This past month we decided to return to one of our favorite destinations…Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. As in the past, we chose to go during the shoulder season, before Memorial Day and the beginning of the summer. The weather can be on the chilly side, however this year we hit it right. The temperatures were in the upper 70’s and lower 80’s and no rain. On the drive to the beach, we don’t normally stop until we get to our destination but this time we decided to make a stop for lunch enroute. We chose the new Libbey’s Coastal Kitchen & Cocktails that sits right on the Bay once you cross the bridge on Kent Island. For those of you who have made this trek over the years, Libbey’s is where popular Hemingway’s restaurant used to be. It is a good stop for a break as we are through with the hysteria of the interstate and will soon be on the back country roads of Delaware. The deck at Libbey’s is great for lunch and has a beautiful view of the bridge and the Chesapeake Bay. We could watch small aircraft being buffeted around by the wind as they came into land coming across the Bay. It was a nice respite from the hectic traffic. After beverages, a lobster roll and Cubano sandwich we got back on the road. Highly recommend a stop here. Going to the beach in the shoulder season’s only disadvantage is the uncertainty of the weather. As you just read, we hit the jackpot this past month. Beautiful weather, free parking, less crowded and pretty much the majority of the restaurants and stores are open. When I used to go to the Ocean City, fifty years ago, the towns were somewhat seasonal, but today they are all…
By Bob Tagert Over the years we have made many trips to Annapolis…by automobile and by boat. The sail into Annapolis is beautiful. Coming up the Chesapeake Bay, you make a port run into Spa Creek. On the starboard side is the capitol of Maryland, Annapolis. On the port side will be the town of Eastport and the Spa Creek Bridge connecting the two vibrant towns, and fittingly, the name of the street is Compromise Street. A bit farther “inland” and not in view from the water is West Street – a lessor visitor-frequented side of the town even though that is where the Visitors Center is located. East Side… The town of Eastport was established in 1868 and annexed into the town of Annapolis in 1951. Eastport continued to wallow under the shadow of Annapolis proper until the uprising on Independence Day, Sunday, January 25, 1998. Like any great movement, the concept for the Maritime Republic of Eastport began in a local pub over a couple mugs of beer. The prime mission was to find a creative way to promote and encourage the patronage of Eastport businesses that were destined to be hurt by a three-week closing of the Spa Creek drawbridge that connects the two towns while much needed maintenance took place. What started as a stunt to draw attention to the town of Eastport, became a labor of love as the community rallied around the town and fundraisers were started to benefit the residents. Today that spirit is still celebrated with the annual Tug of War across Spa Creek between Annapolis folks and the Eastportaricans. They even have their own flag emblazoned with a coat of arms flanked with “rampant retrievers” and the motto, “We Like It this Way!” Once in Eastport, Severn Avenue is one of…
By Bob Tagert This past month we decided to head back to the mountains for our Road Trip adventure. For a destination we chose the L’Auberge Provencale Inn and Restaurant which is about a half hour past Middleburg in White Post and a short drive off of Route 340. The distance was about 62 miles from Old Town Alexandria and took about an hour and a half. Once you get off of the belt way and the slot car track locally known as I-66, you can hit some back roads and enjoy the drive. Taking the exit to Route 50 west off of 66 we headed for White Post via Middleburg to the L’Auberge Provencale. We are pretty familiar since we have been distributing the Old Town Crier out that way pretty much since the beginning in 1988. I was already familiar with the area as I had grown up in Oxon Hill, Maryland and rode my motorcycle throughout the mountains each summer and fall. I wrecked the bike in 1968, so you can see, that was a long time ago. Traffic was not near what it is today and the mountains were a good escape. The Virginia Wine Industry was in its’ infancy. Today there are over 300 wineries with a rise in the number of breweries and distilleries, making the area a popular destination in the DMV. As lunch time was fast approaching, we stopped in Middleburg at the Red Horse Tavern for a quick beverage and sandwich. When we first started to distribution in the Blue Ridge “back in the day”, the Red Horse Tavern was called Magpies and, like Red Horse, was a fun place to frequent and get a good meal and drink at a good price! Getting a deal these days is a huge…
