Maryland – Wish List – Part 2

During my last post, I shared the 1^st half of my top 10 wish list of places I still want to check out in Maryland (in no particular order).  Today’s post is part two.

6.  Bengies is a drive-in in northeast Baltimore that I’ve really wanted to go to.  It opened in 1956 and they have the biggest theatre screen in the USA!  They are open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and show two to three movies each of those nights.  Admission varies between $5 and $9 per person depending on the movies playing that weekend.  Drive-in movie theaters are almost gone and I’ve never been to one so I think it would be fun to visit.

 

7.  Lexington Market in Baltimore (just blocks from the Inner Harbor) is the world’s largest continuously running market (established in 1782).  The market houses over 100 merchants selling fresh produce, delicatessens/bakery items, fresh fish/poultry/other meats, candy, international cuisine, and general merchandise.  With that kind of history and that amount of vendors, I definitely want to check it out one day. 

8.  The “Top of the World” is located on the 27^th floor of the World Trade Center building at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore.  The World Trade Center is the world’s tallest pentagonal building and from the “Top of the World,” you’re able to get a 360-degree view of Baltimore’s skyline.  I see this building every time I go down to the Inner Harbor, however, for some reason I’ve never made it to the top.

9.  Also in Baltimore, there is the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum.  The B&O Railroad was America’s first commercial long-distance railroad and is so famous that it is one of the stops on the Monopoly game board.  Today, the museum is on 40-acres of land and is the oldest, most comprehensive American railroad collection in the world.  They have all shapes and sizes of artifacts displaying railroad history from 1830 to the present day.  The museum is located in the same neighborhood where back in 1829 they set about building the B&O Railroad. 

 

10.  Patterson Park is called the “Best Back Yard in Baltimore.”  This 155-acre city park in southeast Baltimore turned 100-years-old recently and offers visitors space for playing, festivals, dog walking, sledding, fishing, picnicking, and swimming.  There are basketball and tennis courts, ball fields, and a rec center.  But, most of all, I want to see the Victorian Pagoda and the 19-century Marble Fountain.

These are just the places I visited or would like to go and visit in Maryland.  If you know of anywhere else in Maryland we should check out, please leave a comment below.  Next, we’ll explore what’s just round the corner in Massachusetts.

* Pictures found online.

Maryland - Wish List - Part 1

In my last two posts, I’ve shared with you my favorite places to visit and some good things to know before you visit Maryland.  In today’s post, I’d like to share the 1^st half of my top 10 wish list of places I still want to check out (in no particular order).

1.  I haven’t explored western Maryland at all.  One way of seeing the far west would be to take the Historic National Road (Maryland Post #2) to Cumberland and take a ride on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.  They have various excursions that take you through the spectacular scenery of the Allegheny Mountains and provide you with information about the scenery, history, and culture along the trip.  The regular excursion even provides you with a 1 ½ hour layover in Historic Frostburg (the town turns 200 years old this year) for you to explore that town’s Main Street area before the return trip to Cumberland.

 

2.  While in western Maryland, I’d like to visit Oakland and the Swallow Falls State Park because I love waterfalls and these aren’t that far away from the Washington, DC metro area.  Within the Swallow Falls Park, there are four waterfalls, of which the Muddy Creek Falls at 53-foot tall is the tallest (great pictures that are copyrighted).  Aren’t they beautiful?

3.  Back in May, I had plans to visit one place on my wish list, Catoctin Mountain, while exploring three of the Maryland Covered Bridges (Maryland post #2).  However, I quickly discovered that the United States Presidential Retreat, Camp David, was located in the Catoctin Mountain Park and they had shut down the entire park because of an international summit being held at Camp David that weekend.  Thus, it remains on my wish list.  I had plans to drive along the Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway, which is a 38.5 mile road that takes you from the Virginia boarder to the Pennsylvania boarder through quaint little historic towns, and past museums, memorials, and even the Monocacy Battlefield (Maryland Post #2).

One state park I’d like to visit within the picturesque Catoctin Mountains is the Cunningham Falls State Park.  Within the park, you can swim, hunt, hike, fish, canoe, and camp.  But, I would be there to see the 78-foot Cunningham Falls (or McAfee Falls as some may call it), which is the largest cascading waterfall in the state. 

The park’s trails vary in distance and look very serene.  So, if you’re ever headed up to Catoctin Mountain, you might want to check ahead and see what the President of the United States is up to that weekend.  He might be planning a relaxing weekend in the mountains just like you!

