Have you ever wondered what those historic homes look like inside? I do! Thus, when I hear of a tour of private residences in a historic city, I leap at the chance to tour them! A home on a previous year’s tour. Photo courtesy VisitAnnapolis.org. Once a year, you get to find out how a […]
Exploring Laurel Highlands
With historic forts, outdoor activities such as hiking or white water rafting, historic homes by one of America’s foremost architects, art museums and the Flight 93 Memorial, there is much to do for kids and adults alike in the Laurel Highlands region of Pennsylvania. Whether you dart over there for a daytrip, plan a long […]
Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop
It’s not every day you can go into an old-time apothecary shop and see it, exactly as a customer in the early 1900s would have experienced it. But you can do just that, at the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop Museum in Alexandria, VA’s historic district. This historic apothecary shop has been preserved as a museum. During […]
10 Great November Daytrip Destinations
November brings great weather for hiking and biking, and if you head south, there are still lovely autumn leaves and scenic drives to enjoy. November’s chill also reminds us the holidays are right around the corner. Start your holiday giving now by giving great experiences, the sort of ones that they’ll remember for years after. […]
Southern Alleghenies Art Museum – Ligonier Valley
This is one of those daytrip surprises I often end up writing about! I was on my way from one daytrip destination — Fort Ligonier — and on my way to another destination (Nemacolin Woodlands Resort), when I passed by this log house. Then I noticed the sculpture in the garden, and happened to see […]
Pennies for Poe at the Westminster Burying Ground
You can often learn who’s important in a region by going to an historic city cemetery, and no where is this more true than at the Westminster Burying Ground in Baltimore. Established in 1787, a who’s who of Maryland and Baltimore are, or at least, WERE (several seem to be missing) buried there. For 60 […]
Beach Town, Off-season Fun in Lewes, DE
My favorite time to visit a beach town is AFTER the summer hordes have departed. And what I’ve discovered is that off-season is the best time to visit some beach towns! There is so much to do in Lewes, DE, a quaint beach town that sits at the entrance of Delaware Bay along the Atlantic […]
Ghost Hunt at PennHurst Home for the Feebleminded
This is a visitor’s first view of Pennhurst. I’m inclined to think the orb-like object is a raindrop, rather than an orb, since it was raining when I took this particular photo. Pennhurst State School and Home for the Feebleminded still haunts Spring City, PA. The facility began its service to Pennsylvania in 1908 as […]
Have a Hauntingly Great Time in Lewes DE!
Lewes, DE is rich with historic happenings, legends, and tall-tales, many of them involving a touch of the paranormal. From the founding of Lewes in 1631 and the massacre of its settlement the following year, to the unknown sailors’ cemetery at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, some residents never seem to depart. Lewes is more than […]
Poe House Museum in Baltimore
The International Edgar Allan Poe Festival will take place October 6-7 at Edgar Allan Poe Square/203 North Amity Street, Baltimore. This is exciting to me: Poe was my first favorite author — his dark tales of gothic horror resonated with me at an early age. One of Poe’s most famous poems, “The Raven” (for which […]
A Ghost Walk Through Ellicott City’s Mount Misery
It is astonishing to me the amount of murder and mayhem a sleepy small town can endure over the years. Ellicott City — once called Ellicott Mills — has seen more than its fair share. A town important enough in the 1800s to have America’s first railroad track connecting it to Baltimore (just 13 miles […]
Riversdale House and Stories of the Stiers, Calverts and Plummers
This is another wonderful daytrip destination that’s been lurking within less than an hour’s drive of Baltimore, and 30 minutes from Washington DC but which is often overlooked. And that’s really sad — touring it helps folks understand an important part of Maryland state history. Riversdale is a five-part, large-scale late Georgian mansion with an […]
10 Great October Daytrip Destinations in the MidAtlantic
With summer 2018 firmly behind us, our thoughts start turning to autumn’s glorious colors, scenic drives, the harvest bounty, and spooky destinations. Read on for a little of each, selected from MidAtlanticDayTrips’ jaunts throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia! Start planning now! October is a great time to enjoy the changing foliage and check out […]
Centre Furnace Mansion
Minutes from the Penn State campus in Centre County is an historic mansion that helps tell the story of the iron industry in America, how the county got named, and Penn State itself was founded. An artist’s interpretation of Centre Furnace Mansion in the early 1800s. The mansion is a restored and furnished ironmaster’s home […]
John Dickinson Plantation
As strange as it may seem to us now to call a plantation owner remarkable, I visited the former home of a remarkable man. John Dickinson, referred to as the Penman of the Revolution, for his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, where he eloquently argued the cause of American liberty. He also was a solicitor […]