Midcoast Maine

Location: Rockland, Portland, Wiscasset, and Freemont, Maine, USA
Date Visited: July 2015

I visited Maine for the first time this summer in order to take part in another first: my first bike tour, the Maine Lobster Ride sponsored by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine. We just biked the 15 mile route, but next year we're definitely going for the 30.

I saw and did so many awesome things on this trip, I don't even know how to sum it up. So I'll do what I always do, which is make bulleted lists:

Yummy food:

• Taco Trio
• Rock City Cafe
• 158 Pickett Street Cafe
• Catbird Creamery
• Salvage BBQ

Great shopping:

• Rock Paper Scissors
• Artist and Craftsman Supply
• Hello Hello Books

Nifty sites:

• Tall ships promenading along Casco Bay
• Bug Light Park
• Portland Head Light
• Urban Farm Fermentory

In short, Maine is great and I would definitely go back.

Baltimore, MD

Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: July 2015

Video Games Live is a fantastic show of video game music performed by a live orchestra and chorus, with game footage and other fun stuff projected on a screen behind the performers. The lead vocalist, Jillian Aversa, is a friend of ours, so when the group was in town we all went to see the show. Definitely recommended. We also enjoyed our dinner at City Cafe beforehand.

Portland, ME

Location: International Cryptozoology Museum, Portland, Maine, USA
Date Visited: July 2015

First of all, this museum is pretty tiny, and unless you're already convinced of the existence of Big Foot, you'll probably be more amused than amazed. That said, I had a grand time, and even picked up a coelacanth keychain.  Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

Rockland, ME

Location: Rockland, Maine, USA
Date Visited: July 2015

As part of our entrance fee for the Maine Lobster Ride, we also received free admission to the Farnsworth Art Museum. Lovely little place. Well worth the side trip.

Chantilly, VA

Location: Chantilly, Virginia, USA
Date Visited: June 2015

Here we have a bit of a meta-post, because I basically scrapbooked a scrapbook festival. Scrapbook Expo was my first such event, though I only went for the shopping. My friend and I tried and failed to get a seat at any of the make-and-takes, but we did have a lovely lunch at Texas Roadhouse. All in all, a pleasant morning. Afterward, a couple other friends joined us at my house and we spent the rest of the day having a project party. Good times.

White River Junction, VT

Location: White River Junction, Vermont, USA
Date Visited: July 2015

This was just a quick stop on my trip, but we did enjoy our time at the visitor's center. WRJ is such a great town.

Sperryville, VA

Location: Sperryville, Virginia, USA
Date Visited: May 2015

I went on a random drive and somehow ended up in Rappahannock Central, a little arts/shopping/dining community in Sperryville. I had a wonderful time. I started with lunch at El Quijote, where I had tapas for the first time (and next time I will be sure to go back with other people so I can try a bigger variety of dishes), then wandered River District Arts and The Middle St. Gallery before touring Copper Fox Distillery, where I brought home a bottle of single malt whiskey for my dear husband.

Now, there's no way I can list all the amazing artists I saw on my tour, but here are a few: Mary B. Allen, Leslie Hilton, Frederick Kahler, Virginia B. Costello, Phyllis Northup, and Wayne Paige. Definitely a good place to wander if you're looking for inspiration.

Havre de Grace (and Silver Spring), MD

Location: Havre de Grace and Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: March 2015

We spent the day hanging around Havre de Grace, especially the Concord Point Lighthouse and the nearby Maritime Museum and promenade. Ridiculously windy, but otherwise a very nice time. Unfortunately, we did not get to the visitor center before it closed for the day. Next time.

Kingsville, MD

Location: Kingsville, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: March 2015

Jerusalem Mill is a pleasant little historic crossroads, full of very friendly and talkative people who wanted to tell us all about their educational programs and renovations and everything else. Next time I'll have to go when the mill is open for tours.

Monticello, VA

Location: Monticello, Virginia, USA
Date Visited: February 2015

I used to live in Charlottesville, and so visited Monticello a few times, but hadn't been back since. You'll be unsurprised to learn that it hasn't changed much. Jefferson was a complicated man, but his house sure is full of neat stuff. Unfortunately, the day we visited it was too cold to wander the grounds at all.

