December 10, 2024 • 25 mins
Letitia Engel from Visit Montgomery joins us to unwrap the holiday magic waiting in Montgomery County, Maryland. From the Winter Lights Festival at Seneca Creek State Park to vibrant local shopping, get ready to explore the ways to enjoy local and create unforgettable memories with your loved ones.
Sip and savor the holiday spirit as we wander through Montgomery County's Tastemakers Trail, featuring its thriving craft beverage scene. We highlight must-visit spots like Windridge Vineyards and Fallen Oak Distillery and suggest festive events like Silver Branch Brewery's lively New Year's Eve party. Shake up your gift-giving tradition this year by considering experiential presents, from thrilling rope courses to creative glass-blowing classes and even a round of Topgolf. Let's celebrate the season by embracing the vibrant community and diverse activities right in our own backyard, appreciating the joy and convenience of staying local.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening, moco.
In today's episode we provideyou with ways to spend your time
and money in Montgomery County,maryland.
Joining me today is VisitMontgomery's Letitia Engel.
Hi there, how are you today?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
All right Staying nice and toasty.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's so cold outside.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You know it's hard to do, like, the walk from my car
is the longest walk I've had allyear long.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
And I play golf and I walk a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
But when the wind, especially today, today the wind
is exceptionally harsh and andit's cold, it's like 30 degrees,
40 degrees, all and all of asudden, because just a few weeks
ago we had 60 degrees and itwas, it was beautiful, still
t-shirts and jacket weather, andnow it's cold, it's the winter
it takes time to adjust, butyeah it's toasting here, but
that's that's great, though Ithink it's appropriate for this
time of year, and that's whywe're here to talk, and you're
(01:07):
with Visit Montgomery, all right, and you're the senior
marketing manager.
What does that entail?
What do you do for VisitMontgomery and what does Visit
Montgomery do for those thataren't acquainted?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Sure, so Visit Montgomery is the destination
marketing organization forMontgomery County.
Maryland is the destinationmarketing organization for
Montgomery County, Maryland.
Residents don't always realizethat there's a vibrant tourism
economy here in the county.
Just in 2023, we saw 8.6million visitors to the county.
(01:38):
And what do they do when theycome here?
They spend money.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yes, all right $2 billion, to be exact in 2023.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's a lot of zeros .
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yes, all right $2 billion, to be exact in 2020 and
2023.
It's a lot of zeros.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yes, so it's really great for our businesses and
attractions to really help withthe thriving things to do in the
area.
It's awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And there's this thing called staycation, because
we're in an area where there'sa lot of competing interests.
If you're right outside ofWashington DC, northern Virginia
has a vibrant community withplaces to shop and things like
that, but a lot of people maynot know Montgomery County.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
It's here.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You don't have to leave here to buy great gifts,
to have great experiences foryour family, to enjoy the
holidays right here inMontgomery County, maryland.
So let's jump right into it.
But before we do, I would be sorude not to ask you how was
your Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I had a beautiful Thanksgiving in the area local
with my family.
A lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Really All right.
Now.
What was your favorite dishduring Thanksgiving?
Was there a dish that stood out?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I love the pies.
All right, an apple pie, apumpkin pie.
Thank you.
All right, an apple pie apumpkin pie and for me.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I'm a food guy so I don't eat it as much as I used
to.
I'm trying to be a bit betterwith my food and Dr Keisha, the
county's health doctor, told meyou know, enjoy your food, do
your plate a certain way, butyou know, not as much, not as
much excess.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So I can have all the pie.
But I can have, I can enjoy thepie.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Enjoy a slice or two, and I have all the pie, but I
could have, I can enjoy thejoyous slice and I can still
watch, and I actually like tosit back and watch pies being
made and then people eating pies.
This is us.
It's fantastic.
But what you know?
What else I like to see, though, this time of year?
I love seeing the holidaylights, the decorations, all
those things.
What about people like me?
What do you have to say forpeople like me that want to get
out with our families, get inour car and go out and see some
(03:26):
reindeer or a giant Santa?
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Claus, or whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
What are those things ?
Are there some things like thatin the county, and where can we
see them?
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Absolutely, and, and as you mentioned um, we're a
great resource for visitors, butI always encourage people to be
a visitor in their own backyard, right, we're a very large
county, um, I live up county butI love to head out, you know,
downtown um, and vice versa soexploring in the area, and the
(03:52):
most popular thing to do thistime of the year is to see the
winter lights, and we have a lotof really great places um that
you can see the winter lightsall throughout the county, um.
So, uh, have you been to any ofthe light shows?
Because you might have to startcreating a list.
You have a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I need a list.
I need a list.
I need a list.
I definitely need a full listof where to go.
I know that I've seen them overthe years.
There's one where you drive inyour car.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yes, so that's the Winter Lights Festival in
Gaithersburg, so you drive inyour car.
Yes, so that's the WinterLights Festival in Gaithersburg,
so it's actually in SenecaCreek State Park.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Oh wow, it's a three.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
and a half mile drive .
I like to turn on the holidaymusic, bring the hot chocolate
with the kids in the back of ourminivan and go through the
three and a half mile drive slowand steady.
All throughout the park thetrees are lit.
There's you know 450 displaysthat they have.
(04:51):
It's really, really magical.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Now you mentioned the minivan, so that makes me think
of families.
Is this a great thing forfamilies to do?
This is a great thing foreveryone to do, everyone to do,
all right, okay.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And then so that's for a cold day like today.
That's a great one, becauseyou're in your cozy car With the
heat on.
Yes, absolutely, but we have afew that are just as incredible.
