Writer for Young Adults
I love Newport. It's one of my favorite things about living in Rhode Island: drive 45 minutes and you're in the middle of a gorgeous port city, filled with historic houses and fun restaurants and bracing sea air. When my sister visits in the spring or summer, we often try to fit in a trip to… Continue reading Afternoon Adventure: Newport, RI
Last year, my parents bought 40 acres of forested land in Hiram, Ohio, so my dad can expand his maple sugaring operation. When I visited them last week, they were deep in the process of having the land surveyed so they can (fingers crossed) build a driveway and maybe, just maybe, a little house with… Continue reading Plain Encounter
AKA: That time we went to Downton Abbey. We saw all sorts of wonderful things on our honeymoon. The Churchill War Rooms, the Tower of London, Stonehenge, the Sherlock Holmes Museum, a play with Sîan Phillips...and yet, now that we're back, every time someone asks us what we saw, the first thing out of my… Continue reading Afternoon Adventure: Highclere Castle
Happy December! I've just returned from a whirlwind trip home to Cleveland for Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful to see family and take long walks and eat lots of delicious (modern) food. Around the holidays we often reflect on the past--not only our recent past and childhoods, but the "family past," stories about my grandfather's… Continue reading Afternoon Adventure: The Tavern Club
As evidenced by my various afternoon adventures, I love visiting historic sites. I will drag Josh to living history museums just to pretend I'm living in colonial New England (more on that soon). When my parents called to say they were planning a weekend in upstate New York, and that they hoped to visit some… Continue reading Research comes from the unlikeliest of places
About a month ago I met up with my parents in Hyde Park, New York, for a weekend of sight-seeing and poking around historic places (this is the order of the day with my family). After touring two painters' homes on the first day, we headed to the Vanderbilt Mansion bright and early on Saturday.… Continue reading Afternoon Adventure: Vanderbilt Mansion, Hyde Park
As a teenager I went to an all-girls school, one steeped in tradition and programs that recalled English prep schools. One of the big ones was chapel, where we heard guest speakers and senior speeches. Before the program began, we often sang a community song, with sheet music left on every other chair for students… Continue reading Afternoon Adventure: Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village
Dear blog,Today you are older and hopefully wiser. (I'm not sure I am.) We've done quite a bit this past year...cooked from recipes from 1967, 1903, and the 1st century ADvisited Downton Abbey through Victorian and Edwardian recipesanalyzed nutrition, 1900-stylefallen in love with making ice creamcanned tomatoesgotten nostalgic with old family photosharvested from my kitchen… Continue reading Two years
A month ago my family met up in Philadelphia to celebrate my sister's graduation. We had some free time before the festivities began, so we drove about an hour outside of the city to the Brandywine Valley, former home of painter Andrew Wyeth and current location of some absolutely beautiful estates and gardens.We spent the… Continue reading Afternoon Adventure: Longwood Gardens
I want to say something meaningful about all this horrifying news coming out of Boston, but I can't find the words. There's only so much sadness I can take in at a time, especially when it's on such a vast scale as the Marathon and a citywide manhunt. At some point I just need to… Continue reading Afternoon Adventure: Servant Life Tour at The Elms
Abby Murphy 