Boonsboro and Burkittsville, MD

Location: Boonsboro and Burkittsville, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: October 2014

There are a lot of major tourist attractions near me that I have never visited. And many, many minor ones that I have. Such as the first Washington Monument (or at least the first one finished), and Crystal Grottoes Caverns, which appears to be run out of someone's house. It was lovely weather for this particular outing, which ended with a book sale in the church that houses the historical society. Good times.

Berlin, MD

Location: Berlin, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: January 2015

I am so in love with this town. It is precious. The woman at the visitor center was a hoot, and I loved wandering the shops. I had lunch at Rayne's Reef, where I sketched the windows of Town Center Antiques across the street while enjoying my fries, salad, and fountain cherry cola. I've never seen Runaway Bride or Tuck Everlasting, both of which were filmed in Berlin, but I liked the trivia nonetheless. The woman at the visitor center told me that for Tuck, they rented dirt from a local farmer to cover the streets, then when filming wrapped, they gave it back. That must have been quite a production. They also renamed some of the buildings, which explains why one of the windows of Old Town Antiques said "Garrett Journal". I would have spent a lot more time in this cute little town, but I had a lot of ground to cover yet, so I had to move on.

I didn't even notice until I was scanning in this page that I'd rotated the bumper sticker so that "Maryland" was upside-down. Oh well.

Assateague Island, MD

Location: Assateague Island National Seashore, Berlin, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: January 2015

After some great tips from the woman working at the visitor center, I drove up and down the length of Assateague Island. I did indeed spot some wild horses, including one walking just on the far side of the guardrail. Luckily, there was nobody else on the road, so I was able to slow down to snap a picture. I don't think he even noticed me.

I may or may not have squealed like a child when I saw him.

The visitor center itself has some good displays about the local wildlife, including a couple of aquariums. All in all, a lovely place.

Cambridge, MD

Location:Cambridge, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: January 2015

Lunch at The High Spot was tasty, and it started to snow while I was eating. This turned out to be a bigger setback than I'd realized, as the snow quickly turned near-blinding and I ended up at the Dorchester County Visitor Center to wait it out. That was a bit of a strange place. At every single visitor center I've ever visited (and I've visited quite a few), the person working behind the desk has been friendly and helpful. The woman working at this one barely gave me a nod and a smile. Unfortunately, by the time the snow had started to ease up, it was too dark and rainy to continue on, so I overnighted in Delmar. I ate dinner at Tokyo Steakhouse, which was yummy but wow did I ever order too much food.

Easton, MD

Location: Easton, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: January 2015

I didn't spend much time in Easton, but it seemed like a lovely little town. This was one of my first stops during my little road trip across the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It's very pretty, and their brochure is right: the pace is a little bit slower than what I'm used to back in Northern Virginia, and I appreciate it.

Alexandria, VA

Location: Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Date Visited: January 2015

While out snarfing with a friend, we happened upon the new memorial at the Freedmen's Cemetery. It's beautiful and the statue is haunting, but what's really cool is the list of names of those interred. A large number of them have a note next to it saying that a living descendent has been found. Just amazing. Later that same day we visited the Alexandra Archaeology Museum, where we learned that the Freedmen's Cemetery wasn't found all that long ago, when digging began for adding to the existing gas station and office building on the site. Needless to say, as soon as they found graves, all construction ceased. Now it's an open field with stones marking many of the plots.

We also stopped by the Fish Market for lunch, a longtime favorite of mine and a delightful new experience for my friend. If you like seafood and happen to be in Old Town Alexandria, it's worth checking out.

Weems, VA

Location: Weems, Virginia, USA
Date Visited: November 2014

I spent Veterans Day in the Northern Neck of Virginia. After some meandering, I ended up in Weems at Christ Church, one of the oldest original colonial churches in the state.

Built in 1735 by horrible people (sorry, but when you successfully petition the colonial government for permission to cut off your slaves' toes, you don't get any praise from me, regardless of your other accomplishments), Christ Church is a simple but very lovely little Anglican chapel. I was raised Catholic, so having the pulpit in the exact center of the church and pews in little cubicles, facing all directions, is foreign to me.

