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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sandy Spring, MD

Place Visited: Sandy Spring, Maryland, USA
Date: August 2018

The real gem of Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park is the 1832 stone barn. They have displays and signage like most museums, but they also have surprisingly well-acted vignettes about the people who lived there projected directly onto the walls. Makes for a memorable experience.

Strasburg, VA

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

The Strasburg Museum was closed last time I was in the area, so I took this opportunity to take a good look around. There's actually quite a lot to this place, packed to the gills with exhibits. The air conditioning left a lot to be desired but otherwise it was lovely.

Youngstown, OH

Place Visited: Youngstown, Ohio, USA
Date: March 2018

During a visit to my in-laws, they decided to take us to some local attractions, starting with the Tyler Mahoning Valley History Center, which is kind of a catch-all local community history museum. I think my favorite part was the nostalgia of my companions, all of whom had grown up in the area, as had their parents before them. From there we toured the Arms Family Museum, which was mostly interesting because the people who owned it were super into combining wildly different architecture and decor styles. Finally, we visited the Butler Institute of American Art. I have mixed feelings about art museums in general, but this one was fun.

Falmouth, VA

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

The White Oak Civil War Museum, just outside Fredericksburg, is a small building filled with a large building's worth of artifacts. The area was a winter encampment (as opposed to a battlefield) and it would seem people have been scavenging pretty much nonstop for the last 150 years. Mountains of bullets and belt buckles and assorted other crap. It offers a clearer understanding of the sheer scale of the conflict than many other Civil War museums I've visited. And I've visited a whole lot.

Culpeper, VA

Place Visited: Culpeper and Warrenton, Virginia, USA
Date: March 2018

I took a random spring day off work and headed south to Culpeper. I started at Cibola Farms and had fun chatting with the bison. I'd never seen that many so close up before. From there I grabbed some brunch at Country Cafe and Catering, which felt like it could be my Cheers if I lived there: super friendly staff and just a generally welcoming atmosphere. Then I went up the street to Burgandine House, where I received a fantastic private tour. (Lemme tell ya, if you ever want a private tour, just visit any of these tiny house museums on a weekday.) I drove around aimlessly for a while after that, then grabbed dinner at a random roadside place called Barbeque Country Jamboree. Good stuff. Pleasant day.

Cambridge, MD

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

This was a magical trip. I decided to spend the day on the Eastern Shore. I first stopped by the Spocott Windmill, where I spent a very relaxing time drawing. There was no one around, but all the doors were unlocked, so I quite happily browsed all the buildings. It felt good to be trusted to be alone in such a place.

Later that day I stopped by the Stanley Institute. It didn't look open, but while I was peeking in windows, a gentleman drove up and offered me a tour. He had to drop off something at his mother's house so he opened up the school for me and let me look around (again, on my own) until he got back and gave me a simply marvelous private tour. He even took me through the church across the street that wasn't quite open to the public yet. He also recommended a place that wasn't on my itinerary, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, but that's another post.