Anyone who has ever played poker knows that the Straight Flush is the highest possible hand because it is the most rare: five cards in rank order (a straight) of all the same suit (a flush). And the highest possible straight flush is called a Royal Flush: a Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace […]
For Trailwalker’s birthday, I planned a surprise weekend getaway to the New Jersey shore. I went online and made reservations at a bed and breakfast in Cape May, but I didn’t tell Trailwalker where we were going. We stopped for gas and snacks, and Trailwalker picked up a copy of Southern Living magazine to read […]
We spent a fun and relaxing vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. For the first few days we stayed in Gatlinburg at the Glenstone Lodge. Gatlinburg is situated on the edge of the National Park, squeezed in a tiny valley, and has been a tourist destination for many years. It was […]
No, not that kind of an eagle. I competed in a fund-raising golf tournament at The Club at Patriots Glen in Elkton, Maryland. My team didn’t finish among the winners, but I thoroughly enjoyed the day. In fact, I made perhaps my best golf shot ever. There was no official recognition, […]
We spent the Fourth of July weekend camping at a family resort in Virginia. The weather was perfect for relaxing by the pool with temps in the 80’s, just a few high clouds, and low humidity. We enjoyed the usual activities: swimming, walking, reading, outdoor cooking, and listening to the […]
On a blustery January weekend, we packed our bags and headed west from Baltimore on I-70. We passed Frederick, passed Hagerstown, and just kept driving, with only a vague notion of a destination somewhere in western Maryland. On the far side of Hancock, we turned onto I-68 and approached the man-made mountain pass called Sideling […]
Two weeks before Christmas we drove to Cumberland, Maryland, to visit the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. We left on Saturday morning. We made arrangements for a lodge room in West Virginia, less than an hour’s drive from Cumberland. The hills and mountains were covered with just a dusting of snow, which was more […]
We spent part of our vacation at Cacapon Resort State Park in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle. We had discovered Cacapon Mountain and the park on a previous trip through the area. After driving around the park and seeing the lake, lodge, and golf course, we decided to make it a vacation […]
After checking into a nearby motel, we arrived in Cooperstown in early afternoon. We parked the car on the outskirts of town at one of the trolley lots. A few minutes later the Deerslayer trolley pulled up and took us downtown. Cooperstown is a small mountain village with one traffic light, but it has […]
On a beautiful fall Tuesday, we jumped in the car and headed to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, the town played a major role in the history of the canal and railroad industries of the 19th century. During the Civil War years, the arsenal and the […]