My sister and I are determined to visit all the local presidential mansions: Mount Vernon, Monticello, and Montpelier, among them. Montpelier is the estate of our 4th president, James Madison, and one of America’s Founding Fathers. He is known for putting his lawyerly training to work by helping write the U.S. Constitution in the late […]
historic houses
The Sunnyside of Sleepy Hollow: Visiting Washington Irving’s Home
The mention of Sleepy Hollow conjures up creepy images of the Headless Horseman riding at midnight after poor, silly Ichabod Crane. But there’s a sunnier side of Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown, NY! In American Lit in college we studied, among others, Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859), who was an American author, essayist, biographer, […]
Cape May’s Victorian Mansions, a Lighthouse, and a Lookout Tower
Cape May, NJ, is the original beach resort on the East Coast. Its collection of authentic Victorian mansions makes it a destination for anyone who prefers the intimate setting of a bed and breakfast inn over those horrible beach hotels found at other beach resorts. I’ve visited Cape May a handful of times over the […]
A Maryland Story: The Booths, the Assassination of a President, and Tudor Hall
There’s a lovely little Victorian house tucked into the suburban neighborhoods surrounding Bel Air, MD, called “Tudor Hall.” It is a 1 1⁄2-story Gothic Revival cottage built of painted brick. The house was built as a country retreat by Junius Brutus Booth. Junius Brutus Booth, in case you don’t know — was a famous English […]
Morven Park and the Davis Mansion
My sister suggested we tour Morven Park one day after she attended a riding competition there (Morven Park is well known among the horse set). The grounds of Morven Park encompass 1,000 acres of lawns, fields, wooded areas and boxwood gardens, including the mansion, stables and a show ring(s), and a museum of coaches. As […]
Niagara Glen, the Whirlpool, and Botanical Gardens
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! There’s a lot to do at Niagara Falls — and that’s just the Canadian side! About midway […]
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 […]
Enjoying the Holiday Sights at Longwood Gardens
There is something about holiday lights and decorations that beckons to the kid in us. Toy trains, Christmas ornaments, colorful lights — the Christmas season definitely speaks to my inner child. I like bright colors and shiny things, so last year I’d added seeing Longwood Gardens to my 2014 wishlist. Longwood Gardens offers everything your […]
Exploring Two Historic Estates in the Brandywine Valley
Guest blogger Julie grew up an Army brat, living in Germany and other interesting places. She recounts her memories of her childhood: My parents would take the family castle hunting on weekends and when we came back to the States it was with some trepidation that we would no longer have that immediate connection to history. Just a […]
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 […]
Tredegar Ironworks and the Confederate White House
When we were planning our time in Richmond, I put visiting the Confederate White House on “the list.” I’d toured it years (and years) ago, but wanted to see it again — I love old houses, and an old house with some history attached is like icing on the cake. The Museum of the Confederacy […]
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 […]
Winterthur
Winterthur (pronounced “winter-tour”) is one of the last of the original Wild Gardens. Downtown Abbey is one of our favorite shows, so when we learned that there’s a “Costume’s of Downton Abbey” exhibit at Winterthur (already on our list for visiting), we knew it was time to plan a day trip there. The exhibit “Costumes […]
“Mystery Trip” Ends Up in Monticello, Jefferson’s Masterpiece Mountaintop Retreat
Gail writes about a recent day trip she took with her retirement community: The day was one of those rare ones this past March that was warm and pleasant for our day at Monticello, in Charlottesville, VA. We were on a retirement community trip – a “Mystery Trip that we’d signed on for not knowing where […]
Exploring Two Castles of Whimsy and Treasures
There once lived a man who, in the early part of the 20th century, built two castles. He was a visionary, for he recognized the importance of preserving items of a fading way of life for future generations. He was a artist, creating tiles that were reknown for their beauty. And he was a bit […]