Free Smithsonian Center, Train Museum Tours Offered In MD

MARYLAND — Marylanders can get a free tour of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater. Residents can also snag complimentary admission to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. Locals can additionally check out the latest conservation opportunities, find a place to stand-up paddleboard and visit a water lily festival.

Patch recently partnered with several local organizations to bring you their latest news. This guest contribution comes from National Park Service Chesapeake Gateways and Chesapeake Conservancy. Here’s what Jody Hedeman Couser submitted to help you explore the Chesapeake Bay:

“Lotus and Water Lily Festival

Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens is a one-of-a-kind destination within Anacostia Park and it is a hidden gem in Washington, DC. The summer lotus and lily blossoms are a “must see” during their peak blooming period in July. This year’s Lotus Festival at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is being presented by the National Park Service and Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and will include a variety of events on-line as well as a few activities featured in the park. The park will be open until 8:00 pm on Fridays July 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, and August 6th to give everyone more time to see the lotus and lily flowers. The park has a picnic area where you can bring your own food. Most Fridays, there will be a food truck on site where you can buy dinner or a snack. Virtual events include a Shaw Water Gardens history talk, Garden Tour en Español, and lots of information about lotuses and lilies and how to tell the difference. On-site programs include a scavenger hunt, bike ride, lotus craft, and lotus painting. More information and complete schedule of events.

SERC Public Tours

There’s still time to sign up for Smithsonian Environmental Center’s July tours. Experience an insider’s view of SERC, on a free outdoor walking tour led by a SERC volunteer docent. You’ll walk along the waterfront, cross marsh boardwalks, and hike through the forest, while learning about SERC’s cutting-edge research projects on climate change and other issues. Tours last approximately 90 minutes, and involve about 1/2 mile of walking. July 14, 17, 21, 28, and 31; 10:00 am to 11:30 am; Smithsonian Environmental Center, Edgewater, MD. More information and registration.

B&O Railway Museum Community Days

The B&O Railway Museum is offering free admission on July 18 and August 8, so members of the community can enjoy a youth steel orchestra performance, tours, kids activities, and free train rides at the B&O. The focus of the B&O Community Days is the B&O Street Art Project, which selected local street artists to design murals and paint them onto a museum caboose. Visitors will get to attend Artist Talks to hear from the artists about the process of designing and creating these incredible works of art. July 18 and August 8; B&O Railway Museum, Baltimore, MD. More information.

Latino Conservation Week Rock Creek Park Cleanup

Rock Creek Conservancy and Montgomery Parks invite you to celebrate Latino Conservation Week. Join in for a socially-distant trash cleanup, which will focus on the Matthew Henson Trail. Trash, the visible form of pollution, is a threat to our precious parklands and waterways, and you can help by reducing pollution on land to prevent the chance of it entering our creeks, rivers, and larger bodies of water. This is a free event, but registration is required. July 24, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm; Rock Creek Park, Aspen Hill, MD. More information and registration.

Summer Fungus Walks

Late August is a great time to be introduced to some of the common local fungi while finding out more about their vital functions in the natural world. The Audubon Naturalist Society Woodend Sanctuary will be the site for these walks on trails which are natural surface. The expert staff leader’s (Serenella Linares) knowledge about any and all mushrooms has earned her the accurate and affectionate nickname Mushie. Note: the focus of these field outings is fungi’s important and under-appreciated role in forest ecology, not the edibility of particular species of mushrooms. August 25 and 28; 9:00 am to 11:00 am; Audubon Woodland Sanctuary, Chevy Chase, MD. More information and registration.

Wild Crafted Tea

Take a walk on the wild side and learn how to make Triple Tea. Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum will teach you how to make some delicious, nutritious Triple Tea, blending peppermint, lemon balm, and “wild-caught” Perilla mint. Venture to the wild edges of the park to gather the Perilla mint, a non-native herb that is used by some cultures in cooking and medicinally. The plants will be processed for further use at home as fresh or dried leaves. You’ll receive a potted peppermint and a potted lemon balm to take home. All materials will be provided. $10 per registrant. July 17, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm; Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, Saint Leonard, MD. More information and registration.

SUPing Through Nature In and Around DC

DC urban-dwelling, nature-loving paddlers are blessed with a plethora of fantastic possibilities for plying their watercraft. Blogger Saki, with his attention to navigational aids and fantastic photographs, guides you through his top choices, including places like Pohick Bay, the nooks and crannies of the Patuxent River, Mataponi Creek, and more. Opportunities abound for seeing and photographing herons, muskrat, turtles, spadderdock, lotus blossoms, pickerel weed and many other species. Read Paddleboarding through Nature Around Washington, D.C.

Maryland Conservation Corps Now Recruiting

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is now recruiting members for the Maryland Conservation Corps, an award-winning AmeriCorps program that engages young adults aged 17-25 in extensive conservation, environmental and natural resources management projects across the state. Corps members will conduct interpretive state park programming, help preserve historical heritage sites, improve park nature centers, maintain hundreds of miles of trails, plant thousands of trees, restore wildlife habitat, and work with schools to plant Bay grasses. The department seeks to hire 35 full-time members who will work for an 11-month period, beginning in late September 2021. More information and link to application.

Explore the Current, Weather and Captain John Smith’s Historic Voyage with CBIBS!

Head out on the water and learn firsthand the experiences of Captain John Smith’s Voyage on NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay interpretive Buoy System. CBIBS provides real time weather and environmental information, as well as a glimpse into living Chesapeake Bay History. You can also download the app for your Android or iPhone from the website. Note: some buoys may be offline with no data currently available.

Chesapeake Trail Riverview

Take a virtual tour of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail from your computer or mobile device! To help you plan your trip before you go, the Chesapeake Conservancy partnered with Terrain360 to bring you virtual tours of the trail’s great rivers. Sit back and virtually explore the Elk, James (sponsored by the James River Association), Nanticoke, Northeast, Patapsco, Patuxent, Potomac, Rappahannock, Sassafras, Susquehanna, and York rivers. Check out some of the Chesapeake’s special places like Werowocomoco, Fones Cliffs, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and Mallows Bay. We hope to eventually bring you a virtual tour of the entire Chesapeake Trail! Explore the Chesapeake’s great rivers on our website.“

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