A Day at the MET(s)–New York City (Again)
After a quiet Christmas holiday, the family turmoil began slowly to settle. I read that mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves-Montgomery was giving her final Metropolitan Opera performance in Porgy and Bess during the last weekend of January. I decided to take the opportunity to get out-of-town and witness the performance. This would be the second time I’ve traveled to New York to see the opera/musical (depending on the approach of the musical presentation one used)–previously for the 2012 Broadway production with Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis. I also saw the 2019 production via The Met in HD, so I was really looking forward to seeing it live. I took Amtrak to New York because it’s so hard to drive and park in the city safely that I feel like the Silver Bullet is much better off parked at the train station. I’m no longer used to getting up early enough to make…
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: Concerts and National Aquarium
Two Concerts I don’t normally post about musical concerts I attend because I don’t like to write reviews. However, I’m going to spend a little time touching on three concerts I attended in July, but the bulk of the post will cover my second visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Since my return to the DMV, I have taken as much advantage as I can of the stage events offered here. This summer, this has included concerts from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Summerfest schedule–an all-George Gershwin program and movie music by John Williams, plus the performance of Carl Orff”s Carmina Burana, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, soloists, Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Children’s Chorus of Washington. The Gershwin concert started what was a very busy week on Sunday, July 20. The program included his Cuban Overture, excerpts from the opera Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue,…
ARSC, National Parks and More (Gettin’ Home and Afterthoughts)
Gettin’ Home I didn’t drive the most direct route from Michigan to the DMV because I had mentioned to my family the possibility of stopping in Iowa long enough to get some Iowa chops to eat. I am horrible at cooking the thick cuts of pork, but my grill master brother is wonderful at it, and it’s been a year since I last got some chops for them. So,… Plus, I had the opportunity to meet old friends and colleagues along the way. Catherine made the drive to meet me for lunch in Davenport on Saturday, and David and I had lunch in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday. While in Davenport, I picked up sixteen chops that I ordered in advance from a local Fareway. If you are wondering what the big deal is, you haven’t had well-prepared Iowa chops before. I had anticipated that the drive Sunday would have less…
Five National Parks in Five Days (Day Two)
I was up three hours before the Mesa Verde National Park‘s visitor center was scheduled to open, so I watched the sun rise and awaken the park. The center had only been open a few minutes when I arrived, but the ranger on desk duty was already busy speaking with other visitors. He confirmed for me that, as had been indicated on the website’s map, there was extensive scenic roadways in the park. After looking at the center’s exhibits about the Pueblo Native Americans who had inhabited the region, I readied myself for the day of driving in the park. As I mentioned in earlier posts, it is a great idea to enter national parks with a full tank of gas because, even if the park does offer gas for sale, the prices tend to be considerably higher. Since I had stocked before entering the park, I was ready for…
Five National Parks in Five Days (Day One)
I have been planning to visit the three national parks I hadn’t visited in Colorado since my last trip to the southwestern United States in 2022. Since there are only about 650 miles from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Great Sand Dunes National Park–the closest I am likely to come in the foreseeable future, I decided that the opportunity should not be passed up. This would, of course, mean adding it and the other two parks in Colorado to my trip. Then, I had the chance to finally get to Isle Royale in Michigan and to Wind Cave national, which I didn’t know existed when I visited Hot Springs, South Dakota, in 2018. The boat trip to Isle Royale had to be scheduled in advance, so I would have to go from Tulsa to Copper Harbor, Michigan (Mapquest mapped that as 2,670 miles) in five days. Could I pull it off? Day…
ARSC, National Parks and More (Gettin’ There)–May 14-16
A head’s up from the very beginning: This trip was very different than I had mentioned in my April 20, 2025, post. But then, that’s not at all unusual in my journeys. I tend to have a basic plan with lots of variables that I can consider as the trip occurs. My departure on Wednesday, May 14, was much later than planned because I wanted to make a sausage delivery as I left town and used that as an excuse to get a few extra hours of recovery sleep and trip prep after my recent return from my class reunion just two days earlier. Anyway, on my first gas and food stop near the Maryland-Pennsylvania-West Virginia borders, I saw my first McDonald’s advertisement for their offering of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I had read an announcement about the arrangement a year ago, but I wasn’t ready to actually see the doughnuts…
Seein’ the DMV: Ocean City and Assateague Island
Ocean City and Assateague Island I left home at 1:30 a.m. in order to give myself more than adequate time to reach my scheduled boat tour in Ocean City, Maryland. This was an impulse trip just because I hadn’t been to OC yet and had the opportunity for a relatively inexpensive trip that included about a 4.5-hour drive each way. The weather forecast a partly cloudy day with temps reaching the mid-60s. I dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and knee-length sweatpants, then opted for a hooded sweater instead of my jean jacket (BIG mistake). As I drove out, I wondered why Waze directed me on a circuitous route through Baltimore rather than the more direct route over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge until I remembered that it was using my normal–avoid toll roads–criteria. This was one of those occasions where paying $2.50 to cross the bridge would have been cheaper than…
Seein’ the DMV: A Day in Baltimore and Some More Old Business
First, the Old Business Found another set of pictures with no post to describe them. This time, I traveled to the Living History Farms in Urbandale, a suburb of Des Moines, with my new student host daughter for a rally during President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign for his second term in office. I wanted my host daughter to experience this great American event as part of her time studying in the United States. The young woman was from China, and I wanted her to observe a part of the election process and to see the president in person. One of the nice things about being in Iowa was that candidates for president, even incumbents, made it their business to visit the state regularly, so this was not the first time I had attended an Obama event. In fact, I was at his first visit to Grinnell College in 2008. Even…
Seein’ the DMV: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center
I woke up unusually early Sunday morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. After watching the sun rise, I realized that I wanted to get out and enjoy what looked to be a sunny–if not particularly warm–day somewhere other than home. After searching on my cellphone for scenic drives in Maryland, I decided to connect with my return to researching spirituals by taking the Harriet Tubman Byway, what was described as “a self-guided driving tour that winds for more than 125 miles through the beautiful landscapes and Maryland’s Eastern Shore,” as well as into Delaware. Mistake number one was not making sure that the full route was downloaded to my phone. As it worked out, Wifi access in that part of the state is spotty at best. Secondly, I underestimated the scope of the trip, thinking I could do most, if not all, in a few hours. It clearly needed…