By Lani Gering The month of January was a rough one for us and we weren’t able to carve out time to go on an adventure in search of subject matter for this column. Hopefully we will be back on track this month and will have another fun destination to turn you on to in the March issue. In keeping with the President’s Day theme, we thought it might be a good time to suggest that you all take in the many memorials and the two monuments (Washington and Garfield) located in the DMV that honor some of our Presidents. Until I did the research for this, I had no idea that half of them existed. Mind you, I have lived in and around Old Town for 34 years and I used to work for the USDA in the south building located on the Mall at 14th and Independence Avenue and no doubt encountered some of the lesser knowns and didn’t realize it. I feel kinda bad actually. I don’t want you to feel the same way. I have compiled a listing – including the icons we all know and love – in no particular order of the ones that are a short drive or metro ride away. As an aside, if you find yourself without anything to do on Valentine’s Day or maybe make it a part of your “celebration”, the largest President’s Day parade in the USA takes place in the heart of Old Town on the 14th. See the calendar listing in this issue for details. Washington Monument Located at 2 15th Street NW, this 555-foot marble obelisk offers 360-degree views of the city. While the grounds are open 24 hours, the observation deck is open 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Entry is free, but a $1 service fee per ticket…
By Bob Tagert As most of our readers know that we go on and write about a Road Trip every month. Over the years, our trips have ranged from a day trip around the DMV to two weeks as far away as the island of St. John in the USVI to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. With each January issue we do a brief recap of last year’s trips just to remind you where we’ve been. Let’s get started. FEBRUARY – Shadow Mountain Escape, Luray, Virginia February took us back to one of our favorite destinations where “Love is in the Air” – the couples only Shadow Mountain Escape. Over the years that we have known Ralph and Karen Riddle, they and Shadow Mountain have become one of our favorite destinations. You will find SME about two miles on the Luray side of the Thornton Gap entrance to Skyline Drive on Jewell Hollow Road. The brainchild and lifelong dream of Karen and Ralph Riddle, the name SME comes from the name of the tracts (Shadow Mountain tracts) of land that were originally subdivided within Jewell Hollow. The Riddles added the term “Escape” to invoke a sense of the underlying purpose behind their effort. In an attempt to provide an environment conducive to happiness and fulfillment, they focused on exposing the beauty and spirit of the natural landscape and the remarkable life that flourishes there. There are four cabins located on the fifteen-acre property. In celebration of the abundant wildlife, all of the cabins were given indigenous “bug names”. The Bear Dance Lodge was the first rental built on the property and the two cabins were named Dragon Fly and Bumble Bee. The Butterfly loft was opened in 2003 and the final rental, the Ladybug, was completed in 2011. For added…
By Bob Tagert We have been writing Road Trip articles for at least 32 of the almost 38 years we’ve been in publication. They began as a story about a destination near Alexandria. Then we got into Day Tripping when I had my 1974 Fiat Spider which was perfect for a day’s excursion. As our publication grew, we expanded our focus and ventured farther out. Most of these involved an overnight stay near the destination and in fact, sometimes the destination was the place we stayed. A number of years ago we decided to write about our beautiful Old Town Alexandria in December as this is a time to stay home with family and friends…Welcome Home. It is also a good time for those who reside between the Bay and the Blue Ridge to plan a Road Trip to Old Town Alexandria. I will start with a brief history of what it was like when I arrived in 1977. Old Town was approximately six blocks long. It was King Street from the Potomac River to Washington Street. There were a few restaurants on the other side of Washington Street but only a few…the concentration was near the water in the old seaport town which was founded in 1749. Old Town, as we know it today, was in its infancy. The town’s daring merchants transformed a neglected area and gave it a heartbeat. When I arrived, there was live music in almost every restaurant, mostly local folks playing their own music while covering favorite songs for their dedicated customers. Parking was plentiful and pedestrian traffic was minimal…but what a good time! Over time and like the Old Town Crier, things have changed. The town is now one of the most vibrant waterfront cities on the east coast. Some of the places…
By Lani Gering Somehow the month of October got away from us and the weekend before this issue was to go to press, we still hadn’t been on an adventure to write about in this column. Time to scramble… We decided to head down Route 4 to a part of Maryland that has a special place in our hearts – Solomons Island. This small section of southern Maryland real estate has been dubbed as the “Happiest Seaside Town” by Coastal Living Magazine. That’s quite a compliment. This is also a great time of year to spend a couple of nights on Solomons. The tourist season has waned so no standing in line at restaurants and no crowded sidewalks. For those of you who have been following this column for very long, you know that we have written about this little town more than a couple of times over the years. You also know that Bob – the usual author of this column – has kept his sailboat at Calvert Marina, a couple of miles from the island for many years. Unfortunately, getting older – both the boat and us – has made our sailing days a thing of the past. She is no longer in the water and is looking for a new captain. It was a good run. Even though we aren’t spending most of our sailing season weekends down there anymore, we visit regularly, at least once a month, since it is on our “From the Bay” distribution route. Things are a bit different with our “floating” accommodations being housed on jack stands in the marina yard – we don’t often get a chance to spend the night anymore. Fortunately for us, we were able to secure a last-minute Saturday night at our good friend, and very talented…