The docents were marvelous. I appreciate anyone who thinks of me as "young," but given that these women were easily twice my age, that's their prerogative. The one who gave me the tour of the church was especially funny. She mentioned that the Carsons - the folks who built the church - had their own special cubicle of pews directly across from the pulpit, within which the pews were two inches deeper than the rest of the church. The docent whispered to me, "We think the Carsons had big butts."

She also kept asking me where I was staying for the night, and didn't seem to understand that driving home that night wasn't a big deal. I was roughly two hours from home, and it was only midafternoon. But I guess when you're older that becomes a very long drive.

It was getting pretty gloomy and rainy by that point, so I drove out to Windmill Point, snapped a quick photo, then headed across the bridge on Route 3 (shown in the second page above). Oi, Virginia river bridges are terrifying. I don't generally have issues with heights, and this wasn't nearly as scary as the Bay Bridge, but the two-way, no-median traffic was a touch unnerving.

Colonial Beach, VA

Location: Colonial Beach, Virginia, USA
Date visited: November 2014

I spent Veterans Day exploring the Northern Neck of Virginia. My first real tourism stop of the day was the George Washington Birthplace National Monument. The houses were closed due to some kind of mechanical failure, rendering them unsafe, but I learned a lot at the visitor center and got to see the graves and the obelisk. I also stopped by the beach, where I picked up an oyster shell, one of the eleventy billion collected in the sand. Where I grew up, rivers don't have sandy beaches, so it's still novel. (Okay, where I grew up we didn't have any river, but I certainly spent more time by them than the ocean.)

Montross and Lancaster, VA

Location: Montross and Lancaster, Virginia, USA
Date Visited: November 2014

I spent Veterans Day exploring the Northern Neck of Virginia, the peninsula between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. I'd never been, which is apparently a strange reason for visiting somewhere, but that's what exploring is all about, right? The first page above is my entire route; the next couple days will be some pages dedicated to some specific stops.

The second stage comprises a few stops, including the Westmoreland County Historical Museum and Lancaster Tavern, where I stopped for lunch. The Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library was closed, but I wandered around the buildings outside a bit.

Wardensville and Lost River, WV

Location: Wardensville and Lost River, West Virginia, USA
Date Visited: June 2014

My car was done for, so I sold it to the nice people at Tim's Garage in Wardensville, on whose lot it had been sitting since they towed it from the spot where it died on the side of the road. Afterward, my friend and I explored the area a bit, including lunch at Star Mercantile, where I had homemade macaroni and cheese with Little Smokies. Delicious! Good thing it's in the middle of nowhere or I'd eat there all the time.

Moorefield, WV

Location: Moorefield, West Virginia, USA
Date Visited: June 2014

When my car overheated and refused to start up again, I found myself stranded in Moorefield for the night at the South Branch Inn. All the rooms were themed; mine was called The Ride the High Five Room, which is apparently a brochure of motorcycle routes through five nearby counties. The room itself was fine, if a bit overrun with ants, and the staff were quite friendly. Lucky for me, Wal-Mart was an easy walk down the road so I could pick up toiletries and other necessities for an unexpected overnight stay. Ordinarily I wouldn't devote a GST spread to a hotel, but it certainly counts as part of my adventures.

Romney, WV

Location: Romney, West Virginia, USA
Date Visited: June 2014

Fort Mill Ridge is a quiet, out-of-the-way park up in the mountains south of Romney. I enjoyed the short interpretive trail. I also appreciated how many of the pamphlets for this part of the world included pictures of historical markers, since that's pretty much the entire point of my visit in the first place.

Baltimore, MD

Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Date Visited: April 2014

In celebration of a friend's birthday, we wandered about Baltimore, including Mother Seton House, Baltimore Basilica, Phoenix Shot Tower, and the surprisingly thorough little Maryland Historical Society museum. A lovely day all around.

Shenandoah County, VA

Location: Strasburg, Mount Jackson, New Market, Edinburg, Toms Brook, and Woodstock, Virginia, USA
Date Visited: March 2014

I started my day at the Cedar Creek Battlefield Park and spent most of my day exploring this picturesque county. I was pleased to find some more Civil War trading cards, as I like to call them.