Our goal, that cold April Saturday, was to park at Fort Frederick State Park, ride up to Hancock on the C&O Canal towpath, grab lunch, ride back on the Western Maryland Rail Trail (WMRT), and then tour Fort Frederick. Check out last week’s post for the narrative about Fort Frederick.I’d read about the WMRT in […]
budget-friendly day trip
A Walk Through Time: Patapsco’s Grist Mill Trail
I’ve blogged about Patapsco River Valley State Park before (check out this post and this one), but this post will focus on the Grist Mill Trail, in the Avalon part of the park. I’m writing again about it because, of all the places I have been to or go to regularly, this is the place […]
Ellicott City: Quant and Small, There’s Something for Everyone
For a town* that stretches barely a mile long, there’s an impressive array of things to do. Booze it up in the bars, sit down for fine dining (preferably before you booze it up), spend an afternoon shopping the variety of boutiques that line Main Street, explore local rail history at the B&O Museum, take […]
The Famously Wed and the Very Dead: Touring Greenmount Cemetery
Longtime readers of this blog know I love visiting cemeteries — especially the lovely “rural garden” or “garden park” cemeteries of the mid to late 1800s. So when I learned of historic Green Mount Cemetery, in northern Baltimore, I was excited. Green Mount Cemetery was established a the very beginning of the rural garden cemetery […]
Biking the Niagara Heritage Trail and Wineries
Last summer we spent a week exploring the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. This is the last post of the 6-part series of posts about that trip and the fun times we had exploring the land up north! If you’re not keen on spending more time at the Falls (as magnificent as they […]
Fort George and the War of 1812
Last summer we spent a week exploring the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and quaint 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! No other event has defined Niagara-on-the-Lake (NotL) than the War of 1812 (known by our neighbors […]
Enjoying Greenwell’s Legacy
Another summer afternoon adventure — this time exploring a lovely little state park in southern Maryland. “If I lived here….” I spent an afternoon saying that to myself. If I lived here, I’d go riding across the fields every day (I don’t ride, so I’m not sure where that daydream fantasy came from). If I […]
The Covered Bridges of Frederick County
My 16-year-old son needed more driving hours, so we headed out one Saturday afternoon last summer on an impromptu and entirely unplanned “day trip.” We ended up checking out the three covered bridges of Frederick County: Roddy Road Bridge, Utica Mills Bridge, and Loys Station Bridge. It was a win-win. He got some highway experience, […]
The Famous and the Blameless at Laurel Hill Cemetery
If you are at all interested in exploring a cemetery, then Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, is the one you should start out with — especially if you think it’ll be the ONLY one you decide to tour. Laurel Hill’s creators and organizers intended the cemetery to serve as a civic institution designed for public […]
Retracing a Veteran Ancestor’s Steps in Cold Harbor National Battlefield
When my husband and I had visited Richmond last June, my sister reminded me that our ancestor, George Washington Spertzel, the second generation of Spertzels in the United States, had fought at Cold Harbor. I’m pretty proud of his story and his service to our country, and that’s why I’m writing about our visit to […]
Autumn Glory in Swallow Falls State Park
“Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees” ~ Faith Baldwin, American Family We went on a weekend getaway in search of some romance, my husband and I. And in search of autumn’s exquisite show. And maybe along the way, we’d visit some places we’d never been to […]
Favorite Places: Cunningham Falls
There are some places I like to return to over and over again; Cunningham Falls, in Frederick County’s Catoctin Mountains, is one of those places. I’d tried to bring the boys there a year ago, during a lovely cool spell in August, but we were turned away because I hadn’t realized the summer-no-dog policy in […]
Seeking Autumn Glory in Shenandoah National Park
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ~ L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables My husband and I love going leaf peeping every autumn, and try to come up with interesting itineraries for a one- or two-day trip. This year we planned an overnight trip, leaving mid-morning to drive […]
Working in the Coal Mine!
Coal fired America’s Industrial Revolution, and helped shaped the country we live in today. Anthracite coal was the heating and iron-making fuel of choice, and Pennsylvania’s coal mines, which produced anthracite coal, thrived in the late 19th and early decades of the 20th century. To fill all the jobs necessary to mine coal, companies employed […]
Arlington National Cemetery: Quick Visit and Detour to Robert E Lee’s Historic Mansion
When Mike’s out-of-town guests requested to see some of DC’s lesser known attractions, they helped him take another look at local attractions he’d been taking for granted. He cheerfully agreed to blog about this — to encourage others to do the same! As someone who has lived in Maryland for close 20 years, I tend […]