Stray Kat

I’d like to introduce you to a bit of the history of my native area, starting with a unique feature of the landscape that made what is now the Rome, NY region critical to westward expansion.  I’ll try to get the details correct in a simplified version of events, but if any of my new ranger friends are reading, please feel free to correct me or add more details in the comments! Rome was founded on an ancient portage, or carrying place, that connected…

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On Tuesday I went to the F.X. Matt brewery for a tour.  This brewery makes the Saranac line of beers and sodas, as well as some production for smaller microbrewers who need extra capacity for large runs. Our guide took us first through some displays of the products produced by the brewery over the years, and also portraits of the four generations of the Matt family that have owned and run it, starting with Francis Xavier Matt who founded the business in…

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After my disappointment at Hershey, I wanted to avoid the artificial and get back to the real world, so I turned east and drove into Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch country.  It’s beautiful, green, and peaceful here, with horse drawn buggies on the roads and lovely farmland all around. I hesitate to say too much about the Amish residents here, as I know very little about their community and can only repeat what I’ve heard, but…

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All my life I’ve assumed that Hershey, Pennsylvania was some kind of magical, Willy Wonka-esque place where Oompa Loompas, or maybe even elves, prance around singing songs while concocting varieties of chocolate that just aren’t available anywhere else.  So when I found myself passing nearby, I had to stop for a look.  And, okay, maybe I was thinking of stealing an elf, but only if s/he was tired of chocolate and wanted to go for a ride!  Overall, though, I’d…

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I think it’s only fair to warn you up front that this is going to be a long post!  I decided to stay in Harpers Ferry for another day, and to make a day trip to Washington DC.  There’s just so much to see and do in DC that it would have been a shame to miss it, and as it turns out, you can do a lot in one day, because many major attractions are close and the DC…

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