The lakeside resort, nestled in the foothills of Rocky Gap State Park, literally takes your breath away as it beckons you to escape.

The rustic resort is warm and relaxing, with large windows that invite in the beauty of the outdoors. Guest rooms feature all the modern amenities, including dataports for those who still need to stay in touch. The Lakeside Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner by a large stone fireplace overlooking the lake and a spectacular view of the mountains.

The restaurant features a seafood buffet on Friday nights, a prime rib buffet on Saturday nights and a Sunday brunch buffet. The Lakeside Lounge is the perfect place to relax and enjoy food and drink.

The Garden Spa provides a delightfully elegant place to relax and offers spa packages that include facials, massage therapies, manicures and pedicures. Of course, there is an indoor and outdoor pool with Jacuzzi and fitness room.

The 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course entices golfers of all abilities. Nicklaus himself played on the course in 2001. “The Golden Bear” has carved an exciting, scenic course out of the mountain terrain and provides five sets of tees on every hole. The extensive practice areas and expert instruction will help you with your game.

No need to leave the kids at home, if you’re so inclined. Rocky Gap Resort is a family-friendly place. Western Maryland Adventures, which is headquartered in the lobby, plans many family recreational activities including whitewater rafting, rappelling, geocaching and horseback riding. The group also plans activities for kids including crafts, programs and campfires. For information, call 301-784-8467 or visit www.wmdadventures.com.

Rocky Gap State Park features several hiking trails, ranging from very easy to more difficult. The easiest trail (Touch of Nature) is perfectly accessible for slow walkers and those with disabilities, taking visitors through the woods to a dock overlooking the lake. Fishermen can drop a line into the manmade lake surrounding the resort to catch trophy-size trout, bass, blue gill and catfish.

The park also features an aviary that is home to several species of birds that cannot be reintroduced into the wild because they have injuries or disabilities. The park uses the birds as part of the Scales and Tales program to educate the public about birds of prey and their role in nature. There are over 270 campsites in the state park campground.

In season, you can swim in 243-acre Lake Habeeb, which includes three manmade beaches. You can relax on the lake in a paddleboat, kayak or canoe. Gas-powered watercraft is not permitted on the lake. The lake features an underwater scuba trail that was designed to highlight the aquatic life.

When you get the itch to shop, you can explore nearby Victorian-era Cumberland. Downtown Cumberland has a wide variety of shopping, art galleries and cultural attractions. Most attractions are within walking distance, so park your car and explore the beautiful and historic downtown. Start off at the Visitors Center on Canal Street to get your game plan and then spend the day exploring. The Allegany County Museum is on Baltimore Street along the pedestrian walkway.

Rocky Gap Resort is a two-hour drive from Washington, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, off of I-68. It is located at 16701 Lakeview Road NE, Flintstone, MD 21530. For information, call 800-724-0828 or visit www.rockygapresort.com.

For information on Allegany County attractions and downtown Cumberland, visit www.mdmountainside.com or call 1-800-425-2067.

The steam-powered Strasburg Rail Road, America’s oldest operating short-line service, takes passengers on a nine-mile, 45-minute round trip through rural Amish farmland.  Across Route 741 from the East Strasburg station, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has tracks, trains, turntables and artifacts dating back more than a century.  Not far away are the National Toy Train Museum, featuring five operating layouts, and the Choo Choo Barn, with 135 animated figures and 17 running trains packed into a 1700-square foot display.

Thoroughly smitten rail buffs can even opt for overnight accommodations in the Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant, where rooms are in real cabooses and dinner is served in an old dining car. Owner Larry Demarco has transformed 19 Pennsylvania Railroad cabooses, weighing 25 tons each, into a 40-room motel that offers the most unusual overnight accommodations in Lancaster County. The Red Caboose marks its 40th anniversary in 2009.  For information, call 888-687-5005 or visit www.redcaboosemotel.com.

Many out-of-town railroad buffs begin their day at the East Strasburg Depot, a handsome Victorian edifice moved in nine sections from its original 1882 location, 20 miles away. It is even older than the line’s antique locomotives (including one built in 1902).

Since some of the Strasburg’s rolling stock consists of open-platform coaches from the turn of the century, fresh country air makes a pleasant substitute for air-conditioning. Photography is also easy from the slow-moving train — with Amish buggies most visible at any of the railroad’s four crossings.

The right-of-way is flanked by farms that depend upon wind, water and animal power, since many Amish disdain the use of electricity or motorized vehicles.  There’s also a unique tourist attraction called the Maize Maze, where kids carrying tall, flag-topped poles try to find their way through a maze carved out of a thick cornfield.

Also along the Strasburg route is Groff’s Grove, a picnic area typical of 19th century short-line railroads. A siding at the site marks the spot where trains headed opposite ways can pass.

The railroad, founded in 1832, runs daily trains during the summer, operates on weekends into December, then shuts down for the winter. Adult admission to Strasburg Railroad is $12 while admission for children 3-11 is $6.  Weather poses no problems for the adjacent railroad museum, a deserving member of the National Register of Historic Places.

Exhibit highlights include a 1915 depot, 62-ton freight engine, vintage World War II coach, and a Hall of Locomotives — all housed in a giant room designed to look like an old train shed. Counting the outdoor displays, the railroad museum has more than 100 locomotives, many of them retired from the Pennsylvania and Reading railroads.