When you can go outside andbundle up Brookside Gardens
Garden of Lights Okay, that oneout in Wheatonon their theme to
(05:28):
go along with the garden themeyou're you're walking around and
seeing um flowers and animalsand um just uh, more natural
displays within that you wouldsee in the garden.
So it's really cool to see, youknow, a million lights in all
different ways, um, if you makeyour way through.
(05:48):
A fan favorite is nessie um,he's a uh like a fire breathing
dragon the smoke comes out.
So it's pretty interactive.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
The kids always love that one all right, yeah, that's
like the lock, like the locklike the lockness monster?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
okay, like nessie.
Oh wow, okay, and we have thathere.
That's right here, all right,you can see nessie only in
montgomery county can you seenessie.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's right in the united states of america.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
That's fantastic, fantastic the other side of the
county if you head out to onlyokay winter city lights.
It's pretty cool.
So what you do there?
lots of things to do there, ohwow okay they basically have um,
like like sledding, likepretend like snow sledding, um
these, um slides that the kidslove.
(06:35):
Going down, you walk throughand they have like a 52 foot
ginormous tree that's playingthe music and doing it's a
little like dancing to the songsand it's surrounded by tons of
fire pits so you're just hangingout by the fire.
You can get s'mores kits seethis display.
(06:55):
Um, when you've had enough ofthat, there's a mile and a half
trail that you can go through,with all the selfie spots along
the way wrapping through this isquite a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
This is great, though , because you're incorporating
not only beautiful areas, butplaces where people can go and
walk.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Be, active.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Be active.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Even though it's this time of year where you eat more
.
You're eating more sugar,you're eating more pies, the
s'mores and the chocolate andthe marshmallows melting and the
graham crackers.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You have an excuse to eat those when you can pair it
with a mile and a half walk.
A mile and a half walk throughthe lights.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
This is wonderful.
And of course, you saidBrookside Gardens as well, and
they have about a mile or so oftrail where you can walk as well
.
So that's great, all right,cool.
So we talked about a few of theplaces where you can get into
the holiday spirit, with thelights and the fire pits and all
those things that we associatewith the season.
What else do we associate withthe season, but shopping?
Oh boy, and oh boy.
(07:54):
I'm guilty.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
That's one of my favorites, I didn't start
shopping yet.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I haven't started shopping yet and I don't know
what I'm going to get.
I know there's one guy thatdeserves a PS5, so I'm going to
get that for him.
So, Um, I know, I know there'sone guy that deserves a PS five,
so I'm going to get that forhim.
Uh, so, you know, my nephew,you know, you just look, Santa
Claus has got you covered, buddy.
Um, but other than that, youknow what?
What can I do if I wanted togive the gift of something from
the County?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Okay, we have a lot of great shopping centers,
downtown areas.
There's the Clarksburg outlets,but there's also a lot of local
small boutiques.
To find that unique gift If youhave a foodie in your family,
Shafa Blends here in Rockvillehas their own custom teas and
spices.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Joyful Bath does handcrafted small batch like uh
body care items so um bath bombsand scrubs and soaps that smell
amazing.
They have their own fragrantblends.
If you head over to RockvilleTown Square the shop local is
(09:01):
part of the Women's BusinessCenter at their handmade gifting
items.
(09:22):
It could be their glassware,the ceramics, their jewelry
decor, and it gives them abrick-and-mortar spot to sell
these items to.
So it's a pretty cool program.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You can get one-of-a-kind gifts.
Are we able to access that,like walking through downtown
Rockville, or is that a place wehave to schedule?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
It is a storefront, you go right in.
Yes, it's wonderful, that'sfantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
So shop local, shop small, and there's particularly
an incubator program where wecan support people that are the
next big thing, absolutely A lotof big things.
Started so small.
You know, started so small.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
They have to start somewhere, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And then you could say I bought, I knew them.
When I bought mine, it wasauthentic, made by the owner
right.
How about that?
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Another fun thing that people don't think about to
find a unique gift is we have anumber of museums throughout
the county that have gift shops.
Okay, so you could head toJosiah Henson Museum and Park,
if you have a history lover, tolearn about the story of, story
of the underground railroadbooks and other things that you
can find um, as well as headingto the mansion at strathmore.
(10:28):
Brookside gardens has a as agift shop, sandy spring museum.
It's a great way to supportthese museums, um, in a unique
way and find something differentthat your loved ones wouldn't
expect those gifts.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Right, right and you can give a gift to your children
the gift of education.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Education.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
that's right, or for your family when you have those
long 10 days or not long 10 days, of course the kids' short 10
days of Christmas break whereyou're able to do.
You know you're not in school,but you're not.
You're not, you're notsedentary, you know you don't
necessarily want to be in thehouse all that time.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And they're conversation starters too.
You can talk a little bit aboutwhere you got it and why you
got it, and then possibly mightspark interest for them to visit
the museums in the future.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
And if you have family in town, you can show
them some of our treasures,which is the wonderful and rich
history of Montgomery County,Maryland.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Now, some people, kind of like myself, like to
enjoy themselves a little bitduring the holiday season and
kind of associate it with thefellowship part.
I like to have a nice localbrew, some wings.
I like to have a nice localbrew, some wings.
You know, what do you have interms of celebratory activities
for people that want to?
I don't want to drive into thecity, but I want to go out and
(11:50):
have a drink and have fun withmy friends and family.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Montgomery County has a really diverse and vibrant
craft beverage scene.
We have breweries, wineries,distilleries, cideries.
Did you know?
We have a meatery.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
A cidery.
A cidery and a meatery.
They're really actually quiteawesome.
Should we break this down a bit?
