Luray, VA

Place Visited: Luray, Virginia, USA
Date: March 2018

I hadn't been to Luray Caverns in a few years, and I'd never visited the Luray Valley Museum. All in all a pleasant outing.

I'm not sure I've ever even seen an entire episode of the Dukes of Hazzard, but I was not about to pass up a tacky tourist trap like Cooter's. The show memorabilia was kinda cool, but my Boss Hog sandwich (barbecue and mac'n'cheese) was a revelation.

Lynchburg, VA

Place Visited: Lynchburg, Virginia, USA
Date: November 2017

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for old cemeteries, but the Old City Cemetery was a special treat. The station house, pest house, and other buildings were closed so early in the morning, but had recorded narration at the push of a button. November is not the best time to visit gardens, but I certainly enjoyed myself. The children's guide was an extra touch of entertainment.

Hagerstown, MD

Place Visited: Hagerstown, Maryland, USA
Date: December 2018

Hagerstown is a pleasant little town but unfortunately very little seems to be open on Sundays in December. I did have some very nice coffee at Rooster Moon and admired the architecture of some local churches, but by and large I didn't stay long.

Leesburg, VA

Place Visited: Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Date: June 2018

I spent a few hours in Leesburg on a lark one summer Saturday, to visit the Loudoun Museum and some of the downtown shops. Delirium Cafe holds a special place in my heart because I visited one in Brussels back in 2004. I took advantage of the free beer & butter mussels but oof that's something that's meant to be shared, not eaten solo.

Philadelphia, PA

Place Visited: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Date: November 2018

The Saturday of our weekend in Philly was horrendously cold and rainy, but we still browsed the Holiday Market and Christmas Village, which were charming. The Wanamaker Organ at Macy's was neat to look at, but it was hard to see around all the Christmas lights (which were, to be perfectly honest, pretty underwhelming).

The Sunday was sunny and pleasant, perfect for visiting a perennial favorite: Eastern State Penitentiary. I have nothing new to say about this. I just love it.

Winchester, VA

Place Visited: Winchester, Virginia, USA
Date: June 2018

Kernstown Battlefield isn't especially different from too many other battlefields, but my personal guided tour (this happens a whole lot at lesser-known attractions) was fantastic, and the not-yet-restored mansion satisfied my love for urban decay.

Unlike a lot of historic houses, the Patsy Cline House was more about the individual than the time period in which she lived, because she lived so recently. I don't know much of her music, but she had a lovely voice and was surprisingly prolific during her short life.

Hershey, PA

Place Visited: Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
Date: May 2019

I was in town for Sweet Adelines regional competition, but drove up a day early to explore the town. The Museum of Bus Transportation was a feast of all kinds of automobiles, including the bus from Speed. Then I rode the free factory tour ride (that is neither a tour nor a factory) at Hershey's Chocolate World. At the end of the weekend, a fellow chorus member and I took advantage of our free tickets to The Hershey Story museum, which is more or less a shrine to Milton Hershey, but an interesting look into the history of chocolate confections in general as well.

Galena, IL

Place Visited: Galena, Illinois, USA
Date: June 2019

I drive through Galena to get to my grandmother's house, and while visiting her I decided I wanted to see Galena for real. The bus tour was fantastic, Poopsie's was silly fun, and the scenery was outstanding. A lovely little day trip.

Ellicott City, MD

Place Visited: Ellicott City, Maryland, USA
Date: August 2019

After a weekend in Baltimore, I visited the storied Clark's Elioak Farm. The petting zoo part was fine but I was enthralled by the fairy tale statuary of the Enchanted Forest. This is exactly the sort of bizarro attraction I live for.

Erie, PA

Place Visited: Erie, Fairview, and North Springfield, Pennsylvania, and Conneaut, Ohio, USA
Date: July 2018

To celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, we rented a bunch of cabins at Virginia's Beach right on Lake Erie. It was beautiful. We enjoyed touring around Erie proper, but the highlights were the Erie Maritime Museum and feeding the giraffes at the Erie Zoo.

Ellicott City, MD

Place Visited: Ellicott City, Maryland, USA
Date: January 2019

I stopped by here after a Sweet Adelines event in nearby Towson. It was a little bit eerie walking down Main Street, still largely empty more than six months after the flood. I did enjoy browsing the Howard County History Museum and the Baltimore & Ohio Ellicott City Station Museum.

