On the last weekend in September, my sister and I went on one of the few tours offered every year to the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. I mean, not just a victory lap around the outside like countless folks in their boats, but get off the boat and climb up through the hatches to the […]
boat tours
Eating Smith Island Cake on Smith Island
I’d heard about Maryland’s state dessert for years, but never tried it. And since the 2-day trip on the Southern Lights excursion aboard the MV Sharpes Island with Captain Jack and the afternoon visit to nearby Tangier Island (VA), I’ve wanted to visit Smith Island. I was hoping it was as cute and quaint as […]
Delaware Bay Lighthouses
Seagulls stand watch above the Miah Maull Shoal Lighhouse. Lighthouses stand as solitary sentinels signaling unseen danger — the peaks and valleys that map the geography under water. Mysterious, silent, and now lonely — almost all lighthouses are automated, and almost all are slowly deteriorating back into the waters they have protected our sailors and […]
C&O Canal at Williamsport
Most of my blogs about the C&O Canal recently have been about biking the towpath — a great way to explore the canal, but sometimes you can see more if you slow down a bit and see it on foot. That’s what we did last Sunday. I hadn’t planned on going on a day trip […]
Jet Boating the Niagara Rapids
Last summer we spent a week exploring the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. This is part of the 6-part series of posts about that trip and the fun times we had exploring the land up north! The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between […]
A View of Richmond from Its Canal
Another post from last summer about an often overlooked aspect of Richmond — its canals. One interesting way to experience and explore Richmond’s history is by taking a 40-minute narrated canal tour. The narrated canal cruise offers a pretty good synopsis of Richmond’s colorful history. Along the way, you’ll see a part of the canal and […]
Two Days and Eleven Lights: Day Two
This is part two of Chesapeake Lighthouses, Southern Expedition, a two-day excursion to 11 lighthouses around the Chesapeake Bay. From Tangier Island, we headed straight over to Onancock, VA, arriving around 5:30 p.m. We unloaded our bags, and headed up the street to our respective inns (Captain Jack arranged rides for those in the group […]
Two Days and Eleven Lights: Day One
My sister and I had been on the shorter “Passage to Five” excursion offered by Chesapeake Lights in May; before we’d even gotten off the boat that day, we’d signed up for the once annual 2-day trip that takes place every August. Update May 2021: Unfortunately, Chesapeake Lights no longer offers lighthouse tours. The lighthouses […]
Often Overlooked, Cambridge, MD Is Worth Stopping For
If you’re like me, you have driven past Cambridge dozens of times, on your way to some place else — usually Ocean City, Assateague Island, or even Chincoteague Island. But Cambridge isn’t just the fast food joints, gas stations, big box stores, and chain restaurants you see from Rt 50 — there’s a quaint little […]
Living History: Sailing on a Skipjack
This is NOT the Nathan of Dorchester skipjack, but another one, name unknown, which we saw on our recent daytrip on the Passage to Five Lighthouses Tour. The skipjack is a traditional fishing boat used on Chesapeake Bay for oyster dredging and was the predominant oystering boat in the Bay — there used to be […]
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 […]
1000 Islands Visited: Sunset Dinner Cruise on the St Lawrence River
I’m a sucker for beautiful sunsets, dinner is always a winner, and who doesn’t like a cruise on a lovely river? This “day trip” had all three — a Sunset Dinner Cruise on the St Lawrence River, touring the Thousand Islands. Lovely scenery and the food wasn’t half bad! That morning we’d driven 8 hours […]
Valentine’s Day Special: Boldt’s Castle Is the World’s Best Love Letter
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I decided to write about a visit to Bold’s Castle in New York’s Thousand Islands region — one of the most extravagant valentine’s day gifts ever! Middle class men give Hallmark cards to their wives; multimillionaires build castles. George C. Boldt started work on his love letter to his wife […]
Thousand Islands: Light Houses
This week’s blog will be different than other weeks. Last weekend I didn’t do anything worth blogging about, unless you want to hear about replacing bathroom light fixtures (with some really cool 1970 retro lights) and re-organizing my closet… No, didn’t think so. So over this week and the next, I’ll post several blogs, starting […]
A Day on the Bay: Tilghman Island, St. Michaels, and Sailing on the Selina II
What started out as a romantic day on the Bay for the hubby and I turned into a day trip for the entire family the following week — that’s because there was plenty to do for just the two of us, and plenty for the boys to enjoy as well. The plan for the romantic […]