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 ›

Small Towns
Rural Virginia, River Fishing and Waterfalls
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 ›
Whisky, Kitsch and Mountains
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 ›
Sperryville
I’m going out west on a two-week hiking/biking/kayaking/exploring vacation this summer and I’ve decided that it would be a good idea to at least try to get in shape BEFORE my trip. That way, I can actually enjoy my hikes… Read More ›
A Weekend Among Leaves, in Pictures
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 ›
West Virginia
When you live in a place like the D.C area, you sometimes forget that the vast majority of the country feels very different. In some ways, D.C is a bubble: Relatively wealthy, highly educated, opportunities for most (arguably), culture, sophistication,… Read More ›
Buck Mountain Road and Proper Wine Glass Holding Etiquette
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 Rivers, the Dirty Dawg Saloon and Civil War Ghosts
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 ›
El Asador y La Iglesia Fuente de Vida
I was in the Spotsylvania/Fredericksburg area with a friend last weekend and I spotted this slightly downtrodden, solitary strip mall on the outskirts of town on my way home. It was a cloudy, drizzly late winter afternoon – the kind… Read More ›
Memories of War and Peace from a 1987 Cadillac Deville
This past weekend I went camping with a friend outside Fredericksburg. Actually, camping might be the wrong word…we stayed in a cabin with heat and electricity at a campground and for the outdoorsy part of our trip we watched part of… Read More ›