Bowmans Hill Wildflower Preserve

“There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation’s braggart lords.” –naturalist and author, John Muir Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve is a nature preserve, botanical garden, and accredited museum located just outside of New Hope, PA, that showcases an extraordinary diversity of plants native to Pennsylvania […]

Gotta Catch Them All: 11 Best Places to Play Pokemon Go

With multiple Pokéstops and Pokégyms, 1. Columbia’s four lakes in Howard County, MD, offer Pokémon Go players great game play in a pleasant, shaded setting that belies its urban location. Proximity to water also ensures you’ll catch plenty of magikarp as you collect what you need to evolve a gyarados. 2. Downtown Pittsburgh has hundreds […]

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 […]

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 […]

Hiking Maryland Heights, Part 2: Stone Fort Trail

Fellow blogger J. Hammer graciously agreed to guest blog for the Mid-Atlantic Day Trips Blog about hiking along Maryland Heights, near Harpers Ferry. This is part 2 of his two-part series. Last post I mentioned that I hadn’t hiked the Stone Fort Trail section of Maryland Heights due to a lack of time. Well, I […]

Hiking Maryland Heights, Part 1: Overlook Trail

Fellow blogger J. Hammer graciously agreed to guest blog for the Mid-Atlantic Day Trips Blog about hiking along Maryland Heights, near Harpers Ferry. This is part 1 of his two-part series. Worth a Voyage across the Atlantic Over 1400 feet high, Maryland Heights offers stunning views of the town of Harpers Ferry, WV, and the […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Hiking in Ricketts Glen State Park: 3.2 Miles, 18 Spectacular Waterfalls

Ricketts Glen State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on more than 13,000 acres in Columbia, Luzerne, and Sullivan counties. The park also is a National Natural Landmark, known for its old-growth forest and the more than 20 named waterfalls along Kitchen Creek. I was enticed by the number of waterfalls in such close proximity. […]