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Updates to Kids Love Maryland

Changes:

CENTRAL: Baltimore. RIDE THE DUCKS, BALTIMORE (pg. 67), CLIPPER CITY TALL SHIP (pg. 69) and BIG BUS COMPANY OF BALTIMORE (pg. 65) closed tours permanently in 2009 or before.

CENTRAL - On page 73 -- Ellicott City is exit 13 off of I-695, not I-675. Page 186 under Strawberry Festival -- Sykesville is not on the Eastern Shore. It's in Howard/Carroll counties in the Central region. I'm only catching this stuff cause it's where I live... I can't even imagine the overwhelming task of finding all this stuff and writing it up! From Betsy Stein – Editor, Maryland Family Magazine -Thanks, Betsy!

Additions:

SOUTHERN - Trolley Service around the Twin Beaches, Chesapeake Beach & North Beach Beginning Memorial Day through Labor Day Weekend The trolley service allows riders to travel from Chesapeake Beach (stops at the Rod-N-Reel) to Deale (stops at Skipper’s Pier) and more than 50 retail/restaurants along the way for just 25 cents each way. www.beachtrolleyassociation.org 1-877-777-2708, Beach Business Group, PO Box 858, North Beach, MD 20714

CENTRAL - “Wonders of Water”, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, Baltimore City (PG. 56) Opened January 2008 “Wonders of Water” is the first new permanent exhibit to be on display at the museum since it opened in 1998. Children can explore and understand everything that water provides for the human body, environment, and economy. The exhibit features interactive water experiences for children ages 2–10. www.PortDiscovery.org , 35 Market Place, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-864-2700

CENTRAL - Urban Pirates, Baltimore City Opened Summer 2008 Dress, talk and tie ropes like a pirate; fight enemies with water cannons; navigate treacherous waters; and discover hidden treasures during an interactive excursion around the Inner Harbor. The 48’ long ship with a 17-foot beam and 3-foot draft can accommodate up to 49 passengers. Tours take place during the weekends in May and everyday from Memorial Day through Labor Day. www.urbanpirates.us Ann Street Pier, Thames Street, Fells Point

EASTERN SHORE - Delmarva Discovery Center, Pocomoke City Opened July 2008 Located on the banks of the slow-moving Pocomoke River, this new museum explores river ecology and the town’s evolving relationship to the river. Sound recordings, full-size dioramas, animal tracks, ships models, dugout canoes and duck decoys are just a few of the items used for interpretation of the following themes: Native People, The River, The Wharf & The Steamer, Shipbuilding & Woodworking, Fishing & Industry. The modern interior space also houses an introductory theatre, and future plans include an on-site restaurant. www.delmarvadiscoverycenter.org 6 Market Street, Pocomoke City, MD 21851, 410-957-9933

CENTRAL – Terrapin Adventures - For some no sweat adrenaline, scale one of the 12 routes of our 43-foot-high Terrapin Tower. Conquer all 25 elements of our Challenge Course. Experience two G’s of force on our Giant Swing, and enjoy the thrill of gliding through the forest canopy on our Zip Line. Learn new skills while you explore local parks, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay on guided kayak tours and nature hikes, mountain bike rentals and tours, sailing and windsurfing, fly and reel fishing, geo-caching, horseback trail riding, rock climbing, rappelling, and river tubing. Opens April 2009. Savage Mill, 8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763; 410-925-9574. www.TerrapinAdventures.com.

CENTRAL – Captain Salem Avery House Museum - Explore the history and aquatic life of the Chesapeake Bay at a restored 1860s waterman’s home. Our family-friendly house tours take you on a journey back in time to experience how a rural fishing family would have lived 150 years ago. Costumed interpreters are often accompanied by elementary school-age junior docents who give our young guests the opportunity to experience history through the enthusiasm of their peers. Following the house tour, kids head to the pier where they can hoist up an oyster cage and learn about the live shrimp, shellfish, worms, fish, and crabs they find inside. Free. 1814 East West Shady Side Road, Shady Side, MD 20764; 410-867-4486. www.averyhouse.org.

