Results tagged “Parks” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Ah, autumn is here - which brings to mind changing leaves, back-to-school sales, and...crab races. Yes, crab races.

Every year on Labor Day weekend, the seaside town of Crisfield, Maryland holds its Annual Hard Crab Derby and Fair. This quaint village of 2,800 on the Chesapeake Bay has a long tradition of catching - and racing - its seafood. The festival is a celebration of the town's fishing heritage, particularly of the abundant (and delicious!) blue crabs that teem in the bay's waters.

Here, you can watch a parade on Main Street, a boat docking contest, a crab picking contest, and the crowning of the beautiful Miss Crustacean. But the main attraction of the festival is its namesake "crab derby," in which hundreds of crabs scramble down a chute to the finish line in a knock-down, drag-out race (okay, so the crabs aren't even aware of the race). The bets - and the crowd's enthusiasm - get intense. Afterward, nothing beats finishing off a fresh platter of crabs steamed with Old Bay spice while taking in views of the water at the Olde Crisfield Crab and Steakhouse. If you're hardy enough, you can top it off with a generous slice of Smith Island cake.

The best way to enjoy the festival is by renting a campsite in nearby Jane's Island State Park, which boasts 3,100 acres of Eastern Maryland's prettiest shoreline. When you need a break from the festivities, quiet kayak trails and beach walks await you in the park. So grab some friends, a tent, and a healthy appetite for crab and you've got one shell of a Labor Day weekend.  

Photo: kathyhaduch via Flickr

When I lived in New York City, my summer weekends were commonly spent lounging on Central Park's Great Lawn. But I'd never really considered staying the night -- until now. New York City's Parks and Recreation Department opens up 13 of its public parks to family campers on weekends throughout July and August, the New York Times reports, offering the allure of communing with nature just steps from a subway. And what's rather incredible is that the family camping trips are free, and include a cook-out, nature hikes, stargazing, two-person tents, and craft activities led by the Urban Park Rangers on staff. All you need to bring is a sleeping bag.

But in order to get a spot in one of these events (they typically accommodate about 30 people) you have to be savvy. Registration begins on certain days and spots fill up fast. Click here for the list of available dates and when to register. And remember to bring marshmallows.

[New York City Parks and Recreation Family Camping]

Photo: Looking for bats during a campout at Owl's Head Park in Brooklyn. Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times

It's been a long time coming, but today marks the opening of one of the biggest public works projects to hit New York City in a generation. The High Line began its life as an elevated railway platform stretching through the western edge of Manhattan, delivering cows to the meatpacking district. Decommissioned in 1980 (the last train delivered a batch of frozen turkeys) it was a subject of intense debate in the neighborhood for almost two decades - between those who sought to preserve the rail line and those who hoped to tear it down and develop the land. Today it has been reopened -- and re-invisioned -- as a fantastic public park. Taking a page from Paris's Promenade Plantée, it's a park lifted above the city streets, an escape from the crowds and a place for contemplation. The design, by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio & Renfro, features over 100 species of plants and also provides connective tissue to the neighborhood's gallery scene, incorporating art works like Spencer Finches site-specific piece, The River That Flows Both Ways, which is made up of 700 individual panes of blue and green tinted glass, each of which represent light reflected off the Hudson River. It's also been a boon to development in the neighborhood, with over 30 new projects planned for the space surrounding it, said Mayor Bloomberg this morning at the official opening. The first section of the park, which runs from 20th Street to Gansevoort St. (enter at Gansevoort), is now open to the public from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The New York Times is calling it "something of a New York fairy tale" and I'm dying to check it out. If you have, let us know what you think!

[Getting to the High Line]

Photo: Iwan Baan, via The High Line Blog

In a not-too-well-known wrinkle of history, Lincoln freed the approximately 3,000 slaves then living in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862, nine months before the country-wide emancipation of enslaved peoples. In honor of that date, Washington, D.C., celebrates Emancipation Day today.

In D.C., Emancipation Day was a public holiday marked annually from 1866 to 1901 before fading away. It's been revamped in the past four years, though D.C. Mayor Fenty has recently considered scrapping the local holiday to save the city some much-needed money.

This year, a series of education and commemorative activities have been planned, ranging from ongoing art exhibits on African American celebrations and culture, to rallies and marches supporting D.C. statehood, to a living history discussion with an actor portraying Lincoln as he discusses his views on slavery, colonization, and emancipation, put on by the Historical Society of Washington. Some events and church services continue into the weekend and beyond. If you can, be sure to catch the discussion by Howard University professor Dr. Mark Mack about how ground penetrating radar is being used to detect the unmarked African American graves which were discovered what is now Walter Pierce Park in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. The session takes place in the park at 2 p.m. on April 25.

Does your city have any celebrations of its very own? Unique to its history and culture?

Photo: via D.C. Mayor's office, by Lateef Mangum