Inside the museum, administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, visitors can enter the cab of a mighty steamer, view plush parlor cars, and even walk underneath a 62-ton steam engine in the simulated repair shop. The museum will salute Veterans Day weekend Nov. 8–9 with troop train rides during the day and a Swing Train ‘40s dance on Saturday night.

The Toy Train Museum, which doubles as national headquarters of the Train Collectors Association, also has hands-on activities — every Friday during July and August. Videos and railroad films run continuously, and visitors can run many trains themselves.

Strasburg is located in Lancaster County, tucked into southeastern Pennsylvania 57 miles west of Philadelphia.  The area is best known as home of North America’s largest contingent of “Plain People,” some 70,000 members of the Amish, Brethren and Mennonite faiths. Half of them wear traditional clothing and more than 25,000 still use horse-drawn vehicles.

Horse-drawn buggies are dark, travel less than 8 miles per hour and are especially hard to identify at night. But all display triangular warning signs with orange centers and red borders. The best bet is to leave impatience at home.

For many of the locals, little has changed since they fled Germany for religious freedom a half-century before the American Revolution.

The Historic Strasburg Inn is equidistant from the outlets and the railroad attractions. The home of an annual Summer Craft Fair, it is also next door to Gast Classic Motorcars, a year-round museum that does for auto enthusiasts what the Strasburg Rail Road does for train buffs.

For information, call 717-687-7691 or visit www.historicinnofstrasburg.com.

Find your way back to nature at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Md., located within the Wheaton Regional Park. As you stroll around the myriad of gardens, you will feel the tension and stress of everyday life melting away to be replaced by a feeling of peace and certainty that coming here today was the absolute best thing you could have done.

Brookside Gardens consists of the North and South Conservatories with displays that change quarterly, and numerous outdoor gardens that include a Rose Garden, Azalea Garden, Fragrance Garden, Trial Garden with spring and summer flowers, Viburnum Garden, Camellia Garden and Winter Garden, among others. There is also a series of three Formal Gardens: Perennial Garden with perennials that bloom spring through autumn, Yew Garden with seasonal displays of flowers, and Maple Terrace with Japanese maples and seasonal flowers. If you want to spend your time in contemplation, you can visit the Gude Garden, a nine-acre garden of sculpted ponds and rolling hills and a Japanese Tea House. A Labyrinth also provides ample opportunity for contemplation.

Begin your tour at the Visitors Center where you can pick up a map to guide you through the gardens and find information on upcoming events that will bring you back again and again. From there walk to the Children’s Garden where the younger set can enjoy the Eastern Woodland Indian Garden and crawl through a large hollow log of a 125-year-old Sycamore tree. Follow the paths from the Children’s Garden in whatever direction strikes your fancy to find bright seasonal flowers, flowering shrubs and trees. Linger in the Trial Garden with bright, beautiful flowers and in the Fragrance Garden with its bubbling fountains and fragrant herbs, shrubs and vines.

One of the most exciting displays at Brookside Gardens is the live butterfly exhibit, Wings of Fancy. In its 12th season, this exhibit features Asian, Costa Rican and North American butterflies that fly freely, surrounding visitors with their beauty. Brookside Gardens allows you to enjoy the butterflies up close and personal with a series of photography workshops, limited to 10 photographers each. In addition, you can attend a two-day workshop that focuses on photographing the butterflies and flowers. Youth group tours of the butterfly exhibit are available as well.

You can also visit the Outdoor Butterfly Garden beginning in May through late fall on the west side of the Conservatories. There you will see butterflies native to Maryland in all stages of the life cycle from the eggs, to the caterpillars to the chrysalides to the adults.

No matter what the season or the weather, you can always visit the glass-covered conservatories, which have displays that will delight. Spring comes to the conservatories from mid-January to April 13, with orchids, camellias, jasmine and a variety of bulbs and flowering plants. Beginning April 26, summer arrives with colorful tropical plants that will remind you of the tropics of South American or Asia. The fall brings chrysanthemums and other fall flowers and winter features evergreens and other flowering plants of the season.

Brookside Gardens is open daily, sunrise to sunset, and is closed on Dec. 25. The Visitors Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the Conservatory, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. To reach Brookside Gardens, take the Washington Beltway, I-495, to Georgia Avenue toward Wheaton. Drive three miles north and turn right on Randolph Road. At the second traffic light turn right onto Glenallan Avenue and go to 1800 Glenallan Avenue. Brookside Gardens offers events, workshops, excursions, demonstrations, lectures and children’s programs that are too numerous to mention. For information, call 301-962-1400 or visit www.brooksidegardens.org.

Accessible parking is available, and wheelchairs can be borrowed from the Visitors Center Information Desk, where you can receive a recommendation for a tour that avoids steps and steep hills.

For information on having a wedding, private reception or corporate retreat at Brookside Gardens, call 301-962-1404.

Gone is the image of the lonely lighthouse keeper, racing up the winding stairs of a circular tower to light lanterns for navigators in storm-tossed seas.

Although automation has supplanted people power in lighthouse annals, many of the structures still stand — silent stone sentinels that guard creeks, rivers, estuaries and bays, plus vast stretches of coastline on both ends of the continent.

