Farm Country in St. Mary's County

 Quite a few years ago, I was delayed getting to work by a car accident and the police had me detour through some big farms to get back to work.  I went back to visit the area (Brown Road, Cedar Lane Road, Blacksmith Shop Road), to find some photos of the scenery that makes our County what it is.

Leonardtown area farms

Blacksmith Road

Curves

I liked the patterns in the crops.

Merkle Wildlife Drive in Autumn

We went back to take the wildlife drive from Patuxent River Park to Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary even though the weather wasn't as good as the previous week, since it is only open Sundays 10am-3 pm.

Echinacea

Virginia Creeper

Hollywood Area Visit August 2022

We wandered around Hollywood to look for water, boats and anything interesting or places we hadn't seen before.  Here are my favorites.

Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge

Boat Ramp

Blackstone Marina

Hibiscus

Chapel Point State Park

We drove to a tiny park in Charles County last week, taking a chance that it wouldn't be as trashy as some of the reviews mentioned.  Charles County did make an effort to reduce the trash, with signs and trash cans.  It was fairly yucky, but had potential and had a postage stamp sized beach.  I couldn't imagine going there in the summer with a crowd of people.  We didn't have a lot of time anyway, so we didn't stay long.  I did find an interesting looking old barn in the woods in the hunting area that helped a little.  I played with an overexposed photo of it a little to see if I could make it look like an old grungy photo.

Old Barn

Old Barn in color

Hunting Area

Beach

 

Trail in the woods

Here is what I left out of the photos.  

It is ashame that some people are so inconsiderate!

Summerseat Farm Open House June 20, 2021

 I went on a photo outing, the first one where I met with friends outside in a year.  Summerseat has lots of farm animals to visit and a medium sized garden with a historic house.  Fun!

Coco with a young boy

Tiger

Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

On the way to Townsend, TN, Jim got a bad migraine, so I suddenly had to drive for hours and we detoured to avoid the super highways that make me uncomfortable.   We stopped for an almost inedible dinner at the wrong restaurant in Maryville and arrived very late in the dark.  The next day, Jim felt a little better, but not well enough to go out for the day.  I drove to Cades Cove alone later than I planned. 

I stopped to see the John Oliver place on a hill.

After a very long traffic jam, caused by a bear sighting, I stopped at the edge of the road, to learn what was happening.  I photographed the back of a black bear before it walked away.  A lady with a long lens told me it was a male, but there were usually more.  I drove away and after about 50 yards, a woman signaled for me to pull over.  I didn't.  Later, I heard there were SEVEN bears I missed when I didn't pull in.  I'm including my BAD photos of the bear. The joke was on me.  Ha Ha!

At the Methodist Church, rebuilt in 1902, there was a small graveyard.

The Missionary Baptist Church was built in 1915 and was active till 1944.

Near the Cooper Road Trail, the view was lovely.

 The biggest exhibit was at the Cable Mill Historic Area and Visitor Center.  The old John P. Cable Grist Mill was picturesque, even though the light was dappled.  Built in 1868, it is still in use, grinding corn meal and flour.

The Gregg-Cable House had a very rustic roof

and there was a big barn with a "drive through" in the middle.

At the Dan Lawson Place, there was big water puddle reflection in the barn that was interesting.

At the Tipton House, built in the 1870's...

 there was a big Cantilever barn replica across the street.

My last stop in Cades Cove was the Carter Shields Cabin, dated around 1910.

After leaving the park, I reached Townsend, about 5 minutes from our cabin, where I received about 10 urgent messages from my poor husband who had suffered through another nasty migraine headache.  Feeling awful, I rushed back to see him.  

Our Cades Cove Cabin