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.

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.

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.

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.

Colesville, MD

Place Visited: Colesville, Maryland, USA
Date: May 2019

This was not my first time visiting the National Capital Trolley Museum, but it was the first time I took advantage of the free trolley ride. I also spent quite a bit of time watching the old trolley-related Harold Lloyd films. A fun way to spend a few hours.

Clinton, MD

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

I'm not much of a Booth Conspiracy enthusiast but I also like to take advantage of any history museums (or really, any museums of any kind) that are nearby. Thus my visit to the Surratt House Museum. As with many house museums, I found the architecture and general "this is how we lived back then" information to be the most engaging. I'm also pretty much sold on the idea that Mary Surratt was innocent.

Wheaton, MD

Place Visited: Wheaton, Maryland, USA
Date: October 2019

Brookside Gardens is a delightful place to wander. I was there for the butterflies. I was not disappointed.

Baltimore, MD

Place Visited: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Date: August 2019

I spent a full Saturday in Baltimore, visiting a few of the many places I'd been meaning to see but had just never gotten around to. These included the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum (fascinating, and a very different kind of museum than I'd ever visited) and the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum (very small; maybe if I was a major Poe fan I'd have gotten more out of it). I also attempted to visit Geppi's Entertainment Museum, but (unbeknownst to me), it was closed. All in all an interesting day.