Let's break it down because acidery I'm assuming that's apple
cider or some type of fruit orsomething right?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Of a hard cider.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Okay, wow.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yep, yep, yep.
Ok, Wow, yep, yep, yep.
So what?
So?
Visit Montgomery has createdwhat we call the Tastemakers
Trail, which is a self-guidedcraft beverage trail throughout
(12:38):
the county that highlights theurban and farm breweries,
wineries and other producers, soit's a great way to go and
explore and learn about all thedifferent types of producers and
makers, these local familieswho are having a lot of fun
creating these different brewsand blends.
I love heading over toWindridge Vineyards, so they
(12:59):
have a beautiful tasting roomwith panoramic views of
Sugarloaf Mountain.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Oh, really Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
And they have both gas and wood-burning fire pits
outside, so you can still spenda nice cozy time around the fire
out in the wintertime, which islovely.
Many of the breweries farmbreweries like Lone Oak and
Bordaca have Instagram worthyyurts, so tents that you can
hang out in.
So you bring our phones and youknow I get our selfies going
(13:27):
and pictures of the fire pit,because it's not worth doing if
you can't take a selfie andshare it.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
If it's not worth a selfie and a share, then why go
Right?
You know, that's what's thepoint of going.
Okay, I agree.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
So so those are awesome places to head out to
Lone Oak Hashtag visit.
Moco has also opened Fallen OakDistillery, which is a
wonderful addition to theirbrewery.
So their brewery is very familystyle.
You bring your, you know yourfriends and your you can bring
(14:03):
your kids are welcome to runaround.
There's a playground, dogfriendly.
On the other side they've justopened Fallen Oak Distillery,
which is a more elevatedexperience.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Adult only Elevated.
Elevated, okay, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
So if you have a hot date and there may actually be a
speakeasy there, so I mean, I'mjust saying if you want to find
something fun and interestingthere may be a speakeasy, all
right.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
All right, leticia.
All right, you heard that here.
Ok, you guys happen to find out.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Let me know, All right.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Let us know and hashtag visit MoCo All right,
yeah, there's, there's.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
There's lots of places to go and see.
Silver Branch Brewery andSilver Spring is doing a fun New
Year's Eve party so they'regoing to have have buffet food
open bar, so that would be a funway to roll in the new year.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
So wow, that's awesome.
So we have things to do.
We have places to go to see thelights and all the beautiful
decorations that associate withthis time of year.
We've talked about places wherewe can shop local and small and
supporting micro businesses andstill learning how to refine
their craft, of their businesses, which is the gift of giving is
(15:19):
even better when it benefits agrowing business in such a way.
And then we also know placeswhere we can go and fellowship,
both as a family, of course, youknow, visiting and walking the
trails or having a beverage withour family and friends, and
there may even be a speakeasysomewhere Speakeasy.
There are people that don't knowSpeakeasies are referenced a
(15:40):
lot to what the 1920s that'sright.
There was prohibition and youcould not drink legally in
America.
So there are these places wherewe're usually found behind
hidden doors.
Absolutely, there are theseplaces where we usually found
behind hidden doors, where youcan drink your finest whiskey or
bourbon or maybe beer.
But you know if you're going togo for it, you know why drink
(16:01):
beer.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
And they're just associated with just finding
that hidden door and justexperiencing something really
fun, like what is going tohappen behind that door, and
it's so cool and it's a warmeratmosphere than a lot of the big
clubs that you might go to orbig bars you go to.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's a comfortable environment and I think the
eclectic feel to it as well kindof adds to the excitement.
And again I will say Instagramworthy, tiktok worthy.
You know, if you're a TikToker,maybe you might want to go find
that and see.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
You know, if you're a TikToker, maybe you might want
to go find that and see, youknow, and then hashtag visit
MoCo.
So I'm just saying, speaking ofof of those experiences, um,
it's this time of the year, youknow, when you have your family
and friends who just haveeverything.
What do you give them, right?
Speaker 2 (16:49):
That person.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Maybe an experience.
All right Okay.
All right Okay.
So there's a lot of that, too,that you can do.
You can gift experiences likegoing rope through rope courses
and zip lining through the treesat the Adventure Park.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You know doing a gift card to a glass blowing class
at Glen Echo Park for the artsycreative type there's a glass
blowing class, there is Okay,all right.
So I haven't done it, but it'son my bucket list.
Why not?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Why not?
Why not make your own vase orvase?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
or glasses, or whatever or whatever.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
whatever you can make at our, you know, as a beginner
.
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
That's right For for someone who's a little bit more
outdoorsy adventure.
You could do a gift card towhitewater kayaking at kaleva.
So what they do is they takeyou um on river tours or
whitewater kayaking down um thepotomac river oh wow.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
So it's pretty fun give the gift of adventure of
experiences.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
That's right.
For someone who might not be asadventurous, Topgolf is always
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You know what, if anyone out there wants to send a
gift in and I can't acceptanything over $25, but you want
to send a gift card for Topgolf,you'll accept it.
I'll grudgingly accept it andgo hit a lot of balls into the
net and roll a few off the teebox.
But that's awesome.
That's really good for thegolfer in your life or people
that just love to get out andhave fun.
That's right.
I think soft golf is foreveryone.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
And there's a lot of performance venues doing shows
at Strathmore Roundhouse Theater, olney Theater doing
performances throughout the year, and so you can always get um
season tickets for someone ohwow I've never, I've never, you
know, I haven't thought aboutthat as much.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
You can buy tickets for a particular concert or just
for a venue.
Um, that would be a gift thatkeeps on giving, or or more or
less, an experience, as opposedto just buying them um a watch.
You know, here go, let's go gosee this artist that's very
popular and is very meaningfulthis time of year as well.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It's a way to make memories, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, and it's a lot more.