4.  South Mountain is a 40-mile long state park along the South Mountain Ridge from the Pennsylvania line to the Potomac River.  The Maryland’s portion of the Appalachian Trail is situated along this ridge and it’s beautiful.  This area features several impressive scenic vistas, including: 

Annapolis Rock

High Rock



Washington Monument

 

 Weverton Cliffs 

 

5.  While Maryland has 28 lighthouses/light stations/lightships on the Chesapeake Bay, I have a few favorites that I’d like to visit more than others.

 

The Concord Point Lighthouse is at the entrance to the Susquehanna River in Havre de Grace and was in service from November 1827 until it’s decommissioning in 1975.  It is one of the oldest lighthouses in continuous operation on the East Coast.  It is open to the public on weekends from April to October.  I think it looks so well kept and pretty.  Plus, my grandmother spent a few years in Havre de Grace growing up so I’d like to see what the town is like.

 

Thomas Point Lighthouse is 1 ½ miles offshore in the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the South River.  The lighthouse was completed and commissioned in 1875 and was manned until 1986 when it was automated.  It is one of nine lighthouses in the country that are designated as a National Historic Landmark.  It seems to be a popular lighthouse and arguably the most recognized Maryland lighthouse amongst Marylanders; however, not many have been to it because of its location.  The Annapolis Maritime Museum’s Barge House offers just a few boat tours out to the lighthouse each summer.  These three-hour tours are said to involve “physical exertion” because you’ll need to climb up a steep ladder and through a small hatch on the lighthouse deck.  Also, there are no toilet facilities on the tour.  So, please be sure to get more information before planning this trip.

 

Blackistone Lighthouse is on St. Clement’s Island, which is the site of Maryland’s birthplace.  In 1634, 140 English settlers landed here to establish America’s fourth British colony.  The 40-acre island offers not only tours of the Blackistone Lighthouse, but also pier and docking facilities, a sandy beach, and picnic areas.  You can take a water taxi over to the island from the St. Clement’s Island Museum in Colton’s Point.

 

Today’s post is just half of my top 10 wish list of places I still want to check out in Maryland.  Come back soon for part 2.

* Pictures found online.

Colorado

I’ve been to Colorado a few times with friends and for work.  I visited Colorado Springs and Denver and really enjoyed my time there.

Welcome to Colorado sign on the Colorado/New Mexico border.

If you’re into hiking, camping, or skiing, Colorado is for you.  It’s perfect for the adventurous outdoor person.  However, I’m none of those and still had a great time in Colorado so if you’re like me – you’re still in luck.

I attempted to become an outdoor person.  A friend who lived there took me on a hike and despite being in okay shape at the time, I was winded and dizzy within a mile of walking.  An important thing I learned is ALTITUDE is EVERYTHING especially in Denver.  Those of us that live at sea level have a hard time adjusting to the mile high city.  Take it slow!

Denver

When I was there for work for a few days, I worked on 16^th street in downtown Denver - http://www.denver.org/what-to-do/shopping/detail?memid=2435&k=16th&wc=Shop.  I loved that the street was a pedestrian mall with a free bus shuttle that drove up and down the street stopping at various points along the mile long road.  There were a lot of restaurants to choose from for lunch.

I toured the Boulder area and the Celestial Seasonings Tea Company Headquarters - http://www.celestialseasonings.com/tours. 

Found Picture Online

It was AWESOME!  You can try various teas for free while waiting for your tour to begin.  During the tour, they’ll take you into the room where they keep all the peppermint – it will CLEAN YOUR SINUS!! WOW!  It was really neat seeing all the ingredients for my favorite tea being mixed.  After the tour, they gave us samples to take home and we could purchase any kind of tea or tea brewing tool in their gift shop.  While I was at the tea company, one of my friends checked out the Budweiser Brewery Tour - http://www.budweisertours.com/z01/index.php/fort-collins/overview.  He said it was really informative and of course he liked the free sample at the end.

If I was to go back to Denver, I’d really like to check out the Hammonds Candy Factory - http://www.hammondscandies.com/factory-tours-parties.  I’ve heard it’s a fun traditional hard candy factory, but recently I saw that it made it on the Travel Channel’s list of top 10 fun food factories.  Cool!

Picture From Their Website

I stopped by the state capitol, however, I’d also like to check out the state capitol tour to see inside - http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/cap/first.htm, and the US Mint there - http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/?action=startReservation.  Both are free tours and on many lists of top attractions in the Denver area.