Frederick, MD

Place Visited: Frederick, Maryland, USA
Date: December 2018

I don't usually feature visitor centers quite so prominently, but this one might as well have doubled as a museum. I also took a brief drive through Mount Olivet Cemetery, but there was a funeral going on so I didn't stay long. There's a lot more I still hope to see in Frederick, but perhaps next time I won't go the weekend before Christmas. Traffic was just a touch crazy downtown.

Farmville, VA

Place Visited: Farmville, Virginia, USA
Date: November 2018

The Robert Russa Moton Museum was easily one of the most moving, educational, sad, hopeful, and infuriating museums I've ever visited. Moton High School was one of the cases brought forth in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared segregation in public education unconstitutional. I grew up in the midwest; I learned about segregation and its eventual end, but I never knew much about the years immediately following, and was pretty disheartened to learn that rather than integrate, Virginia simply closed it schools and kept them closed - for five years. It was also pretty eye-opening to see just how dismal the school situation really was. Even as a white person, I am forever grateful to have never lived in a time of segregation. It benefits no one.

Cape Charles, VA

Place Visited: Cape Charles, Virginia, USA
Date: September 2019

Some friends and I had a splendid vacation in Cape Charles. We stayed in my friend's comfy RV at the Chesapeake KOA Resort, spending long days on the beach and generally relaxing. The only times we left were to visit the concrete ships at Kiptopeke State Park and to pick me up a swimsuit at Bailey's Bait & Tackle. It was the week after Labor Day, so pickings were slim, and I ended up buying my very first bikini. Can't wait to go back again this year.

Locust Grove, VA

Place Visited: Locust Grove, Virginia, USA
Date: March 2018

The Germanna Foundation is mainly a genealogy resource with a small monument to the original settlers of the Virginia Germanna Colonies. Much of my heritage is German, though none of them were part of this particular expedition. (I don't have any relatives from Virginia, as far as I know; my early American ancestors lived in New Jersey.) Still, it was interesting to browse, even though the person working there seemed not quite sure what to do with me, since I wasn't there to research my family.

Nanjemoy, MD

Place Visited: Nanjemoy, Maryland, USA
Date: March 2019

Mallows Bay is simply amazing. It's a huge ship graveyard. One of these days I want to take a kayak out to see the ones further out from shore.

Fredericksburg, VA

Place Visited: Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA
Date: February 2018

I do love me some horrific old-timey medicine, and the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop did not disappoint. My favorite part was the lady who, upon seeing that they had a couple of leeches in jars (which were at no time removed from said jars, mind), immediately left the room and never came back. Fantastic.

Fort Valley, VA

Place Visited: Fort Valley, Virginia, USA
Date: June 2018

The Fort Valley Museum is one of those tiny historic buildings full of delightful odds and ends where the signage is more about who donated the piece than what it actually is. It's also in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, look it up on a map sometime. When I arrived, the people asked me why I'd visited. I said, quite honestly, "Because I've never been here before." Amazing how much that answer surprises people.

Church Creek, MD

Place Visited: Church Creek, Maryland, USA
Date: December 2018

My tour guide at the Stanley Institute in nearby Cambridge strongly urged me to make a side trip to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center and boy am I glad I followed his advice. Tubman was a badass. I'd known a little of her story but had had no idea just how many people she saved. It's also a sober reminder of how Maryland, now generally thought of as part of the North, was unquestionably a slave state. Definitely worth the detour.

Greenbelt, MD

Place Visited: Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Date: October 2018

I'd been meaning to stop by the NASA Goddard Visitor Center for ages, and happened to be there on a day when they were giving loads of demonstrations. I chatted for a while with the fellow at the Ozone Garden, and also stood gazing, jaw agape, in the Solarium for a perhaps unhealthy amount of time. Well worth the trip.

Silver Spring, MD

Place Visited: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Date: February 2018

Twice a year, the National Museum of Health and Medicine brings out specimens for people to draw. In February, it was hearts. I had a lovely time drawing an ostrich heart, then browsing the rest of the small museum. I like medical museums, but the facial reconstruction exhibit was one I just could not handle. Something about seeing pictures of people with their jaw blown off, well, no thank you.