By Bob Tagert Our Road Trip for October took us to one of the areas favorite destinations, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Once a popular summer beach destination, it has now become popular year-round. There is a lively and dynamic year-round population that keeps the town hopping all year long. While not as prolific as in the summer, there are events the like of the True Blue Jazz Fest from the 15th through the 19th and the Sea Witch Festival from the 24th through the 26th this month. Both, of which, draw a lot of people to this little town in the fall. Like a lot of you, I grew up in the DC area and made the beaches my go-to destination in the summer. In the early days, there was always a backup at the toll booths. On the Sunday we went last month, there was a three mile back up both ways at the bridge. However, with the use of cameras for toll flow at the toll plaza traffic does not come to a stop. If you don’t have E-Z Pass you are still good to go. Your plates will be photographed and you’ll get a bill in the mail. However, these days I am not so much in a hurry and my body isn’t the volleyball player in once was. Sort of like that Toby Keith song, As Good As I Once Was. We made it to Rehoboth totally unscathed and went straight to our hotel, the Avenue Inn. We stayed at the Avenue Inn and Spa. We stayed there on a whim last fall and found it to be a great place in the heart of town and only one block from the boardwalk and beach. After checking in and partaking of their nightly wine & cheese social,…
By Bob Tagert For our September adventure, we decided to head south to the mountains of Nelson County and spend a couple of nights at Love Ridge Mountain Lodging in the town of Love, Virginia. We also decided to make our drive down to Love Ridge a real adventure and pick up Skyline Drive at Thornton Gap near Sperryville and then continue to the end and pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway to mile post 16 right before Love Ridge Mountain Lodging. With a speed limit of 45 mph on these beautiful roads we knew it would be a long trip. We departed Old Town at 10:45 on Monday morning and made our way to Sperryville, Virginia. We arrived in Sperryville at 12:30 after driving 85 miles. We made a stop at the Corner Store for some traveling treats and Lani had to have her Bud Light Chelada and some beef jerky! Leaving Sperryville, we entered the Thorton River Gap at 12:45 after a total of 92.4 miles of travel. It was a pretty cloudy day and we encountered heavy clouds at the highest point of the drive. The normally beautiful scenic overlooks were all clouded over so we didn’t stop much enroute to our destination. At 3:00 and 167 miles we picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway. Having never driven the Blue Ridge Parkway, I was expecting something akin to Skyline Drive. I was wrong…this is more of a transient roadway rather than a tour of the country side. There were few over look stops and very little traffic. We arrived at our destination at 4:48 after a total of 228 miles. Our cabin was one of the very first we came to. A rustic, well appointed, one room cabin with back and side porch as well as a…
By Bob Tagert As we were experiencing a prolonged heat wave here on the East Coast, we decided to head to the cool Blue Ridge mountains and the extraordinary Luray Caverns, in Luray, Virginia. Discovered in 1878, Luray Caverns were a destination on their own but over the years, the Car & Carriage Caravan Museum, Toy Town Junction Museum, The Shenandoah Heritage Village including the Luray Valley Museum were added to the experience and admittance to all are included in the price of the ticket. The Garden Maze and Rope Adventure Park are the latest attractions and tickets for admittance to them is available individually. Car & Carriage Caravan Museum This is a collection of over 140 items related to transportation dating back to the covered wagon and includes 50 motorized vehicles beginning with simple wagons and coaches to the elaborate and luxurious automobiles of the 1940s. Meticulously restored to their original splendor, these “antiques on wheels” are all in running condition and beautifully displayed among period artifacts and costumes. Toy Town Junction No, it’s not a Hollywood back lot. It’s Toy Town Junction. It’s a place that brings out the kid in everyone. And it all began with one boy, a single train, and two amazing parents. In 1941, five-year-old Richard Worden received his first toy train. With the country just emerging from the Great Depression, his parents sacrificed to purchase the Marx Copper electric train from the Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog. Because that’s what parents do. My traveling partner was particularly fond of the Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls that are on display. There is a snack shop adjacent to Toy Town that is very family friendly. Shenandoah Heritage Village The Shenandoah Heritage Village is a seven-acre re-creation of a small 19th century farming community made up of…
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