Good Living

Bring on the Grapes

If you’ve got five acres, you’ve got a ready market and help starting out

Southern Maryland takes a step closer to becoming the California — at least the Virginia — of the Atlantic Coast, this fall, with a new grant encouraging farmers to plant vineyards. While Maryland wineries have burgeoned, Maryland grapes have lagged behind.

article – Good Living

– by Karen Rust – 11/3/11

One Grand Gala

One family’s crusade to cure cancer puts the fun — and feast — into fund-raising

If you haven’t made an appointment to have your hair done, or if your favorite Tommy Bahama shirt or little black dress needs to go to the laundry, you had better hurry. There’s just one week left before the biggest party of the year: Rod ’n’ Reel’s annual Celebration of Life Gala.

article – Good Living

– by Margaret Tearman – 7/28/11

More Confessions of a Secret Boatbuilder

Even the Bay Gardener doesn’t thrive on vegetables alone

The latest addition to my fleet of boats I’ve built or restored is a 16-foot strip sea kayak. This was a two-winter project requiring some of the skills I learned when building my 16-foot strip canoe. However, this project required having to scarf all strips for added strength and building a deck to fit snugly over the hull. The deck was built on the same form as the hull, but the trick was maintaining the shape so that when attached to the hull, it could be glued and sealed.

article – Good Living

– by Dr. Francis Gouin – 6/9/11

Treasure Hunting

X marks the spot on the Captain John Smith Trail

Once upon a time, seeking treasure meant following the dubious guidance of a hand-drawn map through grave dangers. Scurvy, mutiny, greed and confusion — not to mention blood-thirsty competitors and territory-conscious wild animals — were perils treasure hunters faced in seeking the spot on the map marked by X. The Global Positioning System changed all that.

article – Good Living

– by Heather Boughey – 6/2/11

Park Quest Took My Family Back to Nature

Now It's Your Turn!

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. -John Muir

article – Good Living

– by Heather Boughey – 4/14/11

Bay Weekly’s annual Groundhog’s Movie Review

Burrow down until spring with these classic flicks

Each year, when Bay Weekly’s resident rodent cinephile Chesapeake Chuck comes out of hibernation on Groundhog Day, he presents his movie picks, knowing we’re in for six more weeks of homebound winter. This year, Chuck found inspiration while watching the Academy Award nominations and decided to revisit the classics now — before the 2011 Oscars add more films to the pantheon. What makes a classic?

article – Good Living

– by screened by Diana Beechener – 2/3/11

What Are You Doing Next Year?

12 calendars to spruce up the march of time

In the pages of this illustrious paper, I get credited only as staff writer occasionally. For the most part, I’m Bay Weekly’s Calendar Editor. I’m the one who tells you what’s happening in Bay Country every day of every week. It’s my job to rely on calendars, to get the dates right and to plan ahead. I look at a calendar every day. Every. Single. Day.

article – Good Living

– by Diana Beechener – 12/9/10

Lighting Up the Holidays

A little juice goes a long way for these Duffy Electric Boats

Where does the only Earth-friendly, $1-a-fill-up fuel in Annapolis come from? The nearest electrical outlet. As long as the power cord is long enough, Sally Koch, owner of SJ Koch Duffy Electric Boats, can run not only her boats but also as many electrical appliances as captain and crew can operate.

article – Good Living

– by Aries Matheos – 12/9/10

Avoid the Christmas Crisis

This Jewish Jeweler sets gifting guys on the right road

No matter what people have told you, it is not just the thought that counts. It really is the gift. It should not be so, but it is. Christmas is beloved by children and by women who get the right gift.

article – Good Living

– by Roberta Safer – 12/2/10

Trailer Tips

Avoiding water-logged bulbs

Anyone who has launched a boat via a trailer soon realizes that the lights on the trailer function correctly right up to the first submersion. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. The left turn signal will function, but not the left brake light; only the brake lights work, but not the signals; signals work at random and the running lights have disappeared.

article – Good Living

– by Capt. Allen Delaney – 10/14/10