Mailbox Monday: A Little Cottage in Maryland

Doing the Ladew

Ladew Gardens was  begun in 1929 when Harvey Ladew bought the farm. No, he didn't die then; indeed, it was the beginning of a legacy for all to enjoy. He purchased Pleasant Valley Farm in Maryland and started to plant. He was a self-taught gardener and ahead of his time in our country for creating separate garden rooms using a theme. There are twenty-one separate gardens to tour.

Love the chairs!

There are several fountains and other water features.

The Japanese beetles were feasting on the roses.

and they were in the process of making more beetles. 

A fruit garden was named the Garden of Eden. The living wall below was composed of  pear and apple trees that had been espaliered. 

There were varying bird, bat, bee and butterfly habitats.

This little building was a teahouse. In keeping with its exterior, it was quite formal inside. 

The feature that attracted me to the gardens was the topiaries, for which it is known. Below is the hunt scene on the front lawn of the house. Beyond this group, and out of the photo, the fox leads.

The topiary garden  was a little difficult to decipher. 

Some were in need of a trim. Interestingly, we saw no gardeners at work on this Saturday morning. There were volunteers in the gift shop and butterfly exhibit, but no one was out maintaining all of these plants. 

Ladew was certainly worth the country drive and provided an entertaining morning.

Frederick, Maryland

On the way to Maryland, we got stuck in a traffic jam in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. We probably spent 45 minutes inching along toward and through where some tree trimming was progressing. We had time to see the rafters on the Potomac River. We were thankful we had adequate gasoline and for cold sodas and cheese crackers and nuts that we had in the car as we waited and waited at lunch time.

When we finally made it through, we saw mile after mile of interstate traffic backed up, trying to get through the same two-lane, down to one-lane, spot. We felt really sorry for the truckers and the people just trying to get to the river to put in their kayaks.

We selected Frederick, Maryland for a lunch stop. Trip Advisor had recommended a barbecue place called the Black Hog. We found it right in the historic district. It was a charming and bustling town, with high stoops to accommodate the snow.

The popular Black Hog had a really cool building and the food wasn't bad.  Because it was so late, B and I split a plate. I like pulled pork to have more flavor, even before you add the sauce, than this had and it was a little pricier than we are accustomed to. I tried the cole slaw which was vinegar-based, but I found it to be bitter.

In both the ladies' and men's rooms, we were amused to find flatscreen televisions mounted on the wall in front of the commodes. I guess you don't want to miss a minute of the Terrapin or Oriole action. 

Down By the Station

The night we spent at the Peaks of Otter was B's birthday. I wanted dinner to be some place special. I selected the Liberty Station in the town of Bedford, Virginia. It was a short twenty minute drive down to the valley. The restaurant is in a newly restored train station and featured a mural of the Peaks.

The hostess operates from this ticket office.

The decor was fun. The staff was well-trained and the place was spotless.

A freight train came by while we were eating. It was very close on the other side of the chain link fence, but only the rumbling noise of the engines arriving was a little loud.

I have never seen fresh bread presented in this way. Each kind was delicious, as was the pink cherry butter.

Our food was perfectly prepared. We rarely order dessert, but since it was his birthday, he enjoyed a fresh peach cobbler a la mode and I had this amazing three-berry strudel. The portions were generous and we saved half of the strudel and enjoyed it at another time.

Bedford is the home of the National D-Day Memorial. We just missed it at closing time, but saw the grounds (from the closed gate) and outside of the museum. Bedford was selected as the site for the memorial to the more than 9,000 soldiers who died then because it suffered the highest per capita loss in the country, a very sad claim to fame.

Peaks of Otter

There are only two lodges on the Blue Ridge Parkway: one in North Carolina and one in Virginia. The Pisgah Inn in North Carolina is one of our favorite breakfast spots, as it sits high on top the mountain and has commanding views all around. On this trip, we spent one night at the Peaks of Otter Lodge in Virginia.

People have been coming to the Peaks for 10,000 years to hunt and more recently as a travel destination. The log building below was known as Polly Woods' Tavern, also called an ordinary. She provided necessities to travelers as early as 1840.

This is where we stayed. The rooms are very basic and not quite modern, but they are comfortable and the lake view is lovely. Each room has a private porch overlooking the lake. We enjoyed the peacefulness in the evening as the fireflies danced, and again in the morning as the mist lay across the water.

An easy trail circumnavigates the lake and we enjoyed walking it in the evening. 

We don't see many signs like this in Florida!

We knew we had a long way to go to get to Baltimore, so we were first in for breakfast. 

Here was our view while we ate. Across the lake was a grassy area and we watched three deer grazing on the hillside.

Others were comfortable nibbling grass around the parking area.

This little guy with his mama was trying out his legs, running all around and jumping, It put on quite an entertaining show.

Mabry Mill

The Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia is a picturesque site where we saw the century-old grist mill that ground corn into grits and cornmeal for over thirty years.

Other buildings of a homestead are open for visitors that include a blacksmith shop, wheelwright and sawmill. 

We were amused by this rabbit trap in the yard.

These are either Sweet William or phlox, but lovely, either way.

We popped into the gift shop, but did not eat in the popular restaurant there.

The Beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs from North Carolina to Shenandoah, Virginia, for a length of 469 miles, following the spine of the mountains in three mountain ranges. We drove 200 miles of it on this trip, all in Virginia. The average altitude is 3,000-4,000 feet so there are plenty of beautiful views and the temperatures, hovering around 70 degrees, were so nice, considering it was July and broiling down below.

The road was built in the 1930s by the WPA.

There are some short tunnels.

Commercial vehicles are prohibited. There was hardly anyone on the road. There are no intersections to stop at to slow you down from the posted 45 mph.

There are outstanding picnic areas.

The 2,200-mile Maine-to-Georgia Appalachian Trail crisscrosses the road for many miles. 

There are lots of little interesting places to stop and explore.

This is the Puckett cabin where Orelena Puckett spent her later years. She lived to be 102. When she was in her 50s, she started her career as a mid-wife and before she died, she had delivered over 1,000 babies. She was in the final year of her life when she delivered the last. Of her own children that she birthed (numbering twenty four), sadly, none survived infancy.