Sunday afternoon, I went on the Tubman Trail Ghost & Graveyard Bus Tour, offered by Chesapeake Ghost Tours. I’ve been wanting to go on one of Mindy Burgoyne’s ghost tours for a while — I learned of her blog and her ghost tours shortly after I began blogging in 2013. A sunny […]
Two Great Hikes at Rocks State Park
Although spring is in the air, the early March day still promised cool temperatures. The leaves were not out yet, and a recent rain had left the ground a little muddy. Still, the temptation to go on a hike — to do something — ANYTHING — outside, was too much. A hiking we would go! […]