I think there's this thing now,where people are.
You know the, the.
It's not even now, as it's beenfor a while.
You only live once, you knowand where you wait.
Experience is a lot more thanthings you know.
You just get out there, get outthe house, go do something, see
some things, enjoy some thingsand maybe they'll take you with
(19:20):
them how about that?
Hey, go, here are tickets to anartist that I really like
there's two of them ticketshere's.
Here's a gift card to top golfthat you may may not want to be
gift to you.
All right there you go allright, good, thank you, thank
you.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Leticia, all right.
Lots of ideas, lots of greatideas there.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
So a lot of this gift giving not common ideas either.
So you look like you're a verythoughtful giver and I think the
thoughtfulness, or you know youthinking about the gift that
you give, as opposed to justswiping a credit card and
running through a store veryquickly or hopping on Amazon and
quickly buying something duringCyber Monday, means a lot more
(20:00):
to people than just if youactually go out and think about
it or go out and get them aticket, something that's not
common, that's easy or easier todo.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Absolutely.
They're going to remember it alittle bit more.
They'll hopefully enjoy it more, and then you're supporting
local businesses, right?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
And by easy I mean you're putting more thought into
it.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
But to buy the tickets may be able to be done
online or to a quick visit tothe venue to get those things
done.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
So okay great, all right.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Wow, this is a lot to consume it is a lot to consume
we have put together.
Visit Montgomery has a holidayhub where you can access all of
these resources right so if yougo to visit montgomerycom
holiday, uh, that's just a lotof resources and more like a lot
more options.
(20:51):
Um, there's an events calendarof all the things going on
throughout the area.
Um, every weekend we're, umwe're finding fun things to do
throughout the County.
Um, this weekend we knowthere's a lot of tree lighting
ceremonies there.
Uh, they're doing, uh,fireworks over the lake front at
Rio.
Uh, you know you can findSanta's workshop at Westfield,
(21:14):
montgomery like.
All of these events, um are onour calendar.
So it's really great way to beable to plan your weekend of
shopping and of having fun.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
All right, fantastic.
So let's say that one more time.
I think it really helps to sayit a few times because this is
going to be a podcast.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
If someone's in their car trying to memorize, visit
Montgomery dot com, forwardslash holiday backslash,
whatever it is whichever theslash is that gets you there
holiday, holiday, holiday,holiday, um just holiday,
holiday.
Okay, just holiday, yep we alsohave a visit uh, visit moco app.
Okay.
So what I love about the app isall of these resources that we
(21:54):
have up on our website get feddirectly into the app.
We find that it's a greatplanning tool where you can find
these businesses, plan yourweekend.
You can create an itinerary soyou find a few things that you
like an event or a restaurant ora winery you just add it to
your plan.
You've created an itinerary.
(22:14):
It helps map it out for you.
You can send it to a friend sothat they're in the loop
itinerary.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
it helps map it out for you, you can send it to a
friend so that they're in theloop and and you can does it, so
you so you can download that atany of the app stores.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Visit searching, visit moco on um at the apple
app store or google play store,um.
So that's a great resource andwe're seeing that um, the people
who downloaded are using it,because I see about 80 percent
of our the users are repeatusers, so they're coming back.
They're finding it helpful.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Now are there things in there I think you may have
mentioned it, but other thingslike incentives, that like
coupons or special codes ordiscounts or a frequent flyer
miles.
I don't know Are there thingsin there that would be really
fun to have frequent flyer miles.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
So there are.
There is a section for dealsand discounts, but what I have,
what I'm excited about right now, so we activate the app a few
times throughout the year andright now and by that I mean
what we do, is create these funways, we gamify the experience
to get you out and to exploreMontgomery County, and right now
we have a holiday drink tour.
(23:17):
Digital passport passport allright.
So there are over 20 businesses,uh, that are participating in
this where they have holidaydrinks alcoholic, non-alcohol.
You get hot chocolate, you canget, you know, your holiday
cocktail.
So you go visit these places.
You check in at the location,on the app, you say'm here, and
(23:38):
every time you check into one,you're getting entered to win up
to $600 in giveaways to thesebusinesses.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
That's a great way to have a winter adventure where
you can do your little microblog on your Instagram account
and you just 20 different drinksthat you had via the Visit MoCo
app.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
And then you hashtag Visit MoCo the entire time
through, and whether you hashtagVisit MoCo the entire time,
through Every time.
And whether you're having hotchocolates or you're doing
cideries or whatever you'redoing out there, all those
wonderful drinks you can havethis holiday season.
It's great.
It's right there in the app.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
It's a great way to mix between your holiday
shopping, your ice skating, yourvisits to the lights and
stopping along the way at allthese different places while
you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So it's and it's fun.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
It's fun.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
The game, the games are fun.
The scavenger hunts or the uh,the, the trails or the walks
really really add a different,uh level of engagement to what
you're doing, which otherwisemight be a monotonous time for
some people.
Not all of us are blessed withfamilies locally, Not all of us
are blessed with enough time togo and visit, but there's things
(24:43):
to do here in Montgomery County, Maryland, whether with
yourself or with a loved one orloved ones, or, if you do, bring
your family in or get out andmeet people.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Get out and have some fun.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Get out and have some fun.
You know you're having troublewith those ideas.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
visit Montgomerycom okay, trouble with those ideas
visit Montgomerycom Backslash orforward slash holiday.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
You get all your ideas there.
So thank you so much for beinghere.
I really appreciate this.
So now I have all these thingsto do, I started the day off
with trying to figure out whatI'm going to get for gifts and
figure out what I'm going to dowith the rest of my month to
have a little bit of time off.