Nowhere is that more obvious than along the Maryland shores of the Chesapeake, a meandering bay with 8,700 miles of shoreline — more than the Atlantic and Pacific coasts combined.

To guide shipping through treacherous shoals and winding channels to safe ports and harbors, 44 lighthouses were built during the 88-year span of 1822 to 1910. All 25 that remain are automated, with others dismantled and replaced by small, inexpensive, automated beacons maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. But the memories of the great lighthouses linger.

Maryland’s lighthouses, like the people who once ran them, come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some tower high above the bay, warning of a confluence of currents, while others, anchored offshore, mark rocks or reefs dangerous to shipping. Many are small clanging buoys, with bells ringing in cadence to the rhythm of the surf, while a few are floating lightships, capable of moving from place to place under their own power.

Some lighthouses are exactly that — vertical light towers built on top of horizontal houses — while others are masonry towers with a singular purpose. But all had the same mission.

The oldest continuously operated beacon in the state is the Concord Point Lighthouse in Havre de Grace, a community with more than 800 historic structures.

The 1827 tower stands 36 feet high — a foot shorter than the Green Monster in Boston’s Fenway Park. Once illuminated by nine whale-oil lamps with tin reflectors, it was electrified in 1920, decommissioned in 1975, and restored four years later.

The lighthouse stands on land overlooking the confluence of the Susquehanna River and the northern Chesapeake Bay. Nearby are a potato cannon fired at the British during the War of 1812 and a duck decoy museum.

The Turkey Point Light, near the town of North East in Cecil County, is even more imposing. The conical brick tower is only 29 feet high but sits atop a 100-foot bluff above the Elk and Northeast Rivers, near the head of the bay. The only Chesapeake lighthouses with higher focal points are in Virginia, at Cape Henry (164 ft.) and Cape Charles (191 ft.).

Between 1832, when it was built, and 1948, when it was automated, Turkey Point was maintained by a succession of famous faces, including Fannie Salter, the last female lighthouse keeper in the United States (1925–1947).

When fog shrouded the bay, she had to clang a 1,000-pound bell with a 50-pound clanger. Although it was mechanized, it didn’t always work. Salter once had to clang the bell manually, four times per minute for 55 minutes, when she spotted a steamer struggling through pea-soup fog.

Fog wasn’t the only problem at Turkey Point. The station was so isolated — 14 miles over poor roads to the nearest store — that keepers had to double as farmers, raising food-producing animals and growing their own produce.

Automation didn’t arrive at Thomas Point Shoal, the last manned lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, until 1986. The offshore lighthouse, a short boat ride from Annapolis via the Severn River, is now controlled by radio from Baltimore. The 1875 structure is the last remaining lighthouse with a screwpile base — a method used to anchor 42 lighthouses in 54 years.

Although three other screwpiles survive in museums, their iron anchorings were often victimized by ice floes. Caisson construction, used in later anchorings, involved a cylindrical base sunk deep into the muddy bottom and filled with concrete ballast.

Even that wasn’t foolproof, however: the round caisson lighthouse at Sharps Island, located off the southern tip of Tilghman Island on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, is known for its pronounced list (the angle of the light was adjusted to compensate). It’s Maryland’s answer to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Another 1882 lighthouse — a brick house anchored by caisson — marks Sandy Point Shoal, near the west side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis.

Lighthouses may be endangered species elsewhere, but not in Maryland.

The Baltimore Light, offshore at the mouth of the Magothy River, is a white, two-story structure that was the last lighthouse built on the bay (1910). Once atomic-powered, it is now dependent upon solar energy, as are many of the other Chesapeake Bay beacons.

Craighill Channel, on the northwestern shore of the bay, has a family of four active lighthouses: one with two vertical lights, another known for its height (105 ft.) and two others once illuminated by the headlights from steam locomotives. At Solomons Lump, the original structure was sheared off its foundation by heavy ice and tipped over. It was later rebuilt with a different design.

There are other great names in the bay: Bloody Point Bar, Fishing Battery, and even Point No Point — not to be confused with an Andy Rooney monologue.

The Lightship Chesapeake, now part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum, warned of navigational hazards, provided weather information, helped in rescue operations, and spent the Second World War guarding the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal. Crews of 16 worked rotating two-week shifts in conditions that ranged from utter boredom to total terror. The bright red ship, in active service from 1933 to 1971, is now a National Historic Landmark.

An 1879 screwpile lighthouse is the showcase of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, an 18-acre waterfront campus with 80 historic vessels and nine exhibit buildings, in the Eastern Shore resort town of St. Michaels. When the late-afternoon sun shines on the transplanted Hooper Strait structure, it makes one of the finest photo ops on the Eastern Shore.

The U.S. Lighthouse Society, founded in 1984, restores old lighthouses and lightships, runs tours, keeps photo archives, and provides speakers. The $35 membership includes a subscription to The Keeper’s Log, a 48-page quarterly. Write U.S. Lighthouse Society, 244 Kearny St., 5th floor, San Francisco, CA 94108, or call 415-362-7255.

For information about lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay, contact the Maryland Office of Tourism at www.mdisfun.org or the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County CVB at www.visitannapolis.org.

Welcome to York County in southeastern Pennsylvania dubbed the “Factory Tour Capital of the World,” where visitors can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making of some of America’s favorite products, all started by moms and pops of yesteryear.

