Showing posts with label boondocking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boondocking. Show all posts

Monday, September 6, 2021

What to do in Maryland

Eat Maryland Crab Cakes of course. Well that was the plan, but at $30 each, we decided we would just have a little on our fries and on club sandwiches (which were delicious!) It seems as though there is a crab shortage due to the lack of pickers. Our waiter said they had to pay $58 a pound for crab, so they lose money on the crab cakes.


Rural Maryland is lush, green and rolling, much like central Kentucky Horse Country. We parked The Wanderer at the farm of our friends near Frederick, MD. Their granddaughters ages 6, 4 and 2 gave us the farm tour and introduced us to their goats and chickens. We were quite impressed with the young ladies. They seemed unusually articulate, inquisitive, observant and engaging for their ages. They are expecting a baby brother to arrive in a few weeks.  Oh, and they are home schooled. 

We met Greg and Juanita in Fredricksburg, TX about a year and a half ago. You may have remembered them from a blog post last fall when they parked their rig at our house for a couple of nights. We introduced them to our local brewery, Dry Ground, and they introduced us to their Flood Zone. Our timing was fortuitous as water had just receded from Ida the day before.

Not far from Frederick is the Civil War battlefield, Antietam; so off we went for a little history lesson. Antietam was not the bloodiest battle of the war (that would be Gettysburg) but it was the bloodiest one day battle with about 23,000 casualties. Even though the Union lost more men, they were given the victory when Gen. Lee withdrew and crossed back over the Potomac River. The win gave President Lincoln the encouragement he needed to announce the Emancipation Proclamation.

Reading history is interesting; visiting historical sites make it real. The Union lost 359,528 soldiers to the war in battles, diseases, accidents and prison camps.

Rarely is the price paid for freedom for the slaves mentioned.

Of course we couldn’t be so close to Arlington and not stop in.


Greg and Juanita are Boondockers Welcome hosts. It was our fortune that a Boondocker couple was also parked on the farm.  Janine and Matt, formerly from the Frederick area, are now full time RVers. Janine is a hooker (she hooks rugs, okay) and an amazing artist. From her photos she sketches designs on canvas fabric and hooks them to make amazing pieces of art. 

I stole this image from her blog. 

You can see more of her pieces and read about their adventures on her blog,  Joyful Wonder

Both Greg and Matt work remotely, while Juanita and Janine drive their rigs. They were doing this long before the COVID lockdowns. 

Another evening sitting around, drinking wine and telling stories. Life is good.


The Eastern Seaboard is calling us and we are so close. Texas can wait.


43 down and still wandering

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Monday, January 27, 2020

Free Parking and Great Beer






We stumbled across this jewel when we were wine tasting in the Sonoita Wine Region last winter. Love the image etched in our minds of the young lady in overalls running from the hops field to serve us beer! Enjoying some amazingly good chocolate porter, we got to know a little about Mel and the Copper Hop Ranch Farm and Microbrewery. She invited us to stay at the farm the next time we came through. Free parking and great beer, of course we took her up on the offer.

Unlike our previous visit, it was a warm weekend which brought folks out to taste beer and enjoy the sunshine.




Inside the tasting room.
Our host, Tom

Around the farm,




For fellow boondockers, it is a fun place to land while visiting the wineries in Sonoita, to do a bit of quail hunting or to stop over as you make your way across southern Arizona. The beer will not disappoint! Here is a link to Copper Hop Ranch Farm and Microbrewery where you will find directions and contact information. Just call ahead to see if a spot is available (BTW, as of this time, Copper Hop is not a part of Harvest Hosts.) Tell them Chris and Randy sent you.

Wine tasting at Rune Winery; photo courtesy of Benjamin Bennett

Cheers!


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