CENTRAL - Captain Salem Avery House Pier Opened summer 2007 Thanks to a new 75-foot pier, boaters have direct access to the Captain Salem Avery House, a Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network site. Exhibits at the house, also on the National Register of Historic Places, interpret the oyster industry from the 1860’s and also tell the story of the National Masonic Fishing and Country Club, a club of mostly Jewish members from the Washington, DC area. 1418 East West Shady Side Road, Shady Side, MD 20764, www.averyhouse.org ; 410-867-4486 (Contact: Mavis Daly, 443-607-8277) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

CENTRAL- Hampton National Historic Site Reopened November 30, 2007 The mansion has reopened to the public after three years of interior renovation and installation of a fire-suppression system. Once the largest house in America, the site tells the story of enslaved African Americans, indentured servants, industrial and agricultural workers, and owners and interprets the economic and moral changes that made this lifestyle obsolete. www.nps.gov/hamp

CENTRAL – US NAVAL ACADEMY (pg. 44) The office phone is now 410-293-TOUR (8687). Regarding IDs, now guests 16 years of age and up must bring an ID. And the movie has changed to "Leaders of Character Serving the Nation."

CAPITAL - Monocacy Battlefield Visitors Center Opened Summer 2007 Located just south of Frederick on Route 355, the new Monocacy Battlefield Visitor Center tells the story of the July 9, 1864 Civil War “Battle that Saved Washington” – named because it delayed for a day the Confederate march on a defenseless national capital, giving time for Union reinforcements to arrive and secure Washington, DC. The new visitors center greatly expands the interpretation of the battle with several vignettes (describing the battle from Union, Confederate and civilian perspectives), a fiber-optic display of the days actions, and other interactive displays. 4801 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD 21704, www.nps.gov/mono .

WESTERN - Mountain Coaster at Wisp Resort Opened August 30, 2007 Popular in Europe, the Mountain Coaster at Wisp Resort is only the fourth one built in the United States, and the second on the East Coast. The Mountain Coaster is a hybrid of an alpine slide and a roller coaster. Riders travel 1,300 feet uphill before descending, twisting, turning, dipping and rolling for 3,500 feet downhill. The attraction will be open year-round, and will operate at night as well. 296 Marsh Hill Rd, McHenry, MD 21541, www.wispresort.com .

WESTERN - Queen City Transportation Museum Opened Fall 2007 Set in a 1925 romantic, castle design armory in historic downtown Cumberland, the museum features early transportation including carriages, carts, wagons, sleighs and automobiles (many items from the Thrasher Carriage Museum in nearby Frostburg). Exhibits include: Conestoga Wagons to Model Ts used to haul products and people on the National Road, a buggy & sleigh works carriage shop, a wheelwright shop, and an inn & tavern. www.mdmountainside.com/attraction.php?attraction=1054

SOUTHERN - St. Johns and Van Sweringen Exhibits, Historic St. Mary’s City Opening 2008 In the 17th-century the first Provincial Secretary of Maryland, John Lewger, built his house overlooking the St. Mary’s River. This house witnessed the rise and fall of Maryland’s first capital and the awakening of new ideas about government, religious freedom, individuality and class. Visitors will learn these stories and more through state-of-the-art audio, video and hands-on exhibits at his recreated home. In the 17th-century Garrett Van Sweringen operated a lodging house (built in 1677) that catered to the elite of the colony. Part of a very diverse population of immigrants (Van Sweringen was Dutch), this new exhibit will describe one man’s personal journey, his very-American aspirations and his experience in the New World. Route 5 & Rosecroft Rd, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686. www.stmaryscity.org

SOUTHERN - Bi-Plane Air Tours View the Chesapeake Bay and the sights of Southern Maryland in an open cockpit, double-winged airplane from 1,500 feet in the air. Nick Mirales, an aficionado of vintage aircraft, offers tours in a circa 1944 Boeing Stearman aircraft in warm-weather weekends and evenings spring through fall. Sightseeing tours depart from St. Mary’s County Airport flights (by appointment). www.biplaneairtours.com.

More fun information about:

Central - B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore and the B&O Railroad Museum’s Ellicott City Station will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War from April 2011 through December 2015. The Civil War was the first major conflict where railroads played a prominent role, and the B&O was the major line that straddled a divided country. Between April 19, 1861 (The Baltimore Riot of 1861) and April 21, 1865 (Lincoln’s funeral train leaving Baltimore for Illinois), the B&O stood as witness and participant in the greatest conflict the United States has ever faced. The B&O Railroad Museum can tell better than most the story of how railroads and railroaders shaped the course of American history during pivotal moments of the conflict. The War Came by Train will serve as the B&O’s primary attraction for the five-year commemoration of the war’s sesquicentennial. 901 West Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21223-2699. 410-752-4287. www.borail.org.

