I visited Clear Meadow Farm for the first time in my 3-4 years in Baltimore, and I'm glad I checked…read morethem out. Located about 40-45 minutes away from the city, the farm is easy to find (just type in the address on their website). The entry fee is very reasonable at $5 per car, and they also sell some food (i.e. chips, drinks, baked goods, pulled pork sandwiches) as well as sunflowers up front. Food wasn't particularly memorable but not bad, and the sunflowers were quite the deal (only $1 per stem, or 6 for $5). The actual sunflower field was reasonably sized. It was a bit difficult to navigate through the mud, and also a little hard to get good photos unless you go off the trail and into the flower beds (which you're not supposed to do), but the sunflowers were still pretty. Overall very glad I visited. Not sure if I'd necessarily make the trip out again anytime soon, but I definitely recommend it if you have not gone before!

Wonderful property to visit, a little tricky to get to, but a wonderful day. My sunflowers once…read morepicked did not stay perky too long, but I think I did not know how to care for them.

A Beautiful Small Farm Up in Northern Maryland…read more SITREP I had a joyful opportunity to travel to Northern Maryland and visit with Eddie & Laurie Downey, the very pleasant owners of the Downey Family Farm in Upperco, Maryland. THE SETUP But although I say "farm", it's MORE like a Ranch or even a Homestead, cause this wonderful spot raises BIG cattle, and by "BIG" cattle I mean TEXAS LONGHORNS! Eddie explained the fantastic inner workings of this enterprise, including the "studding"of the cows by visiting bulls! It was very entertaining to see Eddie give the longhorns treats, especially the baby longhorns. You can see the full extent of the farm's enterprises by visiting the their website link above. THE LOWDOWN *Chick-a-bow-wow, Chick-a-brown-cow*

This was spur of the moment. I doomscrolled on social media and saw this place and was like.... Why…read morenot?! Bought the tickets online. Just went and didn't know what to expect. This place was quite large. There's a dedicated parking area on rocks. There's a porta potty at the parking area. You follow the signs to the office or gift shop and you state your name that registered online and you get a container of food and you can roam the cages. Each caged area is for specific sets of alpacas and you can get to the outside through each gated area. The alpacas are friendly - some a super needy - and some just want to rest. It really depends on the time frame for each one. You can touch and feed. Some really get in your face. I was trying to kneel down to take photos and the alpacas start walking towards me. The staff is constantly taking care of them and cleaning after their... Open bathroom use. There's games and seating everywhere. It is well organized here and well maintained. The people here are nice and I got what I wanted from visiting here. Seeing tons of alpacas. There are not just 10 alpacas, there's probably around 35-60 and they are all spread out, some inside and some outside grazing and eating grass. Very humane conditions for the alpacas. You can see a horse outside too and a Shepard dog as well.

This has to be one of my absolute favorite Yelp events!…read more Black Barn Alpacas is such a beautiful space filled with the most adorable alpacas. The staff was warm, welcoming, and made the entire experience even more enjoyable. It's the perfect farm setting with a gorgeous green backdrop to spend time with family, friends, or even for a date day or night. The scenic drive there was the icing on the cake!

Nice getaway for a month with nature. Onsite free parking. $15 entry. Fheres a food truck on the…read morepremises. Sunflowers everywhere and you can take some home with you. It's lovely to see all the bees so busy at work that they don't pay you any mind. On sunny days bring a hat or small umbrella. I'd also advise long pants.