Now you know.
But now I don't have tonecessarily leave Montgomery
(25:22):
County to have a good time.
So thank you so much for beinghere today and thank you guys
for out there, for listening andfor sharing and for liking and
for subscribing.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Thanks for listening to what's Happening, moco.
Please subscribe via yourfavorite podcasting platform and
follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,facebook, instagram or YouTube
(25:49):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening, moco.
In today's episode we provideyou with ways to spend your time
and money in Montgomery County,maryland.
Joining me today is VisitMontgomery's Letitia Engel.
Hi there, how are you today?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
All right Staying nice and toasty.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's so cold outside.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
You know it's hard to do, like, the walk from my car
is the longest walk I've had allyear long.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
And I play golf and I walk a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
But when the wind, especially today, today the wind
is exceptionally harsh and andit's cold, it's like 30 degrees,
40 degrees, all and all of asudden, because just a few weeks
ago we had 60 degrees and itwas, it was beautiful, still
t-shirts and jacket weather, andnow it's cold, it's the winter
it takes time to adjust, butyeah it's toasting here, but
that's that's great, though Ithink it's appropriate for this
time of year, and that's whywe're here to talk, and you're
(01:07):
with Visit Montgomery, all right, and you're the senior
marketing manager.
What does that entail?
What do you do for VisitMontgomery and what does Visit
Montgomery do for those thataren't acquainted?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Sure, so Visit Montgomery is the destination
marketing organization forMontgomery County.
Maryland is the destinationmarketing organization for
Montgomery County, Maryland.
Residents don't always realizethat there's a vibrant tourism
economy here in the county.
Just in 2023, we saw 8.6million visitors to the county.
(01:38):
And what do they do when theycome here?
They spend money.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yes, all right $2 billion, to be exact in 2023.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's a lot of zeros .
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yes, all right $2 billion, to be exact in 2020 and
2023.
It's a lot of zeros.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yes, so it's really great for our businesses and
attractions to really help withthe thriving things to do in the
area.
It's awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And there's this thing called staycation, because
we're in an area where there'sa lot of competing interests.
If you're right outside ofWashington DC, northern Virginia
has a vibrant community withplaces to shop and things like
that, but a lot of people maynot know Montgomery County.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
It's here.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You don't have to leave here to buy great gifts,
to have great experiences foryour family, to enjoy the
holidays right here inMontgomery County, maryland.
So let's jump right into it.
But before we do, I would be sorude not to ask you how was
your Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I had a beautiful Thanksgiving in the area local
with my family.
A lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Really All right.
Now.
What was your favorite dishduring Thanksgiving?
Was there a dish that stood out?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I love the pies.
All right, an apple pie, apumpkin pie.
Thank you.
All right, an apple pie apumpkin pie and for me.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I'm a food guy so I don't eat it as much as I used
to.
I'm trying to be a bit betterwith my food and Dr Keisha, the
county's health doctor, told meyou know, enjoy your food, do
your plate a certain way, butyou know, not as much, not as
much excess.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So I can have all the pie.
But I can have, I can enjoy thepie.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Enjoy a slice or two, and I have all the pie, but I
could have, I can enjoy thejoyous slice and I can still
watch, and I actually like tosit back and watch pies being
made and then people eating pies.
This is us.
It's fantastic.
But what you know?
What else I like to see, though, this time of year?
I love seeing the holidaylights, the decorations, all
those things.
What about people like me?
What do you have to say forpeople like me that want to get
out with our families, get inour car and go out and see some
(03:26):
reindeer or a giant Santa?
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Claus, or whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
What are those things ?
Are there some things like thatin the county, and where can we
see them?
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Absolutely, and, and as you mentioned um, we're a
great resource for visitors, butI always encourage people to be
a visitor in their own backyard, right, we're a very large
county, um, I live up county butI love to head out, you know,
downtown um, and vice versa soexploring in the area, and the
(03:52):
most popular thing to do thistime of the year is to see the
winter lights, and we have a lotof really great places um that
you can see the winter lightsall throughout the county, um.
So, uh, have you been to any ofthe light shows?
Because you might have to startcreating a list.
You have a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I need a list.
I need a list.
I need a list.
I definitely need a full listof where to go.
I know that I've seen them overthe years.
There's one where you drive inyour car.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yes, so that's the Winter Lights Festival in
Gaithersburg, so you drive inyour car.
Yes, so that's the WinterLights Festival in Gaithersburg,
so it's actually in SenecaCreek State Park.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Oh wow, it's a three.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
and a half mile drive .
I like to turn on the holidaymusic, bring the hot chocolate
with the kids in the back of ourminivan and go through the
three and a half mile drive slowand steady.
All throughout the park thetrees are lit.
There's you know 450 displaysthat they have.
(04:51):
It's really, really magical.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Now you mentioned the minivan, so that makes me think
of families.
Is this a great thing forfamilies to do?
This is a great thing foreveryone to do, everyone to do,
all right, okay.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
And then so that's for a cold day like today.
That's a great one, becauseyou're in your cozy car With the
heat on.
Yes, absolutely, but we have afew that are just as incredible.
When you can go outside andbundle up Brookside Gardens
Garden of Lights Okay, that oneout in Wheatonon their theme to
(05:28):
go along with the garden themeyou're you're walking around and
seeing um flowers and animalsand um just uh, more natural
displays within that you wouldsee in the garden.
So it's really cool to see, youknow, a million lights in all
different ways, um, if you makeyour way through.
(05:48):
A fan favorite is nessie um,he's a uh like a fire breathing
dragon the smoke comes out.
