If you’ve been listening to this show, you probably know that I live in Baltimore.  I’ve lived here for the last 17 years.  But my first 18 years were spent in Southern New Hampshire, right on the border of Massachusetts.  I would always tell people that Boston was my city, and I still might say that when the Red Sox are doing well. 

And while I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of Massachusetts and all it has to offer, there’s so much in that state that I’ve not had a chance to experience.  People get an impression that Mass is all about Boston, The Cape or witches.  Those certainly are big pieces of the puzzle, but they’re just pieces.  

The history you can find in Massachusetts alone is magical.  This country was started right on those streets, and so much of it has been preserved so we can still enjoy it.  The sports are great, and no I’m not just talking about their pro teams.  Major, and even global, sporting events are held there on an annual basis.  Then there’s the landscape of the state as a whole.  They have everything from beach to city to small towns in the mountains.  My favorite thing about all of that is how close everything is.  

Joining me today is Kate Fox.  She’s the executive director at the Massachusetts office of travel and tourism.  We’re going to have a good chat about my sort of home state and really dive into all the many reasons you need to make a trip up to New England.

Let’s kick off the new year with some inspiration to get out of your house and hit the railways.  I love taking the train.  I live in what’s known as the Northeast Corridor.  Essentially it’s the area between Washington DC and Boston.  The whole route is connected by rail and people often use them to get around.  Prices can be cheaper and I find the train to be so much more convenient than flying.  I almost always take an Amtrak or regional rail when I go to New York City because I’m not about fighting traffic to get into the Big Apple.

While I’m used to using the train, most Americans miss out on it.  We always hear about how Americans under utilize trains.  But there are rails going throughout the entire country.  This is where Vacations By Rail comes into play.

Vacations By Rail plans these special trips that take you through some of the most beautiful spots in the United States.  I’m talking the National Parks, Colorado, Southwest, Alaska and so many more.  And these trips are specially designed to make sure that you get a full experience of the location you’re visiting.  Some of them even provide unique opportunities that only come around every so often, like trips to see the Northern Lights.

Vacations By Rail isn’t limited to the United States.  They have incredible tours that go all around Europe as well as other countries.  Seriously, these people have put together some remarkable packages.  I’m excited to discuss some of those with Liz Owens, she’s the senior vice president and general manager for Vacations By Rail.  I promise you after this conversation you’ll be on their website looking for a trip.

When I think of Sarasota Florida, the first thing that comes to mind is baseball.  I live in Baltimore and the Orioles have their spring training home right there in Sarasota.  I think about the Grapefruit League and all the teams that start preparing for their new season under the sunny skies of Florida.

But Sarasota County has more to offer than baseball stadiums. Sarasota County falls just south of Tampa and just north of Fort Myers.  I think a lot of folks may overlook this beautiful space of the Sunshine State when flying into other major airports nearby. I’ve been to Florida plenty of times, but it’s always been to Orlando or points further south.  

My conversation this week is with Kelly Harb.  She’s the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Visit Sarasota County.  Kelly totally opened up my eyes to the wonders of Sarasota.  If I’m being honest, Florida isn’t exactly on our trip list at the moment, but I’m going to bump Sarasota up near the top for our next trip.  I hope you enjoy my conversation with Kelly Harb.

I remember when I was first getting ready to move to Maryland.  Everyone I knew had some kind of comment about the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  Those voices got even louder when I officially moved to Baltimore.  I couldn’t believe it.  How was an aquarium this huge attraction for everyone?  All of my old friends and family who visit Baltimore always want to go to the aquarium.  Even my wife has told me that when she was younger her school in Upstate New York did a trip down to the National Aquarium.  

Then I finally made my first visit to the National Aquarium and I totally got it.  First of all, the aquarium is situated right in the center of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area.  It’s like a beacon right in the middle of everything.  And while some businesses and buildings have come and gone over the last 40 years, the aquarium still stands proud.  There’s something soothing and even hopeful about having the aquarium there on the water.

If you pay a visit to the National Aquarium, you’ll find a wonderful tour through a beautifully designed building that gives you experiences with all forms of wildlife.  But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the folks at the aquarium.  They’re involved in so many different conservation efforts around the Baltimore area, and world.  And they offer so many other programs for people to take advantage of.

So let’s talk more about the joy of the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  I’m joined today by Emma Wesoloski.  She’s the vice president of marketing and engagement strategy for the National Aquarium. v

I think it’s fascinating how many beautiful and exciting places there are right in our own backyards that many of us have never seen.  This podcast has opened my eyes up to so many things around where I live in Baltimore Maryland.  I’ve lived in Maryland for the last 17 years and I’ve had conversations through this podcast about places in this state that I’ve never even seen.  I can’t help but think about all of the wonderful things I’ve been missing.

That’s also a feeling I had during this week’s conversation.  I grew up in southern New Hampshire.  I like to think that I hit up a lot of cool spots while I lived there.  I used to snowboard all over New England, I spent a lot of time camping in the mountains, and always loved a trip to the beach.  But there is on particular famous New England spot that I never made it to.  That was Martha’s Vineyard.

It’s legendary, right?  Martha’s Vineyard.  It’s been in movies and TV shows and so many famous stars have homes there.  It’s one of those places that almost doesn’t seem real.  But it very much is.  The Vineyard has a beautiful community of people that live there year round and provide such a wonderful experience to visitors.  