Martin’s Potato Chips Factory tour

Let’s roll the calendar back to 1938 when Harry Martin Jr. asked his mother for Utz potato chips (the only ones around at the time) when they took their produce to sell at the market. “I’ll make them for you so we don’t have to buy them,” said Fairy Martin. So, she started making her own chips to take to market and set up her own potato chip stand. Martin’s Potato Chips were born. By 1942 Harry Jr. took over the business. In 1971, tired of making chips, the Martin family retired and sold the factory.

Today, the Martin’s Potato Chips Factory produces 1.5 million bags of snacks per month, from hand-cooked “kettle cooked” potato chips and Bar-B-Q Waffle Chips to butter-flavored popcorn.

The factory gives free tours Tuesdays by reservation only at 9, 10 and 11 a.m. The tour lasts 45 minutes, and visitors should call 1-800-272-4477 to make reservations. A factory store is located on site. Visitors must wear closed-toed shoes on the tour and a hair net. Cameras are permitted, and the tour is accessible to those with disabilities. And best of all, there are always free samples of “hot off the line” potato chips!

The Martin’s Potato Chip Factory is located at 5847 Lincoln Highway (US Route 30) in Thomasville, Pa. For information, call 800-272-4477 or visit www.martinschips.com.

Wolfgang Candy Factory tour

As early as 1893 members of the Wolfgang family learned the fine art of candy making and in 1921 formed the D.E. Wolfgang Candy Company in York. Through the years family members traveled to local football games, special community functions and farmers markets selling their hand-dipped chocolates and other confections. Four generations later, Wolfgang Candy is still owned by the family and manufactures and sells millions of pounds of seasonal candies for schools, clubs, churches and other fund-raising groups.

Free chocolate factory tours allow visitors to see, smell and taste the 50 kinds of candies the company makes and packages for sale. Tours are 45 minutes long and are given Mondays through Fridays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The factory and store are located at 50 East 4th Avenue in York. For information, call 800-248-4273 or visit www.wolfgangcandy.com.

Hope Acres Fully Robotic Dairy Farm tour

In 1935 Horace E. Heindel bought his first farm in York County. In 1970 he started dairy farming at Hope Acres. Today his son and grandson own the 2,100-acre farm and have 180 dairy cows.

Hope Acres was one of the first farms to introduce robotic milking practices to the United States, and visitors from all over can witness this most fascinating marriage of technology and nature. In fact, tour guide Kelly Waby said she gives tours to 11,000 visitors each season.

On the 75-minute tour, visitors are guided through the dairy barn where cows are pampered with backscratchers and waterbeds. When they need to be milked, the cows have been trained to enter the robotic milking station. A robotic arm scans its tag, cleans the udder and milks the cow. If there is a problem, the farmer is alerted on his cell phone.

Tours conclude with a free scoop of Hope Acres super-premium grade ice cream at the Brown Cow Country Market.

For information, visit www.hopeacres.com or call 800-293-1054. The farm, which is open for tours from March through November, is located at 2680 Delta Road in Brogue, Pa. Navigation systems have a hard time zoning in on this location, so be sure to call and get specific directions before heading out. Tours are accessible to those with disabilities.

The Shoe House

When entrepreneur Carleen Farabaugh was looking for a place to open an ice cream stand, she never thought she’d wind up in the sole of a shoe house, but that seemed to be her destiny five years ago. Now she’s affectionately known as “the woman who lives in the shoe,” but that’s OK with her. She’s proud to continue the legacy of Mahlon Haines, affectionately known around the York area as “The Shoe Wizard.” In 1906, Haines peddled shoes in York in a horse-drawn wagon. He went on to build a shoe sales empire in central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland that at its height included more than 40 stores. He died in 1962.

Haines is said to have built the house in 1948 as an outlandish advertising gimmick. It is a wood frame structure covered with wire lath and coated with cement stucco. It measures 48 feet long, 17 feet wide and 25 feet high. The interior consists of five different levels and contains three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen (in the heel) and a living room. The master bedroom is in the toe of the shoe.

Although Haines never lived there, this giant structural advertisement was originally used as a guest house. In the first year after its completion, Haines invited newlyweds and elderly couples to stay for a weekend and live like “kings and queens” at Haines’ expense, complete with maid and butler service.

Farabaugh is the fourth owner of the house. She said she felt Haines “tapping me on the shoulder” as she toured the house to buy it. Today she sells ice cream in season and gives tours of the house, which is “completely livable.”

The Shoe House is located at 197 Shoehouse Road in York, Pa., near the Hallam exit of U.S. 30.  For information, call 717-840-8339 or visit www.Shoehouse.us. It is open through May by appointment only and from June through August on Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tour is $3.50 for adults and $2.50 for children. Children under 3 are free.

The Yorktowne Hotel

The historic Yorktowne Hotel reflects yet another remarkable story of a can-do spirit among the locals and is the perfect place to stay on your trip to York County. Built in 1925, the Renaissance-style hotel, which stands 11 stories tall in the heart of downtown York, opened debt-free after 265 volunteers teamed up and sold shares worth over $1 each to nearly 1,200 investors.

Over the years, The Yorktowne has played host to presidents, first ladies, hall of famers, comedians and governors from all over the United States. Today it continues to be the facility for locals, businessmen and tourists.