I was so excited that there was a sunflower attraction close by!…read more Tickets were purchased online and the whole visit was smooth sailing! Each ticket comes with 3 sunflower cuttings and they even offered 3 cuttings for my baby :) The attraction itself isn't huge but it's absolutely beautiful. They had some tractors and hay seats for photo ops, as well as an ice cream truck and slides for the kids. I believe there's also cows nearby but we weren't able to see them. The staff is super friendly, the attraction is clean and welcoming, and they offer hayrides! They have a covered seated area to sit and relax as well as a sandbox for the little ones. Pick some flowers, take some photos for the gram, and enjoy the beautiful sunflowers

Who are these adorable, gentle, soft and playful creatures? We met these gentle friends at Breezy…read moreHill Farm in Woodbine, MD which was about an hour's drive from DC. Alpacas, a member of the camelid family, are smaller and nicer than llamas, a relative. Mainly, they don't spit, at least not intentionally. We found these alpacas to be sweet, soft and silly. It was a little difficult to find the farm. The entrance is not clearly marked and we made at least two wrong forays onto adjacent properties before finding the farm. Once there we were welcomed by Heather, one of the owners, who gave us a brief rundown before introducing us to some of their goats, sheep, turkeys, donkey. She led us to the paddocks where the alpacas were, giving us instructions on how to approach them, how to feed them, how to pet them. Most had been recently shorn and Heather provided us with feed and the alpacas eagerly ate from our outstretched palms. They were soft and plush, the females more delicate eaters and the males (separated in a different area) were gobblers. These are animals, not pets, so while they are gentle, they do have wills of their own. It was a warm day and the alpacas enjoyed a spray from the hose. It was funny to see how excited they were to feed (reminds me of my dogs) and they ran after Heather when she got the food. Afterwards, we went to the barn where Heather, a fiber artist, demonstrated how the alpaca fur can be mixed with other fibers, how the wool is felted, and how it can be spun into yarn. There are textiles, yarn, garments for sale. Reservations are required. Sign up for the first time slot. Our tour ran over by 30 minutes and the next group had to wait. It is a picturesque drive to the farm but keep in mind that it turns into a two lane road through country lanes. We had left plenty of time for the drive but with our misdirected turnarounds and some road construction we ended up cutting it close.

We love this alpaca farm! The tour was personal and we learned so much. You can feed and pet the…read morealpacas. Afterwards you go into the shop and the tour guide can show you how they turn the alpaca fiber into clothes and other things. I would definitely recommend visiting and can't wait to come back!

This spot is kids paradise. I planned most of our day here and my kids still didn't want to leave…read more I typically saw this spot whenever I rode the Strasburg Railroad. We typically would do their Christmas Train, and rarely got back to Lancaster in the warmer months. As soon as I planned my latest summer trip, I knew it had to be on the itinerary. This place has it all from gigantic slides to gold mining sluice areas to a mini kids village that mine couldn't get enough of from the mini vet office to the drive in theater. It was really impressive. From here, you can make your way up the hill where there is a restaurant, a coffee kiosk with a delicious coconut water cold brew (wild!), and plenty of shaded sections with swinging chairs. You'll find paintball, basketball, skee ball, a pedal cart for the family, launching devices. I mean, there is a lot! The place is large so it never felt overly crowded. Come with water bottles. Even with the shaded sections it gets hot. They have water fountains by the bathrooms.

I was able to enjoy Cherry Crest Adventure Farms on the perfect fall day, and I'll be making a trip…read morehere an annual tradition. We spent hours at the farm, and could have stayed even longer. My kids loved everything from the large corn maze to the swings to the games to the playground equipment to the large sandbox filled with corn. My kids were 4 and 6 during our visit, but the farm can easily accommodate older or younger. Two notes; 1. The bathrooms in the back of the farm are new & super clean. 2. Don't feel pressure to purchase the add ones (apple chucking and paintball) - those sections are towards the back of the farm and easily avoidable. There was a variety of food options - a few standard theme park options along with specialty options like homemade ice cream.

My partner and I had an amazing time at this petting zoo…read more There were horses, goats (like 30!), baby piglets, mama cow and calf that was born just that week, rabbits, llamas, emus, peacocks, turtles, and more! The farmers were knowledgeable and friendly teens/young adults. They were very sweet to the children and ensured that all the kids could pet the baby goat born that week. The best part of our visit was being followed around by Dolly, a goat that roamed the premises, scavenging for leftover corn and dropped treats.