So it's pretty interactive.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
The kids always love that one all right, yeah, that's
like the lock, like the locklike the lockness monster?
Speaker 3 (06:02):
okay, like nessie.
Oh wow, okay, and we have thathere.
That's right here, all right,you can see nessie only in
montgomery county can you seenessie.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's right in the united states of america.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
That's fantastic, fantastic the other side of the
county if you head out to onlyokay winter city lights.
It's pretty cool.
So what you do there?
lots of things to do there, ohwow okay they basically have um,
like like sledding, likepretend like snow sledding, um
these, um slides that the kidslove.
(06:35):
Going down, you walk throughand they have like a 52 foot
ginormous tree that's playingthe music and doing it's a
little like dancing to the songsand it's surrounded by tons of
fire pits so you're just hangingout by the fire.
You can get s'mores kits seethis display.
(06:55):
Um, when you've had enough ofthat, there's a mile and a half
trail that you can go through,with all the selfie spots along
the way wrapping through this isquite a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
This is great, though , because you're incorporating
not only beautiful areas, butplaces where people can go and
walk.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Be, active.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Be active.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Even though it's this time of year where you eat more
.
You're eating more sugar,you're eating more pies, the
s'mores and the chocolate andthe marshmallows melting and the
graham crackers.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
You have an excuse to eat those when you can pair it
with a mile and a half walk.
A mile and a half walk throughthe lights.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
This is wonderful.
And of course, you saidBrookside Gardens as well, and
they have about a mile or so oftrail where you can walk as well
.
So that's great, all right,cool.
So we talked about a few of theplaces where you can get into
the holiday spirit, with thelights and the fire pits and all
those things that we associatewith the season.
What else do we associate withthe season, but shopping?
Oh boy, and oh boy.
(07:54):
I'm guilty.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
That's one of my favorites, I didn't start
shopping yet.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I haven't started shopping yet and I don't know
what I'm going to get.
I know there's one guy thatdeserves a PS5, so I'm going to
get that for him.
So, Um, I know, I know there'sone guy that deserves a PS five,
so I'm going to get that forhim.
Uh, so, you know, my nephew,you know, you just look, Santa
Claus has got you covered, buddy.
Um, but other than that, youknow what?
What can I do if I wanted togive the gift of something from
the County?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Okay, we have a lot of great shopping centers,
downtown areas.
There's the Clarksburg outlets,but there's also a lot of local
small boutiques.
To find that unique gift If youhave a foodie in your family,
Shafa Blends here in Rockvillehas their own custom teas and
spices.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Joyful Bath does handcrafted small batch like uh
body care items so um bath bombsand scrubs and soaps that smell
amazing.
They have their own fragrantblends.
If you head over to RockvilleTown Square the shop local is
(09:01):
part of the Women's BusinessCenter at their handmade gifting
items.
(09:22):
It could be their glassware,the ceramics, their jewelry
decor, and it gives them abrick-and-mortar spot to sell
these items to.
So it's a pretty cool program.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You can get one-of-a-kind gifts.
Are we able to access that,like walking through downtown
Rockville, or is that a place wehave to schedule?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
It is a storefront, you go right in.
Yes, it's wonderful, that'sfantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
So shop local, shop small, and there's particularly
an incubator program where wecan support people that are the
next big thing, absolutely A lotof big things.
Started so small.
You know, started so small.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
They have to start somewhere, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And then you could say I bought, I knew them.
When I bought mine, it wasauthentic, made by the owner
right.
How about that?
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Another fun thing that people don't think about to
find a unique gift is we have anumber of museums throughout
the county that have gift shops.
Okay, so you could head toJosiah Henson Museum and Park,
if you have a history lover, tolearn about the story of, story
of the underground railroadbooks and other things that you
can find um, as well as headingto the mansion at strathmore.
(10:28):
Brookside gardens has a as agift shop, sandy spring museum.
It's a great way to supportthese museums, um, in a unique
way and find something differentthat your loved ones wouldn't
expect those gifts.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Right, right and you can give a gift to your children
the gift of education.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Education.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
that's right, or for your family when you have those
long 10 days or not long 10 days, of course the kids' short 10
days of Christmas break whereyou're able to do.
You know you're not in school,but you're not.
You're not, you're notsedentary, you know you don't
necessarily want to be in thehouse all that time.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And they're conversation starters too.
You can talk a little bit aboutwhere you got it and why you
got it, and then possibly mightspark interest for them to visit
the museums in the future.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
And if you have family in town, you can show
them some of our treasures,which is the wonderful and rich
history of Montgomery County,Maryland.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Oh wow.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Now, some people, kind of like myself, like to
enjoy themselves a little bitduring the holiday season and
kind of associate it with thefellowship part.
I like to have a nice localbrew, some wings.
I like to have a nice localbrew, some wings.
You know, what do you have interms of celebratory activities
for people that want to?
I don't want to drive into thecity, but I want to go out and
(11:50):
have a drink and have fun withmy friends and family.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Montgomery County has a really diverse and vibrant
craft beverage scene.
We have breweries, wineries,distilleries, cideries.
Did you know?
We have a meatery.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
A cidery.
A cidery and a meatery.
They're really actually quiteawesome.
Should we break this down a bit?
Let's break it down because acidery I'm assuming that's apple
cider or some type of fruit orsomething right?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Of a hard cider.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Okay, wow.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yep, yep, yep.
Ok, Wow, yep, yep, yep.
So what?
So?
Visit Montgomery has createdwhat we call the Tastemakers
Trail, which is a self-guidedcraft beverage trail throughout
(12:38):
the county that highlights theurban and farm breweries,
wineries and other producers, soit's a great way to go and
explore and learn about all thedifferent types of producers and
makers, these local familieswho are having a lot of fun
creating these different brewsand blends.
