My travels in 2023 was a nice change from the previous three years. With Covid not as much of an issue, I resumed traveling on a more normal basis.
Chrysalis Vineyards is a very interesting winery. Owner Jenifer McCloud is known for her love of America’s native grape-Norton. I got a grand tour of the Norton vines, creamery, and tasting room.
January Trips
I attended the Future Harvest annual meeting at College Park,MD. Meeting many of the farmers in attendance was a highlight of the trip. Woody Woodruff of Red Wiggler Farm later invited me to tour this farm that helps adults with developmental disabilities find meaningful work.
The College Park Airport is the oldest continuously operated airport in the world. A visit to their museum is a must for aviation buffs.
While exploring the NoMa neighborhood in DC, I discovered a food hall named La Cosecha and this amazing restaurant Cocina Mexican Mezcalero. The wine bar next to the restaurant, Carta de Vinos, had a nice selection of natural wines.
Winter Travels
In February I drove to Westminster, MD to take a look at two litters of Maine Coon kittens. My wife and I decided we liked our existing Maine Coon so much, why not add another to the household?
These two Maine Coon kittens posed for a photo. Too cute!
Our dog Sophie loved Samson the first time she met him and Samson loves his dog.
Day Trip
In March, my wife and I headed to Frederick for a day trip and brunch. We ate at the Tasting Room on Market St and had a great meal.
This vegetarian platter at The Tasting Room in Frederick was delicious!
Frederick has dozens of good looking historic homes. I couldn’t resist photographing this green beauty.
Spring Trips
In April we went back to Oahu to hang out with my in-laws. This was our second trip to Oahu in two years and Costco travel had a good deal on the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach.
We loved the view from our room at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach hotel.
Oahu has a ton of gorgeous street art. I took photos of murals whenever possible. This was one of my favorites.
Another April trip was to stay at Brampton Inn a B&B near Chestertown, MD. Brampton showed up in my story about historic Inns for wanderwithwonder.com.
Brampton Inn still looks great after more than 150 years.
Boston, MA and NC
In late April my wife had a meeting in Boston so knowing there was good food and exploring to be had I tagged along.
I picked a fine day to wander Newbury St in Boston.
Each day I’d wander over to Eataly to see what food and wine delights were waiting to be tasted. This mushroom pasta dish was as good as it looks. I ended up writing a feature article about Eataly.
When My step-daughter moved to Wilmington, NC in 2022, I knew I had to visit. The beaches, historic downtown, and riverwalk were worth exploring. We all loved the historic old town tour by horse-drawn carriage.
Ah Summer!
We love Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts in Vienna, VA. We bought tickets to Taj Mahal June 1st and then Buddy Guy June 11th. Both shows were fabulous. After the Taj Mahal show we drove to Charlottesville and hit two wineries and walked the downtown pedestrian mall.
It was a perfect night for a full moon concert at Wolf Trap. Taj Mahal put on a great show playing his blues/folk style of music.
We had a delicious lunch paired with excellent wine at Barboursville made even better with Luca Paschina joining us for the meal and conversation. The Mid-Atlantic region has some very good wineries.
Charlottesville, VA has possibly the best pedestrian mall in America. Not only are there excellent restaurants and drinking establishments;the street performers put on a good show any given day.
We stopped in to check out Crush Pad, a wine bar and bottle shop on the mall. A worthy stop for wine lovers.
Family Time
Another memorable trip was a visit to Daphne, AL to celebrate my aunt’s 104th birthday. She’s still looking good for being over 100!
The birthday girl and her nephew.
Road Trip
The biggest trip of the summer was to Colorado. We flew to Denver and stayed two nights with my sister in southwest Denver. It was a great trip to our former home state and we loved the hiking, scenery, and time with family and friends.
Waterton Canyon provided our first good hike of the trip. We hiked to the two mile marker than headed back to Sis’ home.
We packed a picnic lunch and drove up to Evergreen. Lunch at Dedisse Park was perfect with good weather and hardly a soul in the park.
On our drive to Pagosa Springs I pulled over for this photo of South Park and the mountains near Breckenridge.
The Fourth Street Diner and Bakery in Saguache was a nice surprise. Good example of Old West main street eatery and fabulous pie!
The Fourth of July parade in Pagosa Springs was a hoot.
The San Juan River Walk is one of the best river walks in Colorado. Be sure and look for small hot springs along the trail.
Goodman’s Department Store is a great place to buy Western wear. Goodman’s opened in 1900 and is still going strong.
Onward to Aspen
On our trip to Aspen we loved taking Independence Pass. It was fun to see the tourists gawking at the July snow.
The John Denver Sanctuary is always on my must do list when visiting Aspen in the summer or fall. The Inn at Aspen shuttle driver took us into town to see the sights and have dinner.
Late Summer trips
I was quite active in August and September. Trips to Castle Rock, CO, Middleburg, and Gordonsville stick out as wonderful places to see.
The Red Fox Inn and Tavern is a fun place to visit in Middleburg, VA.
The massage studio at the Red Fox in is a cute historic building.
A trip to Castle Rock, Colorado to look at homes for our eventual move back west was fun and informative. I climbed Castle Rock for the first time and took in sweeping views of this Front Range town.
Castle Rock hike.
The view from Castle Rock was awesome.
The Inn at Willow Grove is a great place for a special event, long weekend stay, and dinner. Their spa was very good too! Check out my story about Orange, VA to see what there is to see, do, drink, and eat in the area.
We enjoyed our visit to Gordonsville, VA and had to try the fried chicken at the Ice House.
A North East Road Trip
Since moving to the Mid-Atlantic region in 2008 it didn’t take long to figure out Maine was not too far away for a road trip. In 2023 my wife and I invited my brother and his wife plus my sister for a September trip. It was a blast.
The Beach Pea Bakery in Kittery was the first and best bakery stop on our road trip to Maine.
Our trip coincided with the Friday farmers market in Damariscotta. I was impressed by the mushroom vendor’s goods.
We had the bad luck to be in Maine when Hurricane Lee hit. The storm wasn’t too severe but it did knock out power to our vacation rental for 36 hours. During a break in the rain we visited Pemiquid Point Lighthouse to see big storm waves hitting the rocky coast.
On our last full day in Maine, we caught the Boothbay to Mohegan Island ferry for a day trip.
Back to Japan
Covid kept Japan out of reach for over two years. It was great to go back in November for an 11 day visit. We visited Tokyo, Kanazawa, and Kusatsu on this family trip.
The maples caught the rare sunlight as we headed out of Kenrokuen Gardens. Not long afterwards the rain returned.
The Kusatsu yubatake is a hot springs field for harvesting bath salts. Of all the onsen I’ve visited, Kusatsu is my favorite. It was great to stay at Kane Midori hotel again and be within easy walking distance to the yubatake and center of town.
Last Shot
The sunset lit up the Haneda Airport as we waited to fly home. We hadn’t seen a sunset this grand during the preceding 10 days in Japan.
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