Colorado Capital Building

I’d like to visit the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater - http://www.redrocksonline.com/ as well.  The amphitheater hosts concerts and plays through out the year.  It’s a pretty cool view too.

Picture Found Online

If I handled the altitude better, I’d like to check out the Mount Evans Scenic Byway that climbs up to 14,000 ft above sea level.  The pictures look breathtaking - http://byways.org/explore/byways/2112.  It’s the highest paved highway in North America!

Colorado Springs

I visited the Focus on the Family Headquarters - http://www.focusonthefamily.com/about_us/welcome-center.aspx.  Focus on the Family is a global Christian ministry dedicated to helping families thrive.  That being said, their headquarters is geared toward the family and has tons of activities for them for example, an ice cream shop.  They also have a great gift shop as well.

My friends and I took the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak- http://www.cograilway.com/.  Its 8.9 miles to the peak and a round trip lasts 3 hours and 10 minutes.  In that time, the train takes you from 6,000 ft to 14,000 ft above sea level.  It’s probably helpful if you sit facing the direction the train is going and just take it easy as the train gets higher.  This is especially true when you eventually reach the top.  Again, altitude is everything.  You can also drive up the mountain, but I wouldn't suggest it because of the altitude.

Friends and I at the Pike's Peak! Picture taken by fellow tourist.

The view from the peak.

Cars that drove up to the peak

Our train and the view from the peak.

 I visited the Garden of the Gods - http://www.gardenofgods.com/home/index.cfm.  It was amazing how these rock formations just jut out of the earth.  One of my friends was proposed to there a week prior to my visit and once I visited it, I totally understood why her husband had proposed there – so beautiful and majestic.  By the way, you can see Pike’s Peak from there.

Garden of the Gods from the Visitor Center.

Photo taken by a friend while I "held" part of the Garden of the Gods.

Lastly, I also went spelunking in the Cave of the Winds - http://caveofthewinds.com/.  It’s probably the most outdoorsy I’ve ever been.  I thought it was fun, neat, and informative, but I’d never do it again.  I don’t like caves, bugs, or darkness.  I believe we took the Lantern Tour, which is a 1.5 hour trek through the caverns.

These are just some of the many things to do in Colorado.  If you know of anywhere else in Colorado we should check out, please leave a comment below.  It’s amazing what you’ll find just round the corner.

Next week: Connecticut.

**Pictures taken by me if not other wise noted **

Alaska Cruise - Part II

Part II of the Alaska Cruise Tour was a land tour.

After landing in Seward, Alaska, you should take the shuttle into town.  It’s nothing special, but you can pick up a few remaining souvenirs.  Seward was mile 0 of the original 938 mile trip to Nome that later became the Iditarod Race.  After lunch back on the cruise ship, we boarded the bus to Anchorage.  The bus driver did stop a few times for us to stretch and take pictures. 

At this point, we noticed we were the youngest on the bus.  When they found out that we were in Alaska for my 30th birthday, they were pretty shocked at how old I was because they thought we were in college! YEAH! 

When you arrive, be sure to take a walk around town in Anchorage.  During our walk, we found a kiosk that was selling Reindeer dogs – dinner - yummy!  We also found a sign telling us how far we were from various towns around the world (3322 miles from home!). 

Because we were so far north, the sun never went down.  We had a dusk and a dawn, but never a dark.  During our land tour, there was 19 ½ hours of sunlight each day.  The hotel rooms had room darkening shades though so don’t worry about that.

The next morning, we were up and out early to get on the McKinley Explorer Rail for a train trip to Denali National Park.

The train car had glass all around so you had an amazing view of the beautiful scenery.

The best part of the train trip was seeing Mount McKinley which only 33% of the people that come to this area get to see!

The worst part of the train trip was the food service.  It was super slow and the food was fair.  They do have alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and some had Alaskan names like the one I had was called “Moose Kiss.”  Once we arrived at the McKinley Chalet, we walked around the resort area, got dinner, and saw yet another sign telling us how far we were from various towns around the world.

We started the next morning with the Natural History Tour of Denali.

Denali is HUGE so you won’t be able to conquer it in 1 day, but we got a nice taste of it and saw a few animals – a moose, a red fox, and some caribou. 

There are other tours that you can choose from that go further into Denali but they are much longer trips.  Many that went on those tours saw much more wildlife than we did.

At the end of the tour, we got to see the park’s sled dog camp.  Then, it was time to board the train again, this time bound for Fairbanks.  Once we got there, we toured the town.  It seemed almost deserted, but alas we saw yet another sign telling us how far we were from various towns around the world and within Alaska.

Our last day in Alaska started off with a cruise on a sternwheeler riverboat.  Four-time defending Iditarod champion, Lance Mackey, was waiting for our boat when we got back to the dock!  We got our picture with him, his sled, and 1 of his dogs. 

Then, we boarded the bus to the Gold Dredge No. 8 where we got a tour and panned for gold. 

Next, we got to pull over and touch a piece of the Alaskan pipeline. 

Then, we were off to North Pole, Alaska for some Christmas ornament shopping and to sit on Santa’s lap.

We arrived back at the hotel to say goodbye to our new friends before jumping on the airport shuttle for our 1 am flight home.  The end of an amazing trip!

You’ve got to go to Alaska!  After my first Alaska post this week, I actually heard from one of our friends that we met on the cruise, Chris from Belgium.  He's a facebook friend and he's been reading this blog.  He's a great photographer and offered some of his pictures for this blog.  Thanks Chris.  Here are just a few of the pics I I wanted to share.

Photo taken by Chris

The glacier was falling into the bay while we were there.  Photo by Chris.

He actually saw whales up close and a lot of them.  We didn't see them this well.  Photo by Chris.

The Statendam - Our Cruise Ship.  Photo by Chris.

If you know of anywhere else in Alaska we should check out, please leave a comment below.  See you next week when we explore what’s just round the corner in Arizona.

**Photos by Lori or me unless otherwise noted.

Alaska Cruise - Part 1

Alaska shouldn’t be the last state you visit.  It’s magnificent and beautiful!  But, to see it in all it’s beauty, you have to get on the water.  My friend, Lori, and I chose a Holland America Cruise Tour that took off from Vancouver, Canada (that’ll have to be another post).  The cruise was full of funny towel animals, dancing, changing elevator carpets showing us what day it was, and socializing with our new friends of all ages from Texas, Oklahoma, New Zealand, Belgium and Singapore.

There's me with the Sunday carpet in the elevator

As we cruised up the Inside Passage, our 1^st stop was Ketchikan (Salmon Capital of the World).  We visited the Saxman Village Totem Pole Park (I wouldn’t suggest it), the Libby Salmon Cannery tour (very interesting), a wildlife cruise on George Inlet where we saw a bald eagle (lots of fun), and ended on Creek Street (a nice shopping area that used to be their red light district).

The Salmon Cannery

Our next port was Juneau – state capital - on my 30^th birthday!  Stop by the public library for free internet – it’s expensive on the ship.  We visited the Mendenhall Glacier (pretty cool – be sure to walk up to the glacier – my only regret on this trip), a whale watching cruise on Auke Bay with a salmon lunch at Orca Point Lodge (a lot of fun! totally recommend), and the state capital building.

Mendenhall Glacier

Two Bald Eagles we saw on the Whale Watch

Skagway was port number three.  They have a Radio Shack downtown if you need any electronics/batteries.  It’s much cheaper there than on the ship.  A van took us to Carcross, Canada in the Yukon Territory. 

Me in the Yukon

No one else was in the van so the driver would let us jump out whenever we wanted a picture and he became our personal photographer.  This was a perfect reason why it’s good to check out other tour companies – not just the cruise ship’s excursions that might fill up.  We even got to stop and take a picture of the Welcome to Alaska sign.  In the Yukon, we visited the Emerald Lake, Caribou Crossing Restaurant, and got a dog “sled” ride (our rugged golf cart was pulled by the dogs).  Playing with the Husky puppies was so fun!  On the van ride from the dog sled ride, we saw a bear!  This was one time we did NOT jump out and take a picture.  Then, it was time for the trip home on a train!  The White Pass and Yukon Railroad is a must do– so beautiful!

Welcome to Alaska!

scenary along our ride

My puppy

The Bear!

White Pass Train Ride



The next day, we spent the day floating in Glacier Bay!! Amazing! 





Then, we pulled into Seward and it was time to say good bye to our new friends and our home away from home. 

At every port we discovered that it’s a good idea to allow time to venture around town.  Don’t stay on an excursion from landing to pulling out.  The spa on the ship did have ½ price deals on the days when we were in port, however, don’t spend your whole time on the ship either – get out and see Alaska.

We found that many of the ports had the same souvenirs so if you’re not sure if you want it, no problem, it’ll be at the next port.  There are a lot of jewelry stores at each port – don’t get sucked in.

This is only half the story!  Part of the Cruise/Land Tour was a week on land.  I’ll save that for the next post so stay tuned.

**All photos taken by Lori and myself on our trip**