I've been here a few times now and my toddler loves it every time. He especially loves the tractor…read moreyou can sit on (if you have a tractor loving kiddo)! This year, they had a great deal on Groupon, which comes with a tractor ride around the farm. There's plenty of animals to look at, from baby pigs, horses, donkeys, turkeys, goats, a camel, dogs, etc. Friendly staff, clean bathrooms (yup, you heard that right), and plenty of places to sit to snack. I've also seen a few families host birthday parties here!

Destiny Dairy Bar may be Heaven on earth. On a working farm, there a tiny dairy shop that sells ice…read morecream made from the milk of the farm's cows. They also sell chocolate milk and other snacks. It's here you can buy a plate of veggies to feed the baby pigs, goats, and cows in the greenhouse behind the dairy hut. It's such a fun experience!

One of my favorite ice cream stops. Situated on a working dairy farm with plenty of goats, pigs and…read morecows to pet, feed and take pics of. The ice cream is so good. Silky smooth and you can't beat the price. The Destiny Bar also has frozen meat and milk for sale. Staff are super friendly and accommodating.

What a cute spot! Best experience with horses! Those mini guys were absolutely adorable and well…read moretaken care of! Keep up the amazing work guys!

Land of Little Horses is such a hidden gem in Gettysburg! From the moment we arrived, we were…read morewelcomed with kindness and smiles. And a special gift for a special birthday girl. The animals are so well-loved and taken care of, and the shows are absolutely adorable and entertaining for all ages. You can tell the staff truly love what they do -- they go out of their way to make the experience special for each guest. Go spend the day at Land of Little Horses, you won't regret it.

I recently attended a yoga retreat at Pearlstone Center. The meeting room where we practiced was…read morenice, with a window wall overlooking a beautiful view. However, the carpet was filthy, and clearly had not been vacuumed, even though the staff must have known we would spend all our time in that room on the floor. Several of us had immediate allergic reactions to whatever was in the carpet, and I spent the rest of the weekend on benedryl. We stayed in the Fidler's Grove cabins, and I was extremely disappointed with our accommodations. Our "kitchenette with microwave and mini fridge" consisted of a tiny fridge sitting on the floor in the hallway. It was so small we couldn't even fit our water bottles in it. That was it. No microwave, no kitchenette. The room I slept in had no heat, on a night when the temperature dropped into the 20s. We had a difficult time figuring out how to operate the heater because the instructions posted on the wall were not for that particular heating unit. Slats of the mini-blinds were twisted and broken. The sitting area was functional, but depressing. I would call the cabin overall very spartan and barracks-like. We requested a vegetarian menu, which we received. We were also welcome to choose from the buffet. With a couple of notable exceptions, the food ranged from mediocre to inedible, the main problem being that none of the cooked food was actually hot. The hummus that was provided to us as a snack was excellent, as was the whitefish we had with our dinner on Saturday night, but that did not make up for the food that was served to us the rest of the weekend. I won't go back.

Just attended a conference here last week. I was impressed with the Center from beginning to end…read more Of note: the "budget" sleeping quarters reminded me of a mountain-set chalet, with all wood interior, its own kitchen with stove and refrigerator, a reasonably large bathroom, a living room/lounge area, and more than enough clean towels. Really more than I expected. There is also an organic farm attached to the retreat center with vegetable rows, chickens, ducks, and goats. They served some produce from the farm at a couple of the meals. And the meals were also impressive, with mostly vegetarian options and the occasional high quality meat. And there were always refreshments available for those moments when you need a snack. The conference facilities themselves were also beautiful, from the large open hall on the first floor to the smaller meeting rooms to the ample rocking chairs on the porch around the main building. Not to mention that the center is surrounded by forests, streams, and a pond. Yep, it was epic.