Twenty-foot high ceilings, ornate chandeliers and wood paneling welcome you as you enter the lobby. The hotel has 121 oversized rooms and luxurious suites, appointed with traditional furnishings and colorful floral designs. It has two restaurants, the Commonwealth Room, which is the hotel’s fine dining restaurant. The OffCenter Grill Restaurant is the hotel’s upscale dining alternative, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

The Yorktowne Hotel is located at 48 East Market Street in York, Penn. For information, call 800-233-9324 or visit www.yorktowne.com.

For information about the York area, visit the York County CVB, 155 West Market Street in York, call 1-888-858-YORK or visit www.yorkpa.org.

Today, Valley Forge National Historical Park is a lush 3,600-acre expanse of rolling hillsides, dotted with flowering dogwood trees and mountain laurel. Throughout the park are soldiers’ log huts, Washington’s original stone headquarters, which has been restored and furnished, and statues and monuments to the army’s courage, which remind visitors of our national heritage.

Six miles of paved trails throughout the park connect to a well-maintained system of recreational trails crisscrossing the entire region.  The 22-mile scenic Schuylkill River Trail meanders through the park. As the seasons change, visitors can enjoy fly fishing in Valley Creek, picnicking, bird watching and kite flying.

Visitors should start their day at the Welcome Center with the 18-minute film, “Valley Forge: A Winter Encampment,” which runs every 30 minutes beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the Park Theatre. Displays and artifacts in the exhibit area illustrate what life was like in the camp.

As you tour the park, you will find the National Memorial Arch, statues of General “Mad Anthony” Wayne and Baron Friedrich von Steuben and the Monument to Patriots of African Descent. Costumed interpreters are posted at the Muhlenberg Brigade huts Saturdays and Sundays (weather permitting), from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There are Soldier Life programs at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and at Varnum’s Quarters from noon to 4 p.m. through Dec. 30 and daily at Washington’s Headquarters from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Touring the park

There are many ways to explore the park. You can walk, drive, bike or ride on horseback. On weekends, visitors can rent bikes at the Welcome Center. You can take a free, self-guided tour using a map or cell phone. Just dial 484-396-1018 and listen to the park come to life at the place where you are standing. You can visit the stops in any order. You can also take advantage of the seasonal trolley tours.

Recreational facilities in the park include designated picnic areas, the six-mile Joseph Plumb Martin trail, 10 miles of horse trails and the Valley Forge-to-Philadelphia Schuylkill River Trail.

Storytellers are located on benches at the Welcome Center, National Memorial Arch and Washington’s Headquarters at designated times. Visitors can come and listen as specially trained storytellers share riveting stories of the encampment and how it became a turning point in the Revolutionary War. You can take advantage of this free program daily through Oct. 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The park also offers “Behind the Scenes Vault Tours,” where visitors can view antique muskets, polearms, power horns, canteens, eating equipment, documents and archeological artifacts. Tours are for small groups only from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is an admission fee. Call 610-783-1020 for reservations.

Children’s activities

Children ages 6 to 12 are invited to “enlist” in the Continental Army. Participants receive enlistment papers and copies of Continental currency. They learn how to stand and march like soldiers and even learn how to load and fire a dummy musket. This free program is offered the first Saturday of each month, January through April, at 11 a.m., at the Welcome Center.

Park Ranger George Matlack challenges visitors to come and stay at least a half a day. “Revisit history and come away with a better understanding of our heritage,” he says. “This is a place that stimulates further inquiry.”

Valley Forge National Historical Park is located just 18 miles from Philadelphia and halfway between New York City and Washington, D.C., at Route 23 and N. Gulph Road in Valley Forge, Pa. The park is open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, call 610-783-1077 or visit www.nps.gov/vafo or www.valleyforge.org.

Morris Arboretum and Gardens

For those wanting to experience more beauty of the area, you won’t want to miss Morris Arboretum and Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania. The arboretum is an intimate, 92-acre Victorian delight that allows visitors to experience peaceful gardens with colorful flowers, changing scenery and unusual trees in a romantic, historic landscape.

The summer home of Quaker brother and sister John and Lydia Morris, the beautiful gardens contain thousands of rare and lovely woody plants, including some of Philadelphia’s oldest, rarest and largest trees. A champion Katsura tree and Japanese overlook garden are legacies of the pair’s trips to Asia.  A stone bench and gazebo provide vantage points for enjoying the formal rose gardens, and there are many sculptures throughout the grounds. There’s a rustic log cabin where Lydia held tea parties, an Italian loggia with a statue of Mercury and a hidden passageway; a swan pond with a love temple and a glass fernery.  The arboretum hosts many weddings, special events and classes throughout the year and offers free guided tours on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Morris Arboretum is located at 100 Northwestern Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118. For information on hours, tours and events, visit www.morrisarboretum.com or call 215-247-5777.

Shopping and dining

Girlfriends: Shop till you drop at King of Prussia Mall, just minutes away from Valley Forge. This mall is the largest retail-shopping complex in the country. Put on your walking shoes: there are over 400 shops, luxury retailers and restaurants that will delight the serious and casual shopper alike. Mall hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For information, visit www.kingofprussiamall.com.

