• Maryland - National Parks

    Monocacy and More

    July 14, 2024 - By 

    After a little time back at our hotel to recover from our Appalachian Trail adventures, we took a short drive to the Monocacy National Battlefield. When we had first been creating our itinerary for this trip and I mentioned this battlefield to my history nerd husband, he was perplexed. He had never heard of this battle, and was surprised that there was one this far north so late in the Civil War. While this battle may not get the fame and attention of others such as Gettysburg and Antietam, it is actually known as “The Battle that Saved Washington, DC.”…

  • National Parks - West Virginia

    The Appalachian Trail and Harpers Ferry National Historic Park

    July 11, 2024 - By 

    On Monday we got up and on the road early, because we needed to complete a particular mission before the heat of the day descended upon us. That mission: to cross off the longest-standing item on my personal bucket list – hike the Appalachian Trail. Now let’s not get too excited yet. The hike was a modest one at best. A total of two miles, half of it on the A.T., and the other along the Shenandoah River. But if you know me, then you know. You know I’m old and fat and out of shape. You know that I…

  • Maryland - Other Travels

    Covered Bridges & Sweet Treats

    July 9, 2024 - By 

    After leaving Antietam we went back to our hotel to recover from the heat for a little bit, and then decided to head back out and do some exploring around the area that didn’t involve National Park sites. I had been wandering around Google for things to do in the Frederick, MD area and discovered there was a little covered bridges driving tour. I love a covered bridge, so we plugged the first one into Maps and were off. First up on the tour was the Utica Mills Covered Bridge. It was originally constructed in 1843, but was reconstructed and…

  • Maryland - National Parks

    Antietam National Battlefield

    July 8, 2024 - By 

    After leaving Gettysburg, we hopped over to Antietam National Battlefield. It was our first time visiting, and we found it to be much more our speed; smaller, quieter, less people-y. We started at the newly-renovated Visitor Center. It’s small but has a nice little store and the usual friendly staff. We got there in time to be a part of an interesting talk with Ranger Olivia not about the battle itself, but about perceptions and interpretations of this bloodiest day. We learned that the six upside-down cannons around the battlefield indicate where a general was killed or mortally wounded, and…

  • National Parks - Pennsylvania

    Gettysburg National Military Park

    July 7, 2024 - By 

    It was another beautiful yet brutally hot day for the second day of our trip. We got up bright and early and made our way to Gettysburg National Military Park. Now I’m going to be honest, we didn’t spend a lot of time here because we’ve been here a couple of times before and didn’t feel the need to explore the exhibits again. It was a quick pop into the park store for souvenirs, some stamps in our passport, and then part of the driving tour. So this post will mostly just be a photo dump. Of course we had…

  • National Parks - Pennsylvania

    Steamtown National Historic Site

    July 6, 2024 - By 

    Today was the first day of our NY-PA-MD-WV whirlwind tour of ten-ish National Parks units. We left home and hit the road first thing this morning, and we made sure Buddy the Bison was actually in the car this time (we forgot him on our trip to Seneca Falls a couple of weeks ago). Yes, you can expect a pre-trip selfie of us on all of our trips. It’s just something we’ve always done. I guess Buddy gets to join the selfies from now on. We made it to Steamtown National Historic Site in pretty good time. It was a…

  • National Parks - New York

    Harriet Tubman National Historical Park

    July 3, 2024 - By 

    I’m such a bad blogger. Here we are, almost two weeks later, and I’m finally getting around to posting about the second half of our Day of Badass Women.🤦‍♀️ After leaving the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, we had a quick picnic lunch on the shores of Cayuga Lake, watched people fishing, and saw some cute dogs. And then we were off to Auburn, NY to check out the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park. This site encompasses two buildings situated next to each other. The Thompson Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church and its parsonage underwent recent renovations, and had actually had…

  • National Parks - New York

    Women’s Rights National Historical Park

    June 24, 2024 - By 

    Saturday’s adventures were all about incredible women. We started our day with a short drive to Seneca Falls, and visited the Women’s Rights National Historical Park. Seneca Falls is one of those places that I’ve always thought about checking out, because it also has the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the It’s a Wonderful Life Museum, and of course the George Bailey bridge… (Spoiler alert: George Bailey totally could have survived a jump from this bridge. Sorry, Clarence.) And I’m kicking myself a bit for not visiting sooner, because Seneca Falls is an adorable little town, and it’s only a…

  • New York - NYS Parks

    Chimney Bluffs State Park

    June 19, 2024 - By 

    Sunday was another beautiful day here in Central New York. Again it was bright and sunny, but not overly hot or humid. As it was Father’s Day, we let Vance decide what the day’s adventure would be. He chose a hike at Chimney Bluffs State Park in Wolcott, NY. Boy #2 had the day off from work, so the three of us hit the road and headed west down Rt 104. We started with the Bluff Trail, and it had changed a lot since the last time we were there, back when the boys were small. Record high water levels…

  • New York - NYS Parks

    Chittenango Falls State Park

    June 18, 2024 - By 

    After our visit to Fort Stanwix on Saturday, we decided to check out Chittenango Falls State Park, which one would assume is in Chittenango, but is apparently in Cazenovia. And I have no idea whose crazy idea it was to visit this place. That’s not true. It was 100% my idea, and as a result I am no longer given clearance to make these kinds of decisions. Don’t get me wrong, the falls are lovely. Standing 167 feet high, it’s pretty impressive. But let’s do the math on going to see something that’s 167 feet high. In order to get…