Washington, DC - Museum of Natural History

Washington, D.C. - the capital of this great nation, and visited by millions of people...and I, a person in my twenties, just visitied for the first time a few years ago. Sad, really. It was also the location of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) conference this year. DC is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area, which is the 9th largest metropolitan area in the country, with a population of 5.3 million. DC is also the central location for all 3 branches of government, houses 174 foreign embassies, and a multitude of other departments and government agencies. Additionally, there are many monuments and museums (like the Smithsonian). A few of the monuments are must-sees, such as the Washington Monument and the like. They're beautiful and full of history!

I am not an urban geographer by design, but this city is truly an amazing feat of Urban Planning. The public transportation here is AMAZING! Get on the metro, get off at your stop, all is well with the world. (Well unless the metro hits a person, like it did while I was there this year---but it didn't affect my line...).

Well, I was in DC on business this year, but I did have a chance to scope out some of the sites, and in years past I was able to check out a few of the museums. My favorite museum of all time has to be the Museum of Natural History! It has so many different exhibits to explore and enjoy from plate tectonics to dinosaur fossils! A geographer's playground! And, the museum is free to the public!!!!!! It opened in 1910, and was actually one of the first Smithsonian buildings built to house the collections.

I'll write again about D.C., but I wanted to detail the awesomeness that is the metro and the Museum of Natural History!

Biscayne National Park

The recent oil spill in the Gulf brought me back to a long past trip I took to Biscayne National Park. Though the NPS maintains that the oil spill is not an "immediate threat" to the parks of South Florida, the staff from Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne National Park, De Soto National Memorial, Dry Tortugas National Park, and Everglades National Park are already preparing. The Biscayne National Park website states, "The National Park Service is focused on securing the safety of vistoris and responders, minimizing the impact of the land-bound oil on park resources, and working closely with local and federal partners until the threat is resolved." Gotta love the NPS for always trying to be one step ahead in protecting not only the environment, but its visitors.

Biscayne is a unique national park, in that it has four distinct ecosystems melt into one. It creates and "ecotone," or a rich edge community. The four primary ecosystems include: a narrow fringe of mangrove forests, the southern expanse of Biscayne Bay, the northern Florida Key islands, and the beginning of a coral reef. The existence of these four ecosystems allows for a plethora of species raning from fish found nowhere else in the U.S. to manatees and pelicans.

I didn't get to spend as much time as I would've liked at Biscayne National Park, but I did go in the off-season. They do have many things to do from snorkeling to canoeing to walking. Since it was the off-season, all I did was walk along the 1/4-mile jetty trail to Convoy Point. It's a beautiful area, and I would love to return sometime in the near future to see how it has changed over the years....

Hanging Rock State Park, NC

Sticking with the North Carolina State Parks theme, Hanging Rock State Park is another great location in the Triad for a quick hike. It is located only about an hour from Greensboro, NC, making it the ideal location for a bored city-dweller to go for a nice, refreshing hike or swim on a beautiful day. Located near Pilot Mountain State Park, it is also part of the Sauratown Mountains, which are known as "the mountains away from the mountains" (since they are separated by Blue Ridge Mountains). Millions of years of erosion wore down the mountains, leaving only resistant outcrops of quartizite, such as Moore's Knob, Wolf Rock, and, of course, Hanging Rock.

Besides hiking, Hanging Rock State Park offers a pleathora of other servies, such as swimming and camping to name a few. Of course, my favorite trail is the Hanging Rock Trail, stretching 1.3 miles-one way, with a massive amount of stairs to climb to the summit. But, it's totally worth it! The outcrop is amazing, with many places to sit and have a nice lunch! Many people are too afraid to venture off towards the very edge of Hanging Rock, but it's one of my favorite places--you can just look out for miles on clear day--cleansing for the soul! It's a great place to bring friends and just sit and chat for hours before making the 1.3-mile descent back to the parking lot.