For an excellent Italian dining experience, visit Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant on the perimeter of the mall. The bustling 300-seat restaurant includes a comfortable bar area, mezzanine dining, a spacious wrap-around outdoor porch and a large banquet facility. The food is made from scratch and is genuinely Italian. I highly recommend the chicken and spinach manicotti as well as the four cheese ravioli. For information and reservations, call 610-992-3333 or visit www.maggianos.com. The restaurant is located at 205 Mall Blvd., King of Prussia, PA 19406.

Your ticket for the Alexandria tour includes a brochure, map and admission to six additional places of historic interest. Homes on the tour have been selected for their beauty in addition to their historical significance. You’ll be able to walk back in time, letting your imagination carry you to the 18th and 19th centuries. If all that walking and visiting makes you thirsty, tea and other refreshments will be provided at Historic Christ Church, 121 North Columbus Street, just blocks from the tour sites.

One of the homes featured on the tour this year is the classic Georgian “Craik House,” which was built in 1787 for George Washington’s private secretary and physician during the Revolutionary War, Dr. James Craik. The two front rooms of the house are where Dr. Craik maintained his medical practice. The home’s garden reflects 18th-century design and features marble steps salvaged from Blair House (the guest house of American presidents) during a mid-20th-century remodeling. Nearby is a 1780s house that has been enlarged many times, most recently during a 1992 renovation by renowned neoclassical architect Allen Greenberg, designer of the Diplomatic Rooms of State Department.

Also nearby is a beautiful residence built between 1763 and 1785, which sits on one of the largest lots in Old Town Alexandria. The home features an original George London sculpture of Thomas Jefferson, and in a large sitting room, an original Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington and a Baccarat chandelier. Numerous modern amenities have been cleverly hidden away to preserve the historic feel of the home. Its garden showcases a cherry tree, dogwoods, large magnolias, a copper beech, and English boxwood.

Modern artwork is featured in another home on the tour, built between 1812 and 1814. The home was leased to a businessman whose son became the first African-American schoolteacher in the City of Alexandria. The son later purchased this home in which he grew up. Its extensive art collection includes works by Monestier, Bonnie Shelor, Ann Barbieri and Han Erni.

A nearby 1802 home was said to be the place where Robert E. Lee accepted command of the Confederate Army of Virginia. This home retains much of its original woodwork and interior design, including a breathtaking central spiral staircase. Its 40-foot ballroom has been separated into two seating areas.

The site of another house on the tour was once used by James Green to store lumber for his cabinet-making business. Green later branched out into real estate, coal and lumber, and by 1850 became the wealthiest man in Alexandria. The garden features traditional southern plantings.

As you enter each home, docents will greet you to provide details of historic interest, helping you to experience what it might have been like to live in that home’s time period. Exquisite flower arrangements created by garden club members, using flowers from the homes’ respective gardens and vases to coordinate with each room, will grace each home.

Additional places of historic interest on the tour include the 1785 Lee-Fendall house, which presents an intimate study of 19th century family life; the Carlyle House Historic Park built in 1753; River Farm, which features extensive colorful gardens and a children’s garden; George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens (see T&G Winter ‘08 issue); Woodlawn, containing fine Federal period furnishings; and Gunston-Hall Plantation, the home of Virginia Bill of Rights author George Mason, containing furnishings from the Colonial and Federal periods.

Among other Virginia locations holding Historic Garden Week events are James River Plantations, Charlottesville, Ashland-Hanover, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, Hampton-Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. See www.vagardenweek.org for more information.

“Historic Garden Week in Virginia” is the oldest and largest statewide house and garden tour in the nation. It draws more than 30,000 attendees each year. The event is sponsored by the Garden Club of Virginia, an active association of 47 garden clubs whose members include more than 3,300 civic leaders from around the Commonwealth. Alexandria’s Historic Garden Week event is sponsored by the Hunting Creek Garden Club and the Garden Club of Alexandria, Chairs Dottie Hawkins and Timmi Wood. Proceeds for Historic Garden Week in Virginia statewide are used to restore historic Virginia landscapes and gardens that are open to the public on a regular basis. They have financed more than 40 restorations.

Alexandria’s Historic Garden Week event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 19. For more information, call 703-838-4200 or visit www.vagardenweek.org. The information center for the event is located at the Ramsay House Alexandria Visitors’ Center, 221 King Street, Alexandria, Va., 22314.  You can get information on historic properties, restaurants, hotels and parking meter passes for out-of-town visitors. Restroom facilities are available at the Ramsay House. You can purchase tickets online or on the day of the tour at any of the houses open for the tour or at the Ramsay House.

The spirited residents of Chestertown, Md., a Colonial historical town just a short distance from the Chesapeake Bay, invite you to their annual tea party on Memorial Day weekend. But, leave your fine china teacups at home. Instead, bring your sunscreen, your appetite, and your penchant for fun as the town celebrates its unique, historical claim to fame.

In 1706, Chestertown was one of six official ports of entry established under demands from England. Situated on the banks of the Chester River, the town thrived as a shipping and trading center. In May 1774, its indignant citizens staged a tea party and threw its shipment of British tea into the Chester River in an act of defiance toward British rule and in support of Boston, which was suffering under The Boston Port Act.

