Maryland: Washington Monument State Park

What a weekend to get out and enjoy the weather. We finally had a good day to get out and see the trees bloom and smell the flowers. I decided to take my family over to Washington Monument State Park. It was only 1/2 hour away and was a nice drive in the mountains. I took my camera for some nature shots and my son took the family camera to take pictures too.

This is a historical site that showcases the first erected monument to George Washington (1st President of the United States). HA - so much for that obelisk in Washington D.C., it may be MUCH bigger, but not the first. Here are some shots we took as well as some of the plates that tell about it.

What was really cool, was you could climb to the top and see the entire country side. What a spectacular view we had. I tried to do a 360 degree view for everyone and place them all together. It is not the best as I did not really work with the tones and stuff, but you get a wide view of what we saw.


Here is that shot as well as others from that vantage point. It was interesting to see all the rock chips from what I can assume were the rock quarry for the monument. My son really loved looking out as seeing the birds fly around.

Both me and my son had fun taking pictures of the butterflies, plants, vultures and a near dead Black Snake. I never expected to see so many butterflies this soon into Spring. My wife also took pictures of me getting a rock souvenir for my son. Some people even went to the edge and stacked some of the rocks which were a bit much for me to try. My wife is looking out at the far mountains - it really looks like she is on the edge, but she wasn't.

Here are some of those lovely pictures of the nature we encountered (minus the snake).

We did bring back something that none of us wanted however - a tick. I felt something crawling around my ear hours after we left while watching TV. When I pulled it off, I found it was a little tick - ewwww. Needles to say, it looks like when I go out picture taking in the fields, I need to spray myself beforehand with bug repellent.

Snow Everywhere in Western Maryland

I had a lovely scene yesterday and today with the new fallen snow.

I had to get up this morning to go to work and get my car from under the snow. Due to a major accident on the Interstate, I had to take the long drive to work.I was surprised as the alternate route was fairly clear and easy sailing.

Here are some shots for your enjoyment that I took while driving in. Not the best, but had to keep one eye on the road and one on the camera. I apologize as my phones camera is not the best to take pics with.


I have to say it was a nice ride up and down the mountains looking at the pretty trees. Maryland does have some nice areas.

I almost got a picture of an idiot in a blue pickup truck (can you say Redneck - yeehawwww). He was driving with a pile of snow on his hood and only a corner of his side window was unblocked. I have no idea how he could drive like that.

Anyone get some of the White Stuff in your area?

Happy Halloween

Been off the Grid for the last couple of days. Taking it easy and spending quality time with the family.

I have been wanting to get some photos posted of the Maryland Renaissance Festival we went to last weekend. We had a fun playing games, riding elephants and looking in all the shoppes. To celebrate today, I have posted all the people who were in period costumes as well as some of the performers. I will however start off with a picture on me kind of in cosplay - well - actually halk of me was for today.


Now for the serious people who actually took the time to have fun and do it right. I was amazed by the variety and age range of them. Some were shoppe keepers, actual actors and then just people having a good time.

Of course, I had to add the wonderful breasts of plenty that we all love to see at the RenFaire - thank you honey for letting he take this shot of your bosom.

Maryland Life: Wineries

I wanted to add some local flare to the blog. I have seen others blog about trips, food and stuff in their regional of the World. Many of you may not know this, but Maryland has a great number of winery's to go to. In fact next weekend, we are all going to the 27th Maryland Wine Festival. There are about 40 winery's in Maryland and offer a diverse selection of wines.I mostly like the sweet dessert wines and my wife likes the reds and fruity wines.

When we went down for my niece's second birthday party, I decide to take a side trip to Boordy Vineyards. It is a bit back in the woods and was a nice drive through the country. I was surprised by the addition of a wine tasting building, but it was a blast. Well except for my son who was "bored".

He had his DSi to play with while we did the tasting. For $5.00/person, you got a glass and were able to taste 6 wines each. Not a full glass mine you, but still enough that we were able to taste twelve between the two of us. We had to leave, but I wanted to take a wine tour that was starting in 20 minutes. Oh well, maybe next time.

Here are shots of the buildings, decor inside and outside of the winery.

Lets take a look at the inside of the main building and see the large selection of wine they offer.

Now for the real players in all this, the grape vines - yummy, but no touch!