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.

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.

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.

Alexandria, VA

Place Visited: Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Date: August 2017

I went here as part of a sketch outing.  It was hot and muggy and buggy but the gardens are very pretty.  I just want to go back sometime in better weather.

Culpeper, VA

Place Visited: Culpeper, Virginia, USA
Date: August 2016

The first two spreads I refer to as Pinterest Pages, since they're just so pretty and artistic: first the Culpeper postcards, then all the maps. It's kind of how I want all my spreads to turn out, but as we have seen, that does not happen very often.  One of the highlights of my visit was Raven's Nest Coffee House, which employs some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

Silver Spring, MD

Place Visited: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Date: August 2016

This was my very first DC Drink & Draw meetup, and my first time at Denizens Brewing Co. The beer and food were both quite good, but the company was even better. I love this crowd. There's often an informal theme, and this time was Thank You For Riding Metro (because of the crazy scheduling and closings that is SafeTrack). We each drew our own Metro car, then linked them all together on the wall. It was fantastic.

Washington, DC

Location: Washington, DC, USA
Date Visited: August 2015

This was my first visit to the National Arboretum. Very pretty. We toured the herb gardens and the bonsai and penjing displays. There were some bits that were confusing, where a mystery plant was very clearly not any of the nearby tags (for example, we're fairly certain this pretty purple pea pod is neither corn nor cotton nor barley nor millet nor sugarcane), but that's okay. We still had a good time. I'll have to go back in a different season. Or at least when it's not quite so beastly hot.

Afterward, we grabbed lunch at Hogs on the Hill, which was decent but not too memorable. The milkshakes from Checkers next door were, though. Wow.

Flagstaff, AZ

Location: Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Visited: August 2008

A coworker and I had an afternoon to kill while on a business trip to Flagstaff, so we hunted down the San Francisco Peaks, the highest point in the state of Arizona. He'd heard that in the summer, the ski resort Arizona Snowbowl opened their lifts to the summit. It was my first ride on a ski lift (as I've never actually been skiing), and the half-hour ride each way was delightful. The view was spectacular as well; you could even see the Grand Canyon!

Brick Fair

Location: Brick Fair, Chantilly, Virginia, USA
Visited: August 2011 and 2012

A few weeks ago I happened upon a little Ziplock baggie of clippings from the 2011 Brick Fair, a celebration of all things LEGO held every summer at the Dulles Expo Center not far from my house. It's great fun to look at all the amazing creations everyone puts together each year. Definitely recommended if you're a LEGO fan.

Yes, yes, I know the scan isn't very good. The book is getting full and it's getting harder to lie flat.

Midland and Culpeper, VA

Location: Midland and Culpeper, Virginia, USA
Visited: August, 2012

On the morning of the day I was supposed to meet a friend of mine for lunch in Culpeper (which is more or less midway between us), I woke up early and decided to leave early. On the way there I stopped at C.M. Crockett Park in Midland to do some geocaching. It was hot and sweaty but the park itself was quite nice.

Once I got to Culpeper I still had a fair amount of time to kill, so I stopped at Full Circle Thrift. I wasn't going to buy any books (really I wasn't) but when I learned that paperbacks were all of 10 cents, I went ahead. I mean, at that price it practically costs more not to buy them!

Anyway, while the food at Thai Culpeper was decent, the rest of the town was pretty boring. But I got to hang out with one of my favorite people in all the world, so it was still a pretty good day.

Manassas, VA

Location: Manassas, Virginia, USA
Visited: August, 2012

While filming some stuff for an upcoming Markeroni video, my friends and I decided we needed to get pictures of our mascots in canons (as you do), so we headed out to Manassas Battlefield Park, aka Bull Run. On the way we stopped by the Stone House, which I'd seen many times before but which had never been open. Sure, we didn't get to see the second floor or the basement, but it was nifty to be able to go in there and get the stamp. Plus, they had Stone House trading cards! Awesome!

Solomons, MD

Location: Solomons, Maryland, USA
Visited: August 2010

The Calvert Marine Museum with its associated lighthouses at Drum Point and Cove Point, respectively, made for a lovely afternoon excursion. The Drum Point stamp is upside-down because the woman at the desk didn't realize I'd already turned my journal to face her. But that's okay. It's all part of the experience.

Boyce, VA

Location: Boyce, Virginia, USA
Visited: August 2011

I didn't actually spend much time here at the Arboretum, but I just could not resist that gateway photo.

By the way, once I finish my backlog of pages and start posting about more recent trips, I'll include more information/anecdotes about the places I go.

Cumberland, MD

Location: Cumberland, Maryland, USA
Visited: August, 2011

This is a good example of picking a place at random and just going. Cumberland is a gorgeous mountain town between two and three hours from me. In addition to the lovely scenery, I also stopped by the Western Maryland Railroad Station and the surprisingly varied Allegany Museum. I unfortunately did not find enough paper matter to fill more than a single page, but it's definitely a town I hope to visit again someday.