Each Memorial Day weekend, the town holds a Chestertown Tea Party Festival, as residents reenact the tea party revolt on the town’s working schooner Sultana and celebrate a weekend of festivities with live Colonial music, period costumes, a grand parade, and much more. A one-of-a-kind, have to see-it-to-believe-it homemade-raft race on the Chester River brings out the creative juices of the townspeople. You just may see floating cars, oversized bottles and homemade animals floating down the river as citizens compete for the coveted Broken Tea Cup Award.

For information on the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, call 410-778-0416 or visit www.chestertownteaparty.com.

Stay, shop, dine & play

Chestertown is an easy 1 ½ hour drive from the Baltimore-Washington area and is under an hour’s drive from the Bay Bridge. The charming Colonial town is alive and bustling with activity, specialty shops, restaurants and cafes. One such cafe is Andy’s where locals come for good food and camaraderie.

Chestertown is also home to Washington College, the first college in the new nation, established in 1782 and encouraged and supported by George Washington. Because of the presence of the college, the town has an active arts feel, from galleries and musical concerts to local theatre productions by the Historic Prince Theatre.

Visitors will enjoy a walking tour of the town’s historic district, featuring restored 18th-century homes with various types of architecture that range from Georgian to Federal Gothic or Queen Anne and Victorian. With brick sidewalks and attractive antique stores, gift shops, restaurants and inns, visitors will enjoy its relaxed atmosphere.

Some of the exquisite historical homes are now bed and breakfasts and inns. One such inn on High Street is Widow’s Walk Inn, circa 1877, so named because of the appearance of a widow’s walk atop the house. Wives of seafaring men would watch for their husbands in hopes that they would return home safely. The inn is comfortable and beautifully furnished with antiques and within walking distance of the historical district. Breakfast is continental but on occasion you might be privileged to taste the innkeeper’s special treat of stuffed pancakes … awesome! Innkeepers Bob and Susan Lathroum are welcoming to their visitors. Bob sums it up nicely: “The joy of the business is the people that pass through our doors.”

The Widow’s Walk Inn is located at 402 High Street, Chestertown, MD 21620. For information, call 1-888-778-6455.

For information on Chestertown, contact the Kent County Visitor Center at 410-778-9737 or www.discoverourtown.com.

Hampton is located in the center of Hampton Roads, which is near Norfolk, Newport News, and only 30 minutes away from Colonial Williamsburg and Virginia Beach.

Hampton’s downtown waterfront district encompasses the site of the original 17th-century seaport that served as a port of entry for commercial vessels from Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. Attractions, such as the Hampton History Museum, the Casement Museum at Fort Monroe, the Hampton University Museum and Virginia Air & Space Center, tell an exciting story of a city that was burned to the ground in 1861 and rose out of the ashes to become the first site for NASA and the first training ground for the U.S. astronauts.

It’s got lots of fun, too. Young and old alike will enjoy the restored 1920s-era carousel located next to the Virginia Air & Space Museum, harbor tour cruises (in season) aboard the Miss Hampton II to view the beautiful waterfront and nearby Norfolk Naval Base. For information, visit www.misshamptoncruises.com. Downtown Hampton’s cobblestone streets offer a fun day of shopping at the eclectic shops and eateries.  Nearby Phoebus offers charming art and antique shops for a delightful shopping experience.

Hampton is also home to the American headquarters of the Cousteau Society. The gallery displays world-renowned photography and models of the Calypso, as well as artifacts from past Jacques Cousteau expeditions. For information, visit www.cousteau.org or call 757-722-9300.

Hampton is the annual site of the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival at the convention center. It is the largest quilt festival on the East Coast and features beautiful textile, wearable and fiber arts. Make plans now to attend the next one Feb. 26–March 1, 2009. For information, visit www.quiltfest.com.

Hampton History Museum

The first place to start on your tour of Hampton is the history museum, located at 120 Old Hampton Lane. For $5 and under, you can sample 400 years of life on the Chesapeake Bay. Its beautiful and thoughtful exhibits recount the history of America’s oldest, continuously English-speaking settlement from the Kecoughtan Indians to its role as original home of NASA and the U.S. space program. For information, visit www.hamptonva.us/history_museum.com or call 757-727-1610.

Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe

In 1619, a vessel carrying about 20 African-American passengers arrived at Old Point Comfort near the point of land on which John Smith and crew arrived in 1607. This historic landing marks the beginning of slavery in the New World. The Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe tells the story of Freedom’s Fort, the refuge for thousands of runaway slaves during the Civil War. It is the largest stone fort ever built in the country and the only moat encircled fort still used by the Army.

The focal point of the museum is the cell where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was imprisoned. Visitors will be intrigued by the weapons, uniforms, soldiers’ old living quarters and other artifacts and exhibits that tell the history of Fort Monroe and the Coast Artillery Corps. The museum is open year round and offers daily tours from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. It is located inside Fort Monroe and all visitors must show ID before getting onto the base. For information, call 757-788-3391.

Hampton University Museum

Founded in 1868, this world-class museum is the oldest African-American museum in the United States. It houses more than 9,500 African, Native American, Asian, Pacific Island and African-American  art objects. Your heart and soul will be touched by this one-of-a-kind collection.

The museum is located in the Huntington Memorial Building, on the grounds of Hampton University. It is easily accessible from I-64. Take exit 267/Hampton University. For information, call 757-727-5308 or visit www.museum.hamptonu.edu. There is free parking and free tours by appointment.

