Six Places in Pennsylvania You Don’t Want to Miss!

Summer is here, and that means, the peak of day trip season! If you’re getting ready for some day trips, then here are six places in Pennsylvania you don’t want to miss!  There’s a little something for everyone in this list — a little bit of history, some exploration underground, a good hike, an historic house tour… check out these […]

Top Nine Mid-Atlantic Region Summer Day Trips for Kids

It’s that time again — when school ends for the year and kids cheer and parents groan (just a little, because, you know, we really love our kids). If you’re looking for some great ideas for day trips with your little cherubs — the kind of daytrips that will keep their imaginations active and expand […]

Serenity at Maryland’s Grotto of Lourdes

I don’t normally visit religious shrines, but sheer curiosity drove me to explore this uniquely Maryland Catholic shrine near Emmitsburg. I’d been driving past Mount St. Mary’s College, located along U.S. 15 since I was a kid. The college nestles against the base of the Catoctin Mountains in northern Frederick County. Behind the college looms […]

Taking Pride in the C&O Canal and a Couple of Recipes

This year the Blog officially volunteered for the Ninth Annual Canal Pride Days, a program sponsored by the C&O Canal Trust to work on projects, in coordination with the C&O Canal National Park, to improve or help the park. Projects such as pulling out invasive plants, planting gardens for the lockhouses, cleaning garbage and debris […]

A Lot of Hot Air

May the winds welcome you with softness. May the sun bless you with its warm hands. May you fly so high and so well that God joins you in laughter and sets you gently back into the loving arms of Mother Earth. — Balloonist’s Prayer The annual hot air balloon festival promised to be amazing, and since we’d […]

Reaching for the Moon: the Story of Barbara Johns and Prince Edward County Public Schools

Photo of a photo displayed in the museum shows Farmvile in the 1950s. Each winter, school children celebrate snow days. But despite missing many days in a row, when the snow again begins to fall, school children again celebrate. But what if the schools simply closed and didn’t reopen? What if the “snow day” was […]

Six Mid-Atlantic Lighthouses You Need to See!

These are six of my favorite lighthouses in the Mid-Atlantic region — from a variety of locations, including the Atlantic Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay. During the summer months you can find boat tours of both the Chesapeake and Delaware bays that will take you to the various lighthouses; many lighthouses you can drive […]