Seein’ the DMV: Celebrating the Holidays 2025
As I have mentioned in previous posts, this has been a difficult year for my family. I’ve kept my travels close enough to the DMV that I could get back fairly quickly if needed. With the passing of my eldest sister’s husband in October, I’ve intentionally stayed close to home. Sometimes, though, we are blessed through difficult moments. My sister asked me to sing for the memorial service. I’d stepped away from public performing, but I couldn’t refuse her. The blessing I received was both spiritual — rediscovering that I still have the gift to sing, but I have to change the way I do it — and practical — a limited return to public performance. I am even considering giving a concert in late Spring 2026. More about this if it actually gets past the wishful thinking stage. Holiday Concerts in the DMV Most of November and December was…
Seein’ the DMV: Three Shorts – August-September 2025
There’s a lot going on in my family, so I’ve stayed pretty close to home base lately. However, I did make three short excursions that I’m sharing here. Western Maryland Mountain View – August 28 2025 has been filled with astrological sights, or at least more have come to my attention. One of my efforts has been to find a dark sky site–one where the effects of ground lighting offer no/limited interference to viewing the night sky–within a two-hour drive of home (plus a quickie-trip would give me an excuse to test drive my new prescription shades). My latest effort was a drive to western Maryland, initially to Catoctin Mountain Park. I found numerous hiking trails and cabins for housing, even a swimming pool and various other event sites. I also passed a road with cautionary signage that might have led to Camp David, which I read was in close…
Seein’ the DMV: Air and Space Museum
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is the DMV’s most popular tourist site, so I waited until the summer ended to visit in the hope that the museum would be less crowded. Plus, October 28th was a Monday, which I hoped would further reduce the number of folks there. I ordered a free admision ticket online, which was still required to help control the flow of traffic inside Air and Space was under construction. Portions of the facilities were closed to the public. Still, what was available was very interesting, proving why the museum was so popular. I am a North Carolina native, so the display of the 1903 first flight by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright was of particular interest to me. The museum used graphic displays and real, full-sized airplanes, satellites, and spaceships to tell the history of flight. I’m going to let the pictures tell the…
Two Trips to the African American History Museum
I can’t believe that I chronicled neither my 2016 nor my 2019 visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)! ** Sigh ** Anyway, since I’m hoping to return to the museum during this month (August, 2024), I at least want to leave a blog post marking the earlier visits. December 26, 2016 I visited the NMAAHC for the first time just three months after it opened to the public in September 2016. (I have always been thankful that it opened before the change in presidential administrations because I believe that they would have done all they could to “kill it in the crib.” The wait list for tickets was months long, especially if a group wanted tickets. Still, the Joneses descended en masse to see our history gathered on one site at last. My nephew and godson volunteered to be my escort, which at that…
Seein’ the DMV: Touring the City
I was born and raised in North Carolina, spent a decade in the Florida panhandle, and just finished 18 winters in Iowa. Between those periods, however, I have lived in the District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia (known as the DMV to residents) area. And like most folks who live here, I tended to vacation somewhere else. So, I drive by the many sites housed in the region but I know next to nothing about them. I decided that I am going to address this. My plan is to make at least a monthly trip as a tourist visiting museums, galleries, and other sites. I decided to start with an extended tour of DC and decided on Old Town Trolley, selecting their Hop on Hop Off Washington DC and Monuments by Moonlight. I got off to a late start and didn’t allow myself enough time to transfer to their bus that goes to…