Fun Adventures this Summer/Fall

I did several fun things late this summer and in the beginning of the fall, and I realized I never wrote a blog post about any of them! So here's a cumulative look at these outings:

1. Riding the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

My friend had wanted to take a ride along the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad for a while, and when we found a Groupon for it, we definitely knew we had to check it out. We drove out to Cumberland, MD and explored the town to kill time before the train ride started. There were some cute stores and cafes open, but the town was rather quiet since it was a Sunday morning.

Of course we had to stop by Jennifer's Desserts! That orange craisin muffin was delicious!

When we knew the train was coming soon, we went to the station, poked around the gift shop, and then got in line. There were many families there, but we spread out evenly among the cars of the train so no one was too crowded. Then we sat back and enjoyed the ride!

You can just barely see wind turbines on the mountain ridge. Past the smudge marks on the window...

The train then dropped us off in Frostburg, MD, where we had an hour to hang out before the train headed back to Cumberland. An hour isn't too much time, but then again, there's really not that much to see/do in Frostburg. But as soon as Jen and I saw the Toasted Goat Winery, we knew where we belonged. We tasted at least 10 different wines, many of which were very sweet (i.e. just what we wanted). We were enjoying ourselves so much that we realized the train was almost going to leave without us! So we chugged the rest of our tasting and ran back to the station just as the whistle was blowing.

This flip-flop Christmas tree was in the visitors center... #Random

Actually laughed out loud at this one!

The Toasted Goat likes football!

I had a really great time on this trip! Next time I'll try not to rush the wine...

2. Hiking Maryland Heights and visiting Harpers Ferry, WV

After a full weekend at the Interfusion Festival, I decided to go on a hike with a few girlfriends on Labor Day. One of them suggested a hike that overlooks Harpers Ferry, and since I had never been there before, I was excited to check it out. We had a gorgeous day; it felt like summertime, even though two days beforehand it had been cold and rainy. The drive was long, but the trip was worthwhile. This is a popular hike, but since it's pretty long, the only crowded areas were the summit and other resting points. We enjoyed our picnic lunches overlooking the Potomac River, and after regaining our energy, we hiked down to head to West Virginia. We walked along the bridge over the river (there are also train tracks across the water), and then were transported back in time to the town of Harpers Ferry. There are many older buildings there, and the businesses take pride in the town's history. On such a warm day, we were hoping to find some ice cream in Harpers Ferry; we were in luck: at least three locations on the main street served ice cream. Here are some pictures from our outing:

My friends made their way out to this ledge to get a closer look of the river.

The pillars in this photo used to hold up another bridge.

You can just make out the yellow and blue inner tubes of people tubing!

This is the bridge we crossed to get to West Virginia.

You can see Maryland Heights in the background behind the sign.

It was a long and exhausting day (I think I napped most of the way home), but such a fun trip! I highly recommend it!

3. Hiking in Catoctin Mountain Park, including Wolf Rock and Chimney Rock

AI think we did the Pink/Purple and Orange Trails, and just the Yellow Trail where it overlapped.

This fall was so lovely that I went on a third hike in late September. A friend suggested going up to Catoctin. This was a great hike! I wouldn't describe it as easy, but it wasn't super-difficult, either. The hardest but most interesting part was getting close to Chimney Rock. The rock formation is thin and tall, like a chimney. While we didn't climb that particular part, we did take a running start to jump to another formation closer to it than the main trail; then we had to climb up the rock to sit on top of it. Scary, but worth it! I was wearing my Dartmouth T-shirt, and after seeing me jumping and climbing, another hiker commented that I must have been part of the Dartmouth Outing Club. I guess word about the Big Green gets around!

We found this furry guy and watched him for several minutes. He had little red feet, too! Can you identify him?

After the hike, we headed to Springfield Manor for a wine tasting. The space is beautiful, with two outdoor porches (one for private events) and then separate rooms for tastings. Only once we were there did we realize the manor has a brewery, distillery, and lavender fields, too! We only stayed for the wine tasting, but I would love to go back to try some of their other products.

The manor gave me the empty bottles, but next time I'll actually have to try their contents!