I love heading over toWindridge Vineyards, so they
(12:59):
have a beautiful tasting roomwith panoramic views of
Sugarloaf Mountain.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Oh, really Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
And they have both gas and wood-burning fire pits
outside, so you can still spenda nice cozy time around the fire
out in the wintertime, which islovely.
Many of the breweries farmbreweries like Lone Oak and
Bordaca have Instagram worthyyurts, so tents that you can
hang out in.
So you bring our phones and youknow I get our selfies going
(13:27):
and pictures of the fire pit,because it's not worth doing if
you can't take a selfie andshare it.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
If it's not worth a selfie and a share, then why go
Right?
You know, that's what's thepoint of going.
Okay, I agree.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
So so those are awesome places to head out to
Lone Oak Hashtag visit.
Moco has also opened Fallen OakDistillery, which is a
wonderful addition to theirbrewery.
So their brewery is very familystyle.
You bring your, you know yourfriends and your you can bring
(14:03):
your kids are welcome to runaround.
There's a playground, dogfriendly.
On the other side they've justopened Fallen Oak Distillery,
which is a more elevatedexperience.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Adult only Elevated.
Elevated, okay, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
So if you have a hot date and there may actually be a
speakeasy there, so I mean, I'mjust saying if you want to find
something fun and interestingthere may be a speakeasy, all
right.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
All right, leticia.
All right, you heard that here.
Ok, you guys happen to find out.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Let me know, All right.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Let us know and hashtag visit MoCo All right,
yeah, there's, there's.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
There's lots of places to go and see.
Silver Branch Brewery andSilver Spring is doing a fun New
Year's Eve party so they'regoing to have have buffet food
open bar, so that would be a funway to roll in the new year.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
So wow, that's awesome.
So we have things to do.
We have places to go to see thelights and all the beautiful
decorations that associate withthis time of year.
We've talked about places wherewe can shop local and small and
supporting micro businesses andstill learning how to refine
their craft, of their businesses, which is the gift of giving is
(15:19):
even better when it benefits agrowing business in such a way.
And then we also know placeswhere we can go and fellowship,
both as a family, of course, youknow, visiting and walking the
trails or having a beverage withour family and friends, and
there may even be a speakeasysomewhere Speakeasy.
There are people that don't knowSpeakeasies are referenced a
(15:40):
lot to what the 1920s that'sright.
There was prohibition and youcould not drink legally in
America.
So there are these places wherewe're usually found behind
hidden doors.
Absolutely, there are theseplaces where we usually found
behind hidden doors, where youcan drink your finest whiskey or
bourbon or maybe beer.
But you know if you're going togo for it, you know why drink
(16:01):
beer.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
And they're just associated with just finding
that hidden door and justexperiencing something really
fun, like what is going tohappen behind that door, and
it's so cool and it's a warmeratmosphere than a lot of the big
clubs that you might go to orbig bars you go to.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's a comfortable environment and I think the
eclectic feel to it as well kindof adds to the excitement.
And again I will say Instagramworthy, tiktok worthy.
You know, if you're a TikToker,maybe you might want to go find
that and see.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
You know, if you're a TikToker, maybe you might want
to go find that and see, youknow, and then hashtag visit
MoCo.
So I'm just saying, speaking ofof of those experiences, um,
it's this time of the year, youknow, when you have your family
and friends who just haveeverything.
What do you give them, right?
Speaker 2 (16:49):
That person.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Maybe an experience.
All right Okay.
All right Okay.
So there's a lot of that, too,that you can do.
You can gift experiences likegoing rope through rope courses
and zip lining through the treesat the Adventure Park.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
You know doing a gift card to a glass blowing class
at Glen Echo Park for the artsycreative type there's a glass
blowing class, there is Okay,all right.
So I haven't done it, but it'son my bucket list.
Why not?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Why not?
Why not make your own vase orvase?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
or glasses, or whatever or whatever.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
whatever you can make at our, you know, as a beginner
.
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
That's right For for someone who's a little bit more
outdoorsy adventure.
You could do a gift card towhitewater kayaking at kaleva.
So what they do is they takeyou um on river tours or
whitewater kayaking down um thepotomac river oh wow.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
So it's pretty fun give the gift of adventure of
experiences.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
That's right.
For someone who might not be asadventurous, Topgolf is always
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You know what, if anyone out there wants to send a
gift in and I can't acceptanything over $25, but you want
to send a gift card for Topgolf,you'll accept it.
I'll grudgingly accept it andgo hit a lot of balls into the
net and roll a few off the teebox.
But that's awesome.
That's really good for thegolfer in your life or people
that just love to get out andhave fun.
That's right.
I think soft golf is foreveryone.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
And there's a lot of performance venues doing shows
at Strathmore Roundhouse Theater, olney Theater doing
performances throughout the year, and so you can always get um
season tickets for someone ohwow I've never, I've never, you
know, I haven't thought aboutthat as much.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
You can buy tickets for a particular concert or just
for a venue.
Um, that would be a gift thatkeeps on giving, or or more or
less, an experience, as opposedto just buying them um a watch.
You know, here go, let's go gosee this artist that's very
popular and is very meaningfulthis time of year as well.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It's a way to make memories, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, and it's a lot more.
I think there's this thing now,where people are.
You know the, the.
It's not even now, as it's beenfor a while.
You only live once, you knowand where you wait.
Experience is a lot more thanthings you know.
You just get out there, get outthe house, go do something, see
some things, enjoy some thingsand maybe they'll take you with
(19:20):
them how about that?
Hey, go, here are tickets to anartist that I really like
there's two of them ticketshere's.
