Boldly Go Solo

Wandering solo in Richmond, Virginia, discovering black history

Green and white awnings and a small sign are all that distinguish the Richmond home of Maggie L. Walker from neighboring duplexes that have been carefully restored to their appearance circa 1925.

What distinguished Walker in her day was her skill at overcoming all the obstacles society could place before a black woman living under Jim Crow segregation laws.

But wait. Maggie who?

The answer to that is in the story I wrote on Walker for today's Washington Post travel section. I won't repeat a lot of what is in it, since you can read it for yourself. 

It was cool taking the walking tour in Richmond and learning some of the black history of the Southern city. Including about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson who was born in Richmond. 

What I didn't get into much in the Washington Post story were the hotel and restaurants I went to. I really liked Croaker's spot, a warm and friendly Southern style place. Most entrees come with a "block of cornbread." My kind of place.

I went to the restaurant solo and immediately felt at home. The host seated me at a primo table near the window. The waiter came over with a friendly, "First time?" When I said yes, he said,   "Loosen up your belt."

From what I read about the place, I wasn't getting special treatment. The staff treats everyone like this. It was fun. When I couldn't finish my seafood chili (delicious), the waiter commented, "If you could eat all the food here, we'd roll you out to the car in a wheelbarrow." I wouldn't want that. Take my plate away.

As for my hotel, I wouldn't say it was the lap of luxury, having last been renovated decades ago. But the Lindon Row Inn in Richmond had several good things to recommend it. For one, the historic inn has a nice feel to it, with an exterior walkway connecting the buildings that comprise it, although the rooms definitely feel dated.  

It also had a crucial service that I took advantage of: free shuttle service within 2 miles. Since I'd taken the bus to Richmond from D.C., I used it the service to go to dinner and back. Very handy.

And, the inn is within a few blocks of the Maggie Walker house in the historic Jackson Ward. 

At the end of my weekend, I ended up in trendy Shockoe Bottom for a couple of hours, waiting for my bus. I didn't like that. It felt like a jolt that brought me back to the present time. I had enjoyed living in another era for the weekend. 

Photos: Ellen Perlman

1. Maggie L. Walker house, National Historic site. 2. Linden Row Inn. 3. Kitchen, Maggie Walker house. 4. The Hippodrome, restored historic theater.

The Christmas 11. Holiday hiking for those looking to get out of the house

The "11" refers to the number of miles.

While others were unwrapping presents or scarfing down turkey or perhaps banging forlornly on the doors of closed stores, 20 of us gathered for a Christmas Day hike.

A long one.

It was hosted by the Wanderbirds, a hiking club that more typically hires a bus to drive hikers from the Washington, D.C., area to the Shenandoah Mountains for day-long, scenic hikes.

The hike was one of at least three offered by area hiking clubs.

We started at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. Everything was closed but the gates to the parking lot.

After hiking out of the gardens, we ended up on trails in the Rachel Carson Conservation Park.

Just one pileated woodpecker made its presence known during the four hours we tromped through the woods. Often I hear lots of them on local hikes, "creating starter homes" as a fellow hiker joked.

The day was chilly. But you warm up nicely at a brisk pace and this pace was more than brisk. That leader had some long legs!

Real ghosts for Halloween...scary!!!

They say that if you walk late at night, up Hog Alley, a short, steep street in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., you might see a tall black man, dressed like a gentleman from the 1800s, pacing up and down. If you get close enough, he slowly lifts his head to show piercing blue eyes. But when he lifts his head a little farther, you see blood dripping from a scar that goes from ear to ear. . . .

Agghhhhhhh!

This story is continued in Friday's Weekend section of The Washington Post. The headline is, "An eerie twist on 'living history.' "

I went on the O' Be Joyfull ghost tour in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and visited The Haunted Cottage there as well.

The Harpers Ferry Ghost Tour

Rick Garland, the guide of the ghost tour in the historic area of Harpers Ferry related stories about the ghosts of people who actually died in the area, many during the Civil War era. Some Confederate soldiers, some abolitionists, some young boys sent to help the soldiers.

Harpers Ferry lodging, ghosts and pancakes. West Virginia is indeed wild and wonderful.

A guy I hardly knew cooked me breakfast yesterday. Pancakes. An Israeli guy from New York. 

Actually, "hardly knew" overstates things. I didn't know him at all. But Raz from Queens not only cooked me a batch of pancakes, he also gave me a rundown of all the places I should go and see in Israel - which I'm planning on visiting in January.

This is what I love about hosteling. Particularly when traveling solo.

You are unlikely to feel lonely at most hostels.

In the short time between when I checked in at the Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, hostel (actually located in Knoxville, WV) and left to visit the historic town of Harpers Ferry, I ended up talking to two bicyclists and one weaver, all staying there.

