DC: Montpeilier Mansion in Laurel, MD

 One afternoon I took the Metro (a wonderful device) up to the end of the line in Maryland to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousin in Laurel and College Park. They drove down to the commuter station to pick me up.

I've seen them a number of times over the years, but hadn't been to their house since I was a teen, so it was as treat to see them on their turf, reconnect, and visit with my cousin's young kids, whom I'd never met.

A highlight of the visit was a trip to Montpelier Mansion, a county-owned art center where my aunt keeps a ceramic studio and has been an art educator and exhibitor for many years. The house dates from the late 1700's and was a nice contrast to the much larger mansions of the Lee/Custis  and Washington/Custis families. More human in scale while retaining some of the grandeur of wealth. Beautiful grounds surrounded it as the lawn rolled down to a nearby creek where goods raised on the plantation were shipped down to the Potomac.

It was also fun to see my aunt's studio in the reconstructed art barn, and the room where my other cousin, now living in England, was married. Memory lane and new adventures on the same trip.