AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those of you just catching up, I’m documenting my recent trip to the Florida Keys from three weeks ago, so if you’ve missed the first two installments, make sure to read “Part 1 – Islamorada” and “Part 2 – Key West” from the last two weeks! Not being the young, party bucks we used to be, it was slow going as we arose in the morning to leave Key West. I made one more run for Cuban…
AUTHOR’S NOTE: For those of you just catching up, I’m documenting my recent trip to the Florida Keys from two weeks ago, so if you’ve missed the first installment, make sure to read “Part 1 – Islamorada” from last week! Picking up where we left off last week, we finished up our Tarpon-feeding antics at Robbie’s in Islamorada and continued our travels southward over the Seven Mile Bridge, passing by “Fred” the tree (a rogue tree growing up out of…
I was out last week on a long awaited trip down to our country’s southeastern tip to spend some time in America’s tropical oasis, the Florida Keys. Going along with another couple, we left the turning autumn leaves and plummeting temps of Western Maryland for the sunny skies, warm temperatures (make that extremely hot and humid temperatures), and the warm waters of both the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. We started last Saturday out of BWI on a Southwest plane…
There’s nothing like a short summer getaway to recharge one’s batteries and to enjoy time with friends. My wife and I recently did both, taking in a long weekend in Philadelphia, PA, where there’s more to the city than just the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the ‘Rocky’ statue. We headed north on Friday from our home in MD, making the short three hour-plus trip up I-95, passing through northeastern Maryland and Delaware before arriving at our lodgings for the…
For someone who has lived in Western Maryland for most of his life, I had never been to the Deep Creek Lake area of Western Maryland – an oversight I happily corrected over the recent Easter weekend. Located in western-most Garrett County, it is Maryland’s largest fresh-water lake (fun fact – all the lakes in Maryland are man-made), covering over 3900 acres and consisting of over 65 miles of shoreline. As one can imagine, it has year-round outdoor opportunities –…
You may have noticed I didn’t publish a blog entry last week. That’s because I took the Labor Day weekend for a quick trip to the West Coast to spend some time with my brother, who lives in Los Angeles. It was a short visit, but boy did we pack it in. Day 1 After a cross-country flight, I touched down at the Hollywood-Burbank airport around noon local time, where I was picked up by my younger brother. His wife…
This past weekend, I had the chance to take a road trip with my oldest daughter as we took a look at potential college choices for next fall. On this trip, we traveled north to Rochester, NY – visiting the University of Rochester on Friday. It was a day filled with walking around campus, getting a feel for the area, and it was also a chance for my eldest to actually attend a class and get a sense of what…
I just got back from a wonderful beach week with my wife’s family in South Carolina. We ate well, laughed often, and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company for seven days. The only downside of the whole experience was getting there and back. Now in my younger days (as a single man), I used to enjoy a long road trip. It was a challenge to see how fast I could pound out the miles. I’d make each pit stop for gas,…
Autumn is such a glorious season. There is no better way to enjoy the beauty of nature’s annual colorful splendor than embarking on a long, leisurely drive to nowhere. The air is cool and crisp – sweeping vistas are filled with a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, and yellows, and the adventure of the open road beckons the curious traveler. What sights, sounds, and tastes wait around the next bend? Does it seem like a far-away fantasy? Western Maryland has what…