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 […]
Author: Jody Arneson
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! […]
Forgotten Fort Foote
I happened upon Fort Foote accidentally. I was on my way to Fort Washington, which I’d visited with my two sons years ago. I saw signs for Fort Foote and since I had all afternoon at my disposal, I turned and followed the signs to the fort. Fort Foote was constructed in 1863 on top […]
Cooking Like the Masons at Gunston Hall
For my birthday, my sister gave me a day’s hard labor! She purchased two spots in an Open Hearth Cooking Class at Gunston Hall. The class promised participants that they would experience “one of the most fun, rewarding, and exhausting tasks of the 18th century” and they were right! It was a fine October day. […]
Exploring the Ghost Town Rail Trail: Dilltown to Eliza Furnace
Last summer, we stayed the weekend in Pittsburgh, but on our way back home to Maryland, decided to stop for a couple of hours and start what I hope will be an ongoing exploration of a new (for us) rail trail: The Ghost Town Rail Trail. This rail trail stretches 36 miles between Black Lick […]
Frederick Douglass and His House on Cedar Hill
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them. Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass’ was a 19th century American hero, but his story still resonates with our times. He was a social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, husband, father, […]
Understanding Andy Warhol
Actually, I don’t think it’s entirely possible to understand Andy Warhol, but you can certainly enhance and enlarge your appreciation of this iconic American 20th century artist’s work by visiting a museum dedicated to his artwork in Pittsburgh. Nosepicker 1: Why Pick on Me (originally titled The Lord Gave Me My Face but I Can Pick My […]