A Look Back on 2022 and Forward to My High Hopes and Plans for 2023

Wow! 224 posts in one year! That’s a lot of eating, a lot of walking it off, and a lot of writing.

And thanks to you, a whole lot of reading. I more than doubled my number of full time subscribers, those who received all of those 224 posts and, I trust, read at least some of them. It addition, there were well over 140,000 independent views, attracted by Facebook, search engines, and listservs. The most-viewed post for 2022, at least for non-subscription readers, discussed La Ferme, a local French restaurant with over 9.000 views, followed by a perennial favorite, my Best Places to Eat Near I-95 between Washington and Key West — all good to great and all locally owned.

The year also attracted readers from around the globe, from 230 countries.

You may note a fair correlation between countries with no viewers and dictatorships. I admit the exceptions, and I’m not saying anything more, especially since my Chinese and Cuban readers seem to have disappeared.

The posts that generated the most viewer comments on this site — as opposed to internet and listserv comments — were those on the Steak and Egg Diner, a local greasy spoon that expanded into a nicer space, and three “best lists,” the ones for Eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and the Washington Metro Area, and my second list of the under-rated, more little known barbecue places worth a detour. Oh, and La Ferme, of course.

I approach 2023 with a few plans, including to update my “best lists” and to do a few more. There’ll be more travel, including a Danube river cruise similar to our pre-covid cruise from Lyon. See here. I have a January trip to North Carolina, more trips to Virginia and to outlying areas of DC, all more or less planned, and more trips yet to be planned.

And I approach 2023 filled with hope. After seeing countless lawyers’ ads about the water in Camp LeJeune, I go to sleep each night dreaming of something I first saw on Facebook —

‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. My claim is thoroughly documented.

It’s been a great year. Thanks to all of my reader friends, now far, far too many internet friends to name individually. You’ve made the year a joy. To each of you and to yours I wish a wonderful 2023.