There’s a new museum in town. Planet Word and it’s all about… you guessed it. The written word. You might be wondering what a new museum has to do with cocktails and cupcakes. Read more, as they say.

Founded in 1772, Ellicott City is one of Maryland’s many historic towns found along the scenic back roads. Located just about an hour’s drive north of Washington, DC and maybe half an hour west of Baltimore, it makes an ideal day trip from either city.

Georgetown, a trendy neighborhood in Washington, DC, holds a special place in our hearts. For four years it was a focal point in our family, as our son attended Georgetown University. His four years at the university gave us the perfect opportunity to get to know Washington, DC. Little did we know that eight years later we would relocate to the east coast where Washington, DC and Georgetown would become our nearby playgrounds.

With that being said, let’s spend a day exploring Georgetown, shall we?

Virginia -vs- Maryland. I don’t really know how often one can stand on either side of a river and be in a different state, but that’s the story of Great Falls National Park and the Potomac River.

It was a day to go outside. The C&O Canal in the Carderock Recreation Area was the destination. Turns out, we also discovered the Billy Goat Trail along the Potomac River. As much as I love winter and long for a beautiful peaceful snowfall, we embraced the warm December day and headed out on the backroads of Maryland.

Travel shaming, is it a thing? Is it a natural emotion born out of … out of what? Envy, economics, frustrations, illness, sadness, manipulations, where did it come from?

Located in north eastern Washington, DC, Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens gives the Washington, DC annual cherry blossoms a run for their money. So-to-speak. While the gardens are not as well-known, they are certainly beautiful in their own right.

We unintentionally picked one of the hottest days in early July to further explore Maryland’s back roads. Our destination for the day, Historic White’s Ferry in Dickerson, Maryland. The temperature was right around 92 degrees. I don’t know what the actual humidity level was but I’d stand by guesstimating off-the-charts. Summer, in the Washington, DC region feels swampy and mosquitoes reign supreme. The surrounding countryside in Maryland and Virginia is beautiful, but it’s hot and sticky too.

Our name says it all, One Road at a Time. It’s always been our travel mantra and lately we’ve been finding ourselves wanting to get back on the road. But in this time of Covid-19, is it safe to travel? No way we’d board a flight, but are daycations, road trips, Airbnb stays, glamping, camping and RV travel the best way to travel for the foreseeable future? We decided to take a test run daycation to Middleburg, VA to see if we could make it work; to hit the road safely.

The New Normal. Is this even a thing? Can we have an actual new normal? It would seem, from this writer’s perspective, that we have no choice. I don’t believe for one minute life will return to what we knew as normal. I’m not even sure that would be a good thing. People didn’t pay attention, life was taken for granted. Sadly, there are still millions who are not paying attention to the science. I do hope though, that more people than not are actually waking up to the reality of the new normal.