Top spas in the U.S. and Canada, on cruise ships and in hotels

In a third-hand account of spa-going, I offer you the results from this year's list of best spas, based on a reader poll done by Conde Nast. I tried going directly to the Conde Nast site, but they offered their results with that annoying web trick of forcing you to click here, there and everywhere to see all the results.

Instead, you can go to A Luxury Travel Blog and see all on one page, the top spas in the U.S., Canada, Hawaii (yes, I understand that Hawaii is part of the U.S., but I didn't make up the categories), cruise ship spas, spas in Mexico and Central America, spas in the Atlantic and Caribbean and top hotel spas.

Take the recommendations with a grain of salt...or with a sugar scrub. Theses spas are not being reviewed by us skilled and trained professional journalists, you know, those of us who majored in spa going and can write about it objectively.

But the list of top spas  at least gives you some names of places to research if a solo spa vacation is in your cards. While you're researching, of course, investigate what the solo scene is to see if you'd enjoy going alone.

10 good ideas for solo travelers

Visiting a new place? Ride a bus to the end of the line and soak up the sights while coming and going. Get off the bus if you see something or some place that strikes you. Maybe get back on and go to the end of the line after that. Or maybe not. 

I love this tip. But I didn't think it up. It's from Pico Iyer, a great travel writer, well known in the biz.

He's the one who compiled the list of 10 things every traveler should do. I'm just throwing some of them out there and suggesting you read the whole list. 

Iyer says he did the bus thing in Miami and ended up in a "spicy part of Little Havana... that seemed to capture the essence of the city."

Farm Fresh North Carolina is the go-to guide to farm fun

How much do you know about the alpacas, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, live Christmas trees and other fab finds in North Carolina? We're talking here about hundreds of farms, wineries, agricultural festivals and bed and breakfasts you can visit in your travels.

Well, if you need to find out more, you should get a copy of Farm Fresh North Carolina, a statewide guide to all the farms and other cool agriculture-related places you'll ever want to visit in the Tar Heel State.

Even a "chocolate lounge!" (The cacao's not local, but the fruits, berries, honey, eggs and milk they use for their truffles come from nearby. And this guide is all about North Carolina agricultural products and buying local.)

It's written by my friend and fellow travel writer Diane Daniel. The food editor of The Washington Post, writes: "Her exhaustively researched guidebook will make you want to jump in the car and plan an entire getaway celebrating the family farm."

Solo vacation in DC for cherry blossom seekers

The cherry blossoms are coming! Very soon now. I happen to be highly aware of the impending pinkness (pinker as buds, then very pale pink as blossoms) because I was immersed last month in writing a cherry blossom guide for a hotel magazine.

Recently, the National Park Service announced its prediction of the peak cherry blossom bloom times: March 20 to April 3.

While a lot of the cherry blossom events are for kids and families, several would be perfect for solo travelers looking for company while in D.C. I'm thinking about doing one or two of these myself, even though I've been to the Tidal Basin's beautiful cherry trees many, many times. And even though I might visit at other times with friends.

Washington Walks offers a "Blossoms Secrets Stroll" that teaches you all the cherry tree lore you could possibly want. I just learned that the 17th-century Japanese stone lantern near the Tidal Basin, where a veritable forest of cherry trees resides, is the oldest manmade object in the country that's not housed in a museum.

Solo cross country skiing in Cape Elizabeth in southern Maine

The sound of cross country skis in fresh snow has never mixed with the smell of the sea in my imagination. Until this year.

I met up with my friends Adele and Sheara in Boston last month for our 14th annual cross country ski weekend. After an overnight in Massachusetts, we headed to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, near Portland, a new destination for us. 

While my cross country skiing jaunts have never been solo trips, keep reading solo travelers. Everywhere we skied, we saw solo skiers. Mostly female. Several accompanied by dogs. But clearly the ski areas are popular and safe spots for solo skiers.

Did George Washington ever travel solo in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia? Hm...

Old Town Alexandria is one of those cute cobblestone historic areas that modern Washingtonians love to visit. A few authentic cobblestone streets remain, but most streets are paved.

Still, many of the sidewalks are bricked, which lends an old-fashioned feel to the 15-plus blocks of unique galleries, shops and restaurants.

I've written two travel stories on Alexandria for different newspapers. Today being Presidents' Day (the merged February birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, our first and 16th presidents), I figured I'd rerun one of the stories here. (This one ran in the Kansas City Star and the St. Petersburg Times.)

Read about George Washington's haunts, other Virginia history and the Alexandria of today. It's easy for solo visitors to get to Old Town Alexandria without a car. The Metro system drops you off within walking distance of the locations mentioned in the following story:

"Alexandria paints picture of the past"

George Washington liked to ride over from his Mount Vernon home to Gadsby's Tavern in this Potomac River town to drink, discuss the successful Revolution and attend a banquet from time to time. Two-and-a-half centuries later, people still head to Gadsby's Tavern, and other bars and restaurants in Alexandria, to drink, talk about the war and, once in a while, attend a fancy dinner.