Virginia Air & Space Center

Visitors of all ages will enjoy spending a day at the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton, the birthplace of America’s space program and visitor center for NASA Langley Research Center and Langley Air Force Base. And please, touch everything you can. The center is designed to engage, educate and entertain even the smallest visitor. The highlight of the center is the more than 100 interactive exhibits that allow young and old alike to launch a rocket, pilot a shuttle, build a plane, and even pilot a DC-9!

As the NASA Langley Visitor Center, the space center showcases national achievements in air and space exploration with its permanent exhibit collection. The collection features many of the most fascinating space-related memorabilia. See the Apollo 12 Command Module that went to the moon, a moon rock, a Mars meteorite and more. The current traveling exhibit is “Candy Unwrapped,” which shows the sweet and sour of candy. It runs until Sept. 1.

Of course, the 3D IMAX Theater will wow visitors with its latest show, “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk,” which takes the audience on an exhilarating river-rafting adventure down the Colorado River. The show opens March 28.

The center has easy access to almost all areas and levels for members with disabilities. Wheelchairs are available and rear-window closed-captioning is available in the IMAX Theater for hearing-impaired visitors.

The Virginia Air and Space Center is located in downtown Hampton at 600 Settlers Landing Road. For information on the center and the historic carousel, visit www.vasc.org or call 757-727-0900.

For information on Hampton attractions, contact the Hampton Convention and Visitor Bureau at 800-487-8778 or visit www.hamptoncvb.com.

Known as “Usonian” (an abbreviation for United States of North America), the small, affordable and practical houses were designed to give the impression of being much larger and more spacious than they actually are. With no attics or basements, accumulating and storing large amounts of items was difficult. Materials used were wood, brick, concrete and glass; and paint was not required.

At Loren Pope’s request, Frank Lloyd Wright put his genius to work on Pope’s own Usonian home. Today, not far from Mt. Vernon in Alexandria, Va., on the grounds of Woodlawn Estate, Pope’s 1,200 square-foot house, designed by Wright from 1939 to 1940, continues to give visitors the feeling of serenity and connectedness to their natural surroundings. For anyone who has ever been fascinated by one of the 20th century’s greatest architects, a visit to the Pope-Leighey House is highly recommended.

As you approach the Pope-Leighey House, the driveway leads you to the structure’s overhang, which serves as a carport and also sets the stage for your entrance into the house. Entry is through glass doors, revolutionary for the 1940s. As you move from the overhang through the doors, the house seems to open up as you step into the living room, part of the home’s “public space.” This feeling of opening up is created by a Wright technique called compression and release, which he uses throughout the house.

The space of the living room and its limited furnishings, also designed by Wright, further open up the room. Your eye is drawn along the horizontal cedar boards of the wall and along the horizontal line of the bricks of the wall. Open book shelves line the far end of the room, carrying through the horizontal theme. Items on the shelves are vintage 1940s. Light filters through cutout designs in windows along the top of the wall, falling on the wall opposite and creating designs in sunlight that move as the sun moves — nature’s artwork. A fireplace on one end of the room is open on two sides, adding to the feeling of open space.

In the adjacent dining room, a lower ceiling gives the impression of the room being separate from the living room. Because of the dining room’s cantilever ceiling, corner glass doors can be opened without obstruction to create a sense of being outdoors while being inside. Lights above the dining room table are inset. The room’s furniture is quite portable, providing instant accommodation for visitors. Tables and chairs can be moved from one room to the other, becoming dining table and chairs or living room occasional table and sofa, depending on their location in the house. Most of the furnishings in the Pope-Leighey house are original.

Moving from the public to the private rooms requires a walk through a long narrow hallway that also relies on the architect’s compression and release technique to give the sense that the room is larger. The private section of the house consists of two bedrooms and a bathroom. Visitors will marvel at the use of built-ins that save space and contribute to the feeling of spaciousness. Ceilings in the bedrooms are low to encourage residents to spend time in the public part of the house.

The kitchen is a narrow room with a high ceiling, modeled after a Pullman railroad car galley. Lighting is under the cabinets rather than overhead to prevent shadows in the room.

The house’s final room is the office, or “sanctum” as Wright called it. Screens made of copper cover the windows on the inside, casting a golden glow in the room.

Innovation is seen throughout the house. A designer ahead of his time, Wright used indirect lighting in the living room and kitchen, bifold doors for the closets, a heating system under the floor and many other inventive solutions.

The Pope-Leighey House has had only two private owners: Loren and Charlotte Pope, and Robert and Marjorie Leighey. The house was originally built in Falls Church, Va., and later moved to the grounds of Woodlawn Estate to make room for the building of Route 66. The house is now owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is one of three Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the Washington, D.C., area (the others are in McLean, Va., and Bethesda, Md.) and the only Wright home open to the public.

The Pope-Leighey House is located at 9000 Richmond Highway on the grounds of Woodlawn Estate in Alexandria and is open March through December, Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is also open on select holidays and Mondays in March. Tours are provided every 30 minutes, with the last tour beginning at 4:30 p.m. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $3.00 for children (ages K–12). Reservations are required for groups of 10 or more or for people with special needs. For reservations call 703-780-4000, ext. 23. Technical, in-depth tours are given the first Sunday of each month, March through December.