I’m joined today by two guests who know Martha’s Vineyard inside and out.  Erica Ashton is the executive director for the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, and Alessandra Hagerty is the Deputy Director.  I hope you enjoy our conversation.

I’ve lived in Baltimore Maryland for the last nearly 17 years, I spent a year in DC and about 8 in Philadelphia.  But I grew up in New England.  The first 18 years of my life were spent growing up in southern New Hampshire.  Like most people in New England, I was really into winter sports. I started snowboarding and spent most of my winters on the mountains of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.  Living in that area I’d see the bumper stickers and commercials for all of the local ski resorts.  One of the most popular was Stowe Vermont.

The Stowe bumper stickers back then were just as popular as the OBX stickers you see today.  They were everywhere.  For whatever reason I never made it to Stowe.  It’s just not a spot that my friends and I traveled to.  Now, part of the reason is it was a little too far out of the way for a day trip.  But I’ve only ever heard wonderful things.

If you’re looking for a mental image of Stowe Vermont, the best way is to picture a village from a Hallmark Christmas movie.  That’s what Stowe looks like.  Lots of small businesses, hardly any national chains, beautiful scenery and everything you could want to have a nice getaway from the madness of your life.

While I grew up knowing Stowe primarily as a ski resort, there’s so much more there.  It’s amazing in the spring and summer with tons of events planned.  And it’s beautiful in the winter as well even if you weren’t heading on the mountain.  Joining me today is Carrie Simmons…she’s the executive director of the Stowe Area Association…otherwise known as GO STOWE.  I hope you enjoy our conversation.

My wife and I became parents back in 2020.  It’s our first and only child.  Our families would ask us what we wanted or needed for her.  Aside from the typical things like diapers, formula and some clothing we really couldn’t think of anything.  Then my wife had the idea of a membership to the Maryland zoo in Baltimore.  We figured our kiddo would love walking around to look at the animals, even though she was still too young to really understand it.  Also, a membership allowed us to come and go as many times as we pleased.  So, if we went and she wasn’t feeling it, we could leave and not feel like we were wasting our money.

Fast forward a few years and we still have a membership there.  The zoo has become a special place for my family.  It’s the place we go whenever we need to get out of the house and enjoy a nice day outside.  We go year round and our daughter loves it.

The Maryland zoo in Baltimore is the nation’s third oldest zoo.  It has been such a pillar for the Baltimore community for the last 150 years or so.  And the zoo has become big on the world wide conservation scene.  The Maryland Zoo is dedicated to conserving wildlife for future generations, and keepers often visit other spots around the globe to work on local communities.

Take the African Penguins for example.  They are in crisis and could very well become extinct thanks to things like climate change and over fishing.  The Maryland Zoo has been heavily involved in working to keep them alive.  The zoo cares for the largest colony of African penguins in North America, and it has a strong partnership with groups in Southern Africa trying to help these beautiful animals continue their legacy.

The Maryalnd Zoo has some big changes coming up in the next couple of years that sound really exciting.  I’m excited to share this conversation with Kirby Fowler…the president and CEO of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

One thing I’m realizing while I do more of these conversations is that there’s a lot about Maryland I don’t know about.  I had always thought that I had a pretty good understanding and knowledge about the state.  But then I speak with folks like today’s guest and I know that there’s huge pieces of this state I’m missing out on.  And I feel bad about that.

At one point in today’s conversation I talk about how this piece of Maryland gets forgotten a lot.  I do think that’s true for a lot of people.  I know it sounds bad but I don’t mean it that way.  Today we’re talking about St. Mary’s County.  If you’re looking at a map of Maryland, St. Mary’s County is the southeastern tip of the mainland of the state.  It sort of wraps around the eastern side of DC.  For me, once I hit the Capital Beltway I feel like I’m out of Maryland.  I always forget about all of the incredible places that are just around the other side of our nation’s capital.

Today I’m speaking with Liz Mildenstein.  She’s the executive director at Visit St. Mary’s.  I learned a lot in this conversation.  Like I had no idea that the colonial capital was in St. Mary’s County in Leonardtown.  That’s kind of fascinating to me.  I hope you enjoy our conversation about St. Mary’s County.

It’s easy when you live somewhere to overlook the beauty that’s right in your backyard.  I always think back to when I moved to Philadelphia for a few years.  One of the things I wanted to see was the Liberty Bell.  I asked a friend who had lived in Philly her entire life to go with me one day.  She told me she had never seen the Liberty Bell.  I was dumbfounded. If you’re not familiar, the Liberty Bell is literally right in the middle of the city.  I would’ve thought that just dumb luck would’ve brought her by the bell at one point.  But I guess not.

I’ve lived in Baltimore now for nearly 17 years.  I like to think that I’ve gotten around to see a lot of the big spots, but I know there are still plenty of places I haven’t gone.  There’s this mental thing with me where I think about visiting one but then say, “nah I’ll see it next time.”  Then it just keeps getting pushed off.

Today’s conversation is about one of those places.  I’ve driven by Ladew Topiary Gardens so many times.  Each time I say to myself, “we need to come check this place out.”  Then one thing leads to another and we never do.  After having this chat, I’m feeling very embarrassed for not visiting earlier.

I’m speaking with Emily Emerick.  She’s the Executive Director for Ladew Topiary Gardens.  She has been there for a long time and knows the gardens inside and out.  This was a fascinating conversation.  I’m definitely planning on making a visit here soon.  I hope you’ll consider it too.  Please enjoy our chat about Ladew Topiary Gardens.