C&O Canal Tours and Gathland Park

Turns out the old Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (also known as "The Old Ditch" runs right through Maryland, and there are spots to hike, bike, and enjoy nature and history all up and down it.  The canal operated from 1831 to 1924 between D.C. and Cumberland, MD, mostly transporting coal from the Alleghenies.  The canal has a series of locks, which I thought would make for a cool bucket list, until I found out there's like 75+.  So I guess I'll just visit the ones that look the most interesting...

This bit, near Williamsport, has been my favorite so far.  A beautiful stretch of quiet woodlands boarding the Potomac River.

And here at Miller's Footbridge in Clear Spring, MD, I discovered the terrifying nightmare that is the American Eel...

I try to love all of God's creatures.  But I'm pretty sure this thing came up on me while I dangled my feet in the water, I'd have a heart attack.

It was a beautiful spot though, despite the eel propoganda.

Danny and I also took a quick evening walk around a park called Gathland, a war memorial dedicated to honoring the press correspondents of the American Civil War.  

Built on the former estate of a war correspondent George Alfred Townsend, who wrote under the penname "Gath."

The museum was closed, but we still enjoyed walking around the ruins and seeing the stone walls and arches.  

And we always enjoy making up background info on characters in old photographs :)

A Trip to St. Clements

Ages ago (aka a couple of months ago), Danny and I did an overnight to St. Mary's County, specifically to see St. Clements Island.  We stopped a cool museum along the way, which had replicas of an old Schoolhouse, an old General Store, etc.  

 

And was just a pretty place to walk around and stretch our legs.  

 

We got to the St. Clements Island Museum in the late afternoon, and toured that.  

Unfortunately, it was terrible planning on my part because you need to ride a ferry to get to the island, and we'd just missed the last boat.  Danny was in a particularly crabby mood, so I made sure to point out this sign to him...

And because I was DETERMINED we were going to see something majestic we continued to drive to different points on the coast, including Piney Point, which was our favorite and had a beautiful beach.

  

Also this was the crime scene where Danny accidentally horribly maimed a small jellyfish.  But we won't talk about such things.

I'd love to do the trip again (with better timing next time), and check out a couple other places nearby that we just didn't have time for on this trip, like Historic Sotterley Plantation...

2021 Reading Adventures

Hello!  This post is for all you fellow nerds out there, maybe looking for something new and wonderful to read.  I've been REALLY focused on my reading this year, and so far I've read 25 books!  I started out in Memoirs like:

Which couldn't have been more different, but were all wonderful.  And then I read the Inn Boonsboro series (b/c job), and a few others...

  

   

  

And then I got on a kick of "Books I Wish I'd Read When I Was Younger."  Including:

  

I also discovered Lauren Wolk, who writes beautiful YA fiction that I highly reccommend:

I finally read Bridge to Terabithia, knowing full well it would be incredibly sad, but beautiful.

And one book in particular that was strange and unexpected, but beautifully captures the wonder, fear, and responsibilities of growing up:

I also FINALLY finished the Anne of Green Gables series and then blazed through The Hunger Games series, including the newest book, which is a prequel that occurs 65 years earlier.

Her books in particular are excellently paced and definitely suspenseful page-turners.  But they contain pretty violent content, so I'd keep that in mind if you're considering them for the young people in your life...

What books are you guys reading?  What books have you read in the past that you DID NOT want to put down?