Join The Conversation! Talk about the news of the day with public radio fans on WAMU 88.5's The Conversation.
Your Amazon.com purchases support WAMU 88.5
Your purchases from the NPR Store support WAMU 88.5
Though our area is rich in historical, cultural and recreational attractions, you can always find something new on the scene to see and do. Here are some of the top new getaway options:
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, Baltimore: This impressive new museum, which debuted in June, occupies a dramatic-looking contemporary structure at the northeast edge of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. A soaring orange panel on the exterior makes it hard to miss. It is named for a major contributor, born in 1942 to a working class East Baltimore family, who got a law degree from Harvard Law School and established Wall Street's first African-American owned law firm.
A major addition to the Inner Harbor's cluster of museums, it's two expansive exhibition floors focus on African-Americans in Maryland. The story begins with colonial-era slavery practices and traces the African-American experience to the present day. A 10-minute film, shown continuously on the second-floor auditorium, sets the theme.
The three permanent exhibits include:
Details: Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adults $8; under 6 free. 443/2263-1800, www.africanamericanculture.org. Paid parking opposite the entrance at 830 East Pratt St.
Great Wolf Lodge,Williamsburg, Va.: I include this 300-room lodge, which opened last spring, because it is such an unusual addition to the region's selection of accommodations. Built by a Wisconsin company as part of an expanding chain, it is designed to look like a north woods lodge—which is quite a contrast to Williamsburg's colonial theme. It looks like a giant log cabin, but the logs really are fakes.
But more unusual is that it features a giant indoor water park about the size of a football field. It boasts slides, a 110,000-gallon wave pool, six swimming pools and a lazy simulated river, where you can go tubing. In the center of the complex is a 48-foot high wilderness fort, from which a giant bucket periodically pours 8,000 gallons of water.
The place is very family oriented. The rate for a family of four begins at about $260 a night, including two-day passes to the water park. The water is heated to a comfy 84 degrees, so you can pretend you're in the Caribbean.
Details: 800/551-9653, www.greatwolflodge.com.
FortNecessityNational Battlefield, Farmington, Pa.: I suspect most Americans couldn't tell you what happened on this battlefield on July 3, 1754. That may change, at least a little. On Oct. 8, the park opened a big new Interpretive and Education Center aimed at telling the Fort Necessity story. It replaces a small 40-year-old structure, open in summer only, that had space for only a very limited interpretive exhibit.
The park marks the site of George Washington's only military surrender. Though the rebuilt fort is only a modest string of stakes thrusting from the earth, it served as an important lesson for Washington that surely must have aided him two decades later as commander of America's Revolutionary forces. In 1754, Col. Washington, age 22, was in command of colonial troops on a wilderness road-building project aimed at opening the way for a British attack on the French at Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh). While encamped at Great Meadows (part of the park), he learned of an approaching French force and launched a successful surprise attack—and, as it turned out, helped ignite a seven-year worldwide struggle between two powers called the French and Indian War.
Rightly fearing an angry counterattack, he hastily built his small fort in the meadows. But it wasn't strong enough to thwart the French, who attacked on July 3, 1754. In the surrender, Washington and his troops were allowed to keep their weapons and go home.
A year later at Great Meadows—still a rolling, open meadows—British Gen. Edward Braddock marched against the French. As we all learned in grade school, he stubbornly refused to heed Washington's advice on wilderness tactics and was fatally wounded. He is buried a mile away, and his presumed grave can be reached by walking a portion of the road, called Braddock's Road, he and Washington had been constructing.
Details: 724/329-5512, www.nps.gov/fone.
The Guest House at Lost River, Lost River, W.Va.: I include the Guest House, a 16-room mountain lodge, because it has just added a restaurant seating about 50 guests. As the restaurant gets underway, it will be open on Friday and Saturday, but as summer approaches it is expected to expand its operation. With a restaurant, the lodge is a welcome addition to the region's store of inviting country inns—that is, lodgings with meals available.
The Guest House is a very nice, moderately priced retreat perched high on a wooded hillside overlooking narrow Lost River Valley and forested mountain ridges stretching into the distance. In the past, it was known as “gay friendly,†though certainly not exclusively “gay.†But innkeeper Bob Dillard anticipates that the restaurant will draw a wider cross-section of the public to the lodge. My wife Sandy and I enjoyed our stay a few years ago and will return shortly to try out the restaurant.
Facilities include a steam bath, a hot tub and an outdoor (seasonal) swimming pool with a view. The view from the public sitting room is terrific. Nearby mountainous George Washington Forest offers hiking trails and (in summer) a lake swimming beach. In the valley, Lost River State Park offers horseback riding in the summer and more hiking trails. Room rates including breakfast are $135 to $150 a night for two. About 90 miles away in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle.
Details: 304/897-5707, www.guesthouseatlostriver.com.
Benjamin Franklin's 300th Birthday Bash,Philadelphia: This is a year-long event in 2006. Franklin is the first of the Founding Fathers to reach this milestone. The official birthday is Tuesday, Jan. 17. There will be a parade from the American Philosophical Library, which he founded, to his gravesite. It starts at 11 a.m. and will feature a bagpiper band.
The really big Franklin event, at least according to city tourism officials, is a major exhibition of all things Franklin, many of them never put on public display before. Dubbed “Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World,†it is housed in the National Constitution Center, just steps away from his grave at Christ Church Burial Ground on Independence Mall. It already has opened; it closes April 30.
The exhibit focuses on Franklin's lifelong desire to understand and improve the world around him. He devised practical theories and inventions such as bifocals, swim fins and the lightning rod. You can board a 25-foot ship to learn about his research in charting the Gulf Stream current; watch a whimsical animation showing young Ben swimming with the help of a kite pulling him through the water; and you can view five key documents that he signed.
Details: Admission is $14 for adults; $12 for ages 4-12. Tickets can be purchased in advance at 215/409-6700 or www.gophila.com/ben.
Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort, Snowshoe,W.Va.Since Intrawest, a major ski area development company, bought Snowshoe 10 years ago, every winter there's something new. This winter it is the Big Top, a family oriented fun center for après-ski entertainment. It features a large arcade area with 75 to 100 video games, table games and billiards.
If you haven't been to Snowshoe in a few years, it's a different place with a mountain-top village, new expert ski runs, new snowboarding terrain, plus cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, snow tubing and sleigh rides.
Details: 877/441-4FUN, www.snowshoemtn.com.
privacy policy - terms of use - contact - sitemap - directions - rss - podcasts - jobs - community
Copyright WAMU 88.5 American University Radio | 4000 Brandywine Street NW | Washington, DC 20016-8082 | (202)885-1200
