Travel Log - Oxford and St. Michaels, MD

After our three night stay in Gettysburg, my husband and I decided to head into Maryland. My husband and I have both been in Baltimore, when he had a conference to attend. Obviously, that is only one little piece of this state, which surrounds a good chunk of the Chesapeake Bay. It was the Bay that we were interested in seeing, but we weren’t sure where to go. We stopped at a the Maryland Welcome Center and were helped by a very friendly lady who gave us brochures on places she recommended that weren’t overly touristy.

After stopping at Fredrick Coffee Company & Cafe in Fredrick, MD, we decided to spend two nights near there, getting ourselves oriented and taking one day to totally chill out in our hotel room other than running out for food. When looking for places to stay near St. Michael, which our Welcome Center lady recommended, I came across an Airbnb in Oxford, MD called The Sandaway Suites & Beach. They had a small room available and it was half the usual rate, which was much more than we typically spend for a room. My guess is after the holiday weekend, they were glad to fill the rooms, so we grabbed it for two nights.

I didn’t take any outfit shots in Fredrick, but the day we traveled to Oxford, I kept it very simple. A pair of dark wash ankle pants rolled up, my Keds sneakers, a new tee from JC Penney and a fun necklace that I found thrifting made up this easy travel outfit. The cute tee has bees on it. I should have taken some close up shots, but I was lucky to remember taking pictures at all. Ha, ha.

This was in the lobby area of the actual Inn. The check in office was actually in a different building, so when you entered this building it was quiet and just off to one side was a doorway into a library where Mark and I ate our breakfast each morning. Sorry my pictures are less than stellar quality. Phones take much better pictures than they used to, but they are not perfect.

This was a the view from the main porch of the Inn.

This was the view from the other porch…yes there were two porches!

Sunset views.

After a night of sleep we spent the one full day we had in the Oxford area to take a ferry boat ride and explore the town of St. Michaels. For this day, I wanted to look like a tourist, so I wore my Christopher and Banks cabana pants. I got these just for our trip. I simply paired them with a white tee. I would have worn sandals, but knew we would be doing a lot of walking so opted, once again for my Keds.

Here we are on the ferry.

While we were in St. Michaels we visited the Maritime Museum. We saw boat building in process, a lighthouse and lots of boats, both pleasure sail types and work boats from the past. They even had a photo exhibit on women’s involvement in many aspects of sailing, fishing, crabbing and other industries of the sea.

This was the boat that Captain John Smith, of Pocahontas fame, used to explore the Chesapeake Bay area.

Of course, we had to get pictures of fashion back in the day. Believe me, this was as close to a swim suit as I got on this vacation. Ha, ha.

How do you like these prints ladies? This was the up and coming fashion for summer quite a few years before I was even born.

This is one of the reasons it is fun to explore museums, old towns and take a closer look at our history. There are just so many interesting tidbits out there that we know nothing about, until we start to look.

When we were done with the museum we ate at this restaurant, The Crab Claw, that was right on the water. It was delicious! Mark and I split a sampler platter with shrimp, scallops and fish and also ordered some oysters. Yummy! Sorry, I forgot to take pictures, because I was so busy eating. Ha, ha.

These last pictures are from the day we left. I wanted to get a few more pictures of this beautiful place we stayed and, of course, an outfit shot or two.

I need both the porch and the swing, or as my husband calls it, a butt hammock!

Good-bye Sandaway, we will miss you.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our travels. This was not a sponsored post. I am simply sharing our adventures and have included links, so you can do your own exploring. I know my husband and I have cherished the information people have given us over the years of great places to go on vacation and they were always right.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Summertime Travels - Hikes, Rainy Days and Legos

Believe it or not, I do not have an outfit post ready for today. I have been extremely unmotivated to take pictures and my daughter and I have another photo session scheduled, but not in time for my usual Tuesday fashion post, so I do apologize for my laziness. I've already succumbed to the lazy days of summer, even though it is still spring. Ha!

Instead I thought I would write a post on traveling. My husband and I both like to travel and if you have followed my blog from the beginning you have seen me do several posts on our travels to Florida, our attempt to go to Maine last spring and a few other short trips here and there. A few weeks ago, we were able to travel back to my hubby's old stomping ground in Wisconsin. 

I was first to drive. Here my hubby is pumping gas. 

Wisconsin is a beautiful state, full of gorgeous state parks, awe inspiring bluffs, rivers and lakes, and rolling hills interspersed with working farms and polka dotted with beef and dairy cows. Wisconsin is a large state, so we kept our travels limited to the lower one third of the state. Most of our time was spent in or around Madison, which is where the state capitol is. Mad City is a thriving, growing university town, full of interesting hang outs, shopping and one of a kind restaurants.

Our first night we spent north of Madison in a little community called DeForest. We were planning to travel further north to a beautiful state park the next day called Devils Lake. The fact that I was going to be apart from my seven year old Grandson for ten days, meant that we both were going to have a little separation anxiety. He still had school during the week, but I told him to pick out a few of his legos and they would travel with me. I assured him I would be sending pictures. 

The "guys" calling for room service.

The next day was bright and sunny. I donned clothes that would be comfortable and easy to hike in. This was my outfit, but I exchanged the Keds for my hiking boots before we took our walk. This fun pair of jeans are Rock & Republic brand, which I got at Kohl's. They have a nice stretch and I love the zippered cuffs at the ankle. 

We drove the forty-five minutes north and found that most of the state of Wisconsin was hanging out at the park! We ate a picnic lunch and then proceeded to hike one of our favorite trails. 

Minions love bananas!

Here are some photos from our hike. 

At the top of the lake.

The guys wanted to hike too.

I love trees, especially with this back drop.

Another view of the Lake

Even the guys were pooped after the hike.

They slept good that night.

As you can see, this is a favorite spot of my husbands and of mine as well. He has fond memories of hiking some of these same trails with extended family members from when he was young. We were able to bring our own family here nine years ago when we all got together to celebrate my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary.

The next two days it rained, and it rained and it rained. Needless to say the guys started getting stir crazy. 

I'll continue this on a different occasion, so you can see more of the guys' adventure and more of our vacations pictures. 

Are you taking a vacation this summer? Where are you going? What are your favorite places to visit when you want to relax and have fun? I'd love to hear you thoughts. Leave me a comment or two.

Check back on Thursday, when I will have a fashion post on my Old Becomes New column.

Travel Log - Post 4

After five nights of camping under breezy, tropical, star-filled skies we packed up our tent and gear and headed north. We made a few of our favorite stops along the way. 

Frenchy's Salt Water Cafe is one of our favorite places to visit when we are in the Clearwater area. This "burger" is a deep fried filet of grouper and there is nothing quite like it! This is not the sandwich you want to eat if you are on a diet. Ha, ha. My hubby had to order deep fried oysters as well.

Instead of exploring the shops of Clearwater Beach, we moved further up Route 19 to Tarpon Springs. This little town has the flavor of a true fishing village. These fishing docks specialize in harvesting sponges. They even have a museum with a movie that gives information on how the sponge industry got started. We stopped in a few of the shops, where I bought a few gifts for family members then we got dessert at one of the Greek bakeries. Yummy!

This was my casual outfit for the day. I love the lose and comfy feel of the boyfriend jeans. I topped the jeans with a navy and white striped top. The tank top stripes go horizontal across the chest and vertical from the waist down. It's a fun look and even though the bottom flares out it still looks slimming because of the stripe direction in the right places. I wore my white fly away cardi when in the air conditioning.  Also, it helped to cover up my nasty, bright red bite marks. You can see them somewhat on my legs and lower arms. 

Here you can see the top a little better. I added some navy accessories and navy Keds for comfort while we were walking through the shops in Tarpon Springs.

Hopefully, now that we are no longer camping with the bugs, my bites will start to heal and my body will no longer be polka dotted. I love polka dots, but not on my skin! 

Have a great day.

Click on the links to see my travels from the start:

Travel Log - Post 1, Travel Log - Post 2, Travel Log - Post 3