Central - Historic Annapolis Museum—History Quest (pg 41) at 99 Main Street in Annapolis has a new name and a new look. In October 2010, the building reopened as the Historic Annapolis Museum with a six-foot-by-six foot model of 18th-century Annapolis as its centerpiece. The newly remodeled museum features cutouts of famous visitors to Annapolis including Marquis de Lafayette, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Visitors to the museum can rent a $5 audio tour and follow the celebrities’ footsteps around the Historic District. The Museum is open 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from noon until 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. 410-267-6656. www.annapolis.org

CENTRAL: Baltimore. Most every attraction has increased admission fees an average of $2.00 per person. A HarborPass may be a great investment if you’re looking to explore several popular attractions in one visit. http://baltimore.org/harborpass

WESTERN - Guided Mountain Buggy Tours at Wisp Resort, McHenry (PG. 149) Opened Spring 2008 These oversized go-carts bring a whole new dynamic to touring Wisp Mountain. Guided tours traverse over 6 miles of mountainous terrain including an off-road technical course. Tours are offered day and night. www.wispresort.com , 296 Marsh Hill Road, McHenry, MD 21541, 301-387-4911

CENTRAL – HISTORIC LONDONTOWN (pg. 71) - Learn about tavern life in a major 18th-century seaport town with a visit to the National Historic Landmark William Brown House. Discover native and imported medicinal plants in the Richard Hill Garden, and give your legs a workout by strolling London Town’s eight-acre woodland garden. Talk to archaeologists at work rediscovering the lost Town of London in the largest ongoing archaeological dig in Maryland. Watch as workmen recreate a town using materials and tools that would have been used in the late 17th-and early 18th-centuries. During special events at London Town, you can hearth cook your own meal over the fire in the circa 1710 Lord Mayor’s Tenement using period recipes and ingredients; play colonial games and learn about 18th-century medicine; try your hand at colonial carpentry, and help fire a cannon; live, work, and play as a colonial child; dip your own candles; and throw tomahawks. - For the rest of the story…go to the Central Chapter of KIDS LOVE MARYLAND

Washington, DC - A teacher friend of ours (Mrs. H) shared with us some insights about a recent visit to Washington, DC. We thought some might benefit from a well-traveled educator’s perspective: White House - We obtained ticket through our U.S. Representative. They can be requested up to 6 months in advance. You are given a specific entry time. However, we arrived early and we were directed to go in. You are not allowed to take any purses, cameras, etc. into the WH and there is no place to check them. You MUST have a photo ID and go through screening. The tour is self-guided with guards and Secret Service people in every room. You aren't rushed through and they willingly answer questions. The entry has lots of interesting displays and artifacts. You are allowed to look in some ground level rooms and the tour goes through the state floor...East Room, Green Room, Blue Room, Red Room, State Dining Room and then out through the North Portico. It is definitely an impressive place to visit. Beautiful and historic! Kept thinking about all the events that had happened there! And wondered about those we will never hear about! Neat to see all the art and especially the First Lady and Presidents' portraits. Spy Museum - The Spy Museum came highly rated. I was rather disappointed with the physical size and space constraints. We were there on a Saturday in October, and there weren't any crowds...we got in right away; however it was almost claustrophobic (author’s note: maybe for effect – spies hide in small, hidden passages?). There were some great interactive displays but there were just too many people waiting to take a turn. We didn't stay very long. Seemed expensive for how much we got out of the experience. Loved the Bond car! The video they showed at the beginning was good. (author’s note: we almost always suggest watching the intro videos before entering any exhibit space – it may be the only reasonable way for your kids to process the timing of events/history. The old artifacts mean more when you know how famous they are.) The Smithsonian American Art Museum - Neat display of license plates from every state that write out the Preamble to the Constitution. They also have a neat collection of portraits of the Presidents, especially liked the Washington and Lincoln studies. (author’s note: ever study Lincoln’s eyes?) The Matthew Brady exhibit of Civil War photography is excellent.

Suggested Lodging & Dining:

CAPITAL – Frederick – SLEEP INN, 5361 Spectrum Drive (I-270 exit 31A or I-70 exit 54 south). (301) 668-2003 or www.choicehotels.com. This new property has a super friendly staff and is located in the middle of a large shopping and dining complex. Clean rooms and breakfast area. Comfortable beds and spacious. Microwaves and Refrigerators available. Their free deluxe continental breakfast lasts 4-5 hours each morning and features fresh pastries, hard-boiled eggs, cereals, juices, fruits, etc. Again, clean and fresh. Nice place to base from while visiting the many favorite historic attractions in Frederick (Civil War Medicine, Fritche House).