Here's a gift card to top golfthat you may may not want to be
gift to you.
All right there you go allright, good, thank you, thank
you.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Leticia, all right.
Lots of ideas, lots of greatideas there.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
So a lot of this gift giving not common ideas either.
So you look like you're a verythoughtful giver and I think the
thoughtfulness, or you know youthinking about the gift that
you give, as opposed to justswiping a credit card and
running through a store veryquickly or hopping on Amazon and
quickly buying something duringCyber Monday, means a lot more
(20:00):
to people than just if youactually go out and think about
it or go out and get them aticket, something that's not
common, that's easy or easier todo.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Absolutely.
They're going to remember it alittle bit more.
They'll hopefully enjoy it more, and then you're supporting
local businesses, right?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
And by easy I mean you're putting more thought into
it.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
But to buy the tickets may be able to be done
online or to a quick visit tothe venue to get those things
done.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
So okay great, all right.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Wow, this is a lot to consume it is a lot to consume
we have put together.
Visit Montgomery has a holidayhub where you can access all of
these resources right so if yougo to visit montgomerycom
holiday, uh, that's just a lotof resources and more like a lot
more options.
(20:51):
Um, there's an events calendarof all the things going on
throughout the area.
Um, every weekend we're, umwe're finding fun things to do
throughout the County.
Um, this weekend we knowthere's a lot of tree lighting
ceremonies there.
Uh, they're doing, uh,fireworks over the lake front at
Rio.
Uh, you know you can findSanta's workshop at Westfield,
(21:14):
montgomery like.
All of these events, um are onour calendar.
So it's really great way to beable to plan your weekend of
shopping and of having fun.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
All right, fantastic.
So let's say that one more time.
I think it really helps to sayit a few times because this is
going to be a podcast.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
If someone's in their car trying to memorize, visit
Montgomery dot com, forwardslash holiday backslash,
whatever it is whichever theslash is that gets you there
holiday, holiday, holiday,holiday, um just holiday,
holiday.
Okay, just holiday, yep we alsohave a visit uh, visit moco app.
Okay.
So what I love about the app isall of these resources that we
(21:54):
have up on our website get feddirectly into the app.
We find that it's a greatplanning tool where you can find
these businesses, plan yourweekend.
You can create an itinerary soyou find a few things that you
like an event or a restaurant ora winery you just add it to
your plan.
You've created an itinerary.
(22:14):
It helps map it out for you.
You can send it to a friend sothat they're in the loop
itinerary.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
it helps map it out for you, you can send it to a
friend so that they're in theloop and and you can does it, so
you so you can download that atany of the app stores.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Visit searching, visit moco on um at the apple
app store or google play store,um.
So that's a great resource andwe're seeing that um, the people
who downloaded are using it,because I see about 80 percent
of our the users are repeatusers, so they're coming back.
They're finding it helpful.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Now are there things in there I think you may have
mentioned it, but other thingslike incentives, that like
coupons or special codes ordiscounts or a frequent flyer
miles.
I don't know Are there thingsin there that would be really
fun to have frequent flyer miles.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
So there are.
There is a section for dealsand discounts, but what I have,
what I'm excited about right now, so we activate the app a few
times throughout the year andright now and by that I mean
what we do, is create these funways, we gamify the experience
to get you out and to exploreMontgomery County, and right now
we have a holiday drink tour.
(23:17):
Digital passport passport allright.
So there are over 20 businesses,uh, that are participating in
this where they have holidaydrinks alcoholic, non-alcohol.
You get hot chocolate, you canget, you know, your holiday
cocktail.
So you go visit these places.
You check in at the location,on the app, you say'm here, and
(23:38):
every time you check into one,you're getting entered to win up
to $600 in giveaways to thesebusinesses.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
That's a great way to have a winter adventure where
you can do your little microblog on your Instagram account
and you just 20 different drinksthat you had via the Visit MoCo
app.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
And then you hashtag Visit MoCo the entire time
through, and whether you hashtagVisit MoCo the entire time,
through Every time.
And whether you're having hotchocolates or you're doing
cideries or whatever you'redoing out there, all those
wonderful drinks you can havethis holiday season.
It's great.
It's right there in the app.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
It's a great way to mix between your holiday
shopping, your ice skating, yourvisits to the lights and
stopping along the way at allthese different places while
you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So it's and it's fun.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
It's fun.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
The game, the games are fun.
The scavenger hunts or the uh,the, the trails or the walks
really really add a different,uh level of engagement to what
you're doing, which otherwisemight be a monotonous time for
some people.
Not all of us are blessed withfamilies locally, Not all of us
are blessed with enough time togo and visit, but there's things
(24:43):
to do here in Montgomery County, Maryland, whether with
yourself or with a loved one orloved ones, or, if you do, bring
your family in or get out andmeet people.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Get out and have some fun.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Get out and have some fun.
You know you're having troublewith those ideas.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
visit Montgomerycom okay, trouble with those ideas
visit Montgomerycom Backslash orforward slash holiday.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
You get all your ideas there.
So thank you so much for beinghere.
I really appreciate this.
So now I have all these thingsto do, I started the day off
with trying to figure out whatI'm going to get for gifts and
figure out what I'm going to dowith the rest of my month to
have a little bit of time off.
Now you know.
But now I don't have tonecessarily leave Montgomery
(25:22):
County to have a good time.
So thank you so much for beinghere today and thank you guys
for out there, for listening andfor sharing and for liking and
for subscribing.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Thanks for listening to what's Happening, moco.
Please subscribe via yourfavorite podcasting platform and
follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,facebook, instagram or YouTube
(25:49):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!