What's in Dave's Head

Over the years, Donna and I have explored most of Maryland’s regions: The mountainous west and north, the beaches to the east, and the areas around the dominant Chesapeake Bay, which cleaves the state in the middle. But we had never ventured to southern Maryland, so we recently took a day trip to St. Mary’s County, at the southern tip of the state's western shore, to visit Goldpetal Farms there and experience this rural area rich in Maryland’s history.  The farm is in the village of Chaptico, at the mouth of Chaptico Bay, near the confluence of the Wicomico and Potomac rivers. It’s about a 90-minute drive from our house in Columbia without traffic. After navigating frenetic I-95 and I-495 and passing Joint Base Andrews, we exited onto Maryland Rte. 5, AKA Branch Avenue. As we headed south, we encountered towns and roads we had only heard about on our local news radio’s traffic reports: Camp Springs, Clinton, Brandywine. Just before Waldorf, Branch Avenue becomes Rte. 301, or Crain ...

In recent years we’ve rented houses on New Jersey’s Long Beach Island for a week and hosted our kids and their families. This year, we decided to try something new: Donna and I rented a house on North Carolina’s Outer Banks for a week to kick off summer with our children and their families. It was one of the best family vacations we’ve had. The weather was fantastic the entire week. The ocean water was so warm that even Donna got in. The beach was composed of soft, powdery sand and the waves were mostly calm. Skittish ghost crabs, with their pincers up and their eyes atop periscope-like stalks, would partially emerge from their hiding holes in the sand, cautiously sidestep a couple feet, then dart to another hole. Patrols of pelicans, rarely seen at LBI, were ubiquitous, and we saw dolphins arching just past the breakers nearly every day. The house Donna had found – she has a knack for finding great vacation houses – was perfect. Oceanfront with private beach access. Pool. Seven be...