The BICO Monthly Outings Summary

August, 2006


OUTING #1 DATE: August 5, 2006

TEAM:  College Gardens Community Center

ACTIVITIES:  Environmental Education

DESTINATION:  Brookside Gardens, Wheaton MD 

According the Chesapeake Bay Foundation web site, Brookside Gardens is Montgomery County's incomparable, award-winning 50-acre public display garden situated within Wheaton Regional Park, at 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton MD, 20902. Phone: (301) 962-1400.  Also, Brookside Gardens' mission, as a public garden, is to foster appreciation for the art of gardening and the science of horticulture through plant collections and displays, learning opportunities and special events.
 
GETTING IN:  Admission is free.

DIRECTIONS: From Baltimore about 1 hour
Take I95 South towards Washington
Merge onto I-495 W/CAPITAL BELTWAY via EXIT 27 toward SILVER SPRING. (go 5.9 miles)
Merge onto MD-97 N/GEORGIA AVE via EXIT 31.  (go 3.3 miles)
Turn RIGHT onto RANDOLPH RD/MD-183 E. (go 0.3 miles)
Turn RIGHT onto GLENALLAN AVE. (go 0.3 miles)

NEAREST HEALTH FACILITY:   Holy Cross Hospital
1500 Forest Glen Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910-1487
Phone: 301-754-7000
3.02 miles from your search location

OUTING HIGHLIGHTS:   The scavenger hunt game got the kids involved and excited about the hike.  The playground at Brookside allowed the kids to play until lunch was ready. The Nature center had a lot of interactive activities that the kids enjoyed. The kids marvelled at being able to see butterflies hatch, see all of the life stages of the butterflies and touch some dead butterflies.   

OUTING SUGGESTIONS:  Brookside is a nice place to go, but you may want to plan the outing during cooler months of Summer because the conservatory gets hot quickly and no food is allowed within the gardens.


OUTINGS #2 DATE: August 19-20, 2006

TEAM: Franciscan Youth Center

ACTIVITIES:  Patuxent River Sojourn

DESTINATION:  Elk Neck State Park, North East, MD

Sandy beaches, marshlands and heavily wooded bluffs comprise the peninsula formed by the North East and Elk Rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay, where this park is located. Several trails meander through the diversified topography, revealing the great variety of plant and animal life. An easy walking trail to Turkey Point Lighthouse provides a view of the Elk River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Elk Neck State Park
4395 Turkey Point Road
North East, MD 21901
(410) 287-5333

GETTING IN:