In Our Own Backyard

When I was a little girl, living in Baltimore, often on Sunday afternoons our family would go for a ride. This was a good and bad thing because I got very carsick, but it was good to get out of the neighborhood and see something new. I do remember riding through Ellicot City was a smelly affair--they must have had some kind of manufacturing plant that produced a disastrous odor to a carsick child. Eventually, we almost always ended up at the Patapsaco (sp?) State Park. We had picnics and there was a beach on a lake. There was also the very scary swinging bridge you could walk across, if you dared.

Yesterday, we took a ride minus the children (since ours are grown). We rode to Roosevelt State Park. The place is enormous. There are fantastic vistas to rival the North Georgia mountains, miles of hiking and horseback trails. There is a stone swimming pool built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) back during the Great Depression. There is, of course, The Little White House with which more of us are familiar. You can camp, or stay overnight in stone cottages or log cabins. You can ride through tree canopied, curving mountain roads which I imagine must be spectacular during the fall when the leaves change colors.

No, I am not the new spokesperson for the Park. I am just reminded of the many recreational opportunities available in our own backyard. I am also reminded of the special atmosphere of a State Park. Why not get out of the house some Sunday afternoon, turn off the TV, get your kids if they are still young enough to be held captive, and create yet another--or a first--Park memory.