Like much of the world, we’ve been under (very wishy-washy) shelter-in-place orders here in Virginia. I haven’t socialized with anyone outside my household, gone to a grocery store, restaurant, or to my office, in over a month. It’s the one… Read More ›
Over the course of the last decade or so, I’ve suffered from dozens of temporary obsessions: Yoga: love the idea, hate the practice. Marie Kondo: My space is still a mess, but at least I’m only buying stuff that brings… Read More ›
I’m having nomadic withdrawals right now and fantasizing about a life on the road; since I can’t actually go anywhere at this particular moment, I thought it would be a good time to relive my Rocky Mountain 2015 summer vacation… Read More ›
I wanted to start the New Year off on the right foot, surrounded by beautiful scenery, so I told my boyfriend we should try winter camping. Also, I tend to go into somewhat of a depression in winter, so I’m… Read More ›
When I was in Montana a few months ago, I felt like I’d arrived in a land where you could theoretically do whatever you felt like doing, few questions asked. It’s an immense, mountainous place where the largest “city” has just over 100,000… Read More ›
This past Saturday I went to Sperryville with my family, a tiny town (population 342) just outside Shenandoah National Park. I like this town because it doesn’t let its small size get in the way of fancy-sounding attractions. This is… Read More ›
I’m going on vacation to Colorado, Wyoming and Montana this summer, which means I’ll be doing a lot of hiking and camping because this is an outdoorsy-type vacation. I’ve been walking a lot to prepare for this trip, but it turns out that… Read More ›
I’m what you might call a fixator. I get into things and I become kind of obsessed with them for a little while, then move on to something else. For example, I get interested in a particular city, region, hobby,… Read More ›
One of the best things about living in Virginia is great fall foliage. This past weekend I convinced my brother to join me for a short fall tour of central Virginia and we headed southwest to the great town of… Read More ›
This past weekend I had one of the best small-town/weekend trips that I’ve had in a while. My friend and I decided to go “camping” (air-conditioned cabin located within a campground) about an hour and a half west of D.C… Read More ›
Two of my favorite things in life are road trips and small towns. This past weekend a friend came down to visit from upstate New York and we decided to head over to West Virginia— Harpers Ferry, to be exact –… Read More ›
On Sunday morning I went out for a 25-mile bike ride and ran into this little shop in the Belle Haven neighborhood of Alexandria, right across from a fancy, fru-fru-la-la-la country club. I initially assumed the place had closed down years ago,… Read More ›
Today was a beautiful 65-degree day and I felt like going on a nice walk after work. So I drove over to Huntley Meadows, the largest park in the Fairfax County Park System at nearly 1,500 acres. Most of the… Read More ›
On Wednesday after work I decided to go back to the Belle Haven Marina and Dyke Marsh for a nice sunset walk. It was a very different place than it was on Saturday morning; still a nice enough place but I’ve… Read More ›
Almost exactly one year ago, my sister and I biked the northern section of the Mount Vernon Trail. It was nice. We started on Theodore Island in Arlington, got a great skyline view of the Washington Monuments, saw planes flying just… Read More ›
As I mentioned in my last post, I find the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail to be a very romantic, character-building notion. I’m intrigued. In an ideal world of puffy white clouds, rainbows and butterflies (and a world in… Read More ›
Today I went on my first real urban bike ride in D.C. I’ve biked on designated biking/jogging trails in the past, but I’ve always been terrified of biking alongside cars. But today my dad and I decided to brave the streets… Read More ›
I recently wrote lovingly about Bluemont Park, but Arlington County manages a number of other perfectly lovely, well-designed parks. Today I’ll focus on Bon Air Park and Glencaryln Park, both adjacent to Bluemont. Both are located off the WO&D Trail and Four Mile Run Trail, Bon… Read More ›
Today I met up with some friends to do section B of the Billy Goat Trail. We caught the trail across the road from Old Angler’s Inn in Potomac Maryland and parked along the street. There are no parking signs along the… Read More ›
I love Great Falls. The landscape is dramatic by Northern Virginia/Maryland/DC standards (where most hiking within 20 miles of D.C tends to consist of dirt trails) and the C&O Canal is a good place for a flat bike ride as… Read More ›
