Lovely Urban Oasis at the US National Arboretum

Dogwood Alley. I’m always excited to discover an urban oasis — a place to retreat far from the madding crowd! In fact, I spent this past Sunday morning exploring just such an oasis: the U.S. National Arboretum. The National Arboretum is a garden, a park, and a research institution, part of the USDA. Its 446 […]

Eagles at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to visit. Recently I unintentionally visited while exploring the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, retracing some of the important places to the African American community in the 1800s in Dorchester and a few of the stops along the Underground Railroad. The driving tour led […]

American Moses: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

Born in Maryland in 1820, Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 to become a leading abolitionist. She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom along the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she helped the Union Army, working as a spy, among other roles. After the Civil War ended, Harriet dedicated her life to helping […]

Exploring Kent Island’s Cross Island Trail

Just over the Bay Bridge in Maryland, the Cross Island Trail is a rail trail in Queen Anne’s County occupying a section of the abandoned Queen Anne’s Railroad corridor that travels the width of Kent Island. The trail begins in Terrapin Park, near the foot of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and brings you through both Terrapin Park […]

C&O Canal: Paw Paw Tunnel to Lock 56

Our destination on this lovely, late summer Sunday morning was 20 miles of the C&O Canal between the Paw Paw Tunnel (mile marker 156.2) and Lock 56 (mile marker 136.2), which is the terminus of the Western Maryland Rail Trail, which we’ve biked several times. The Paw Paw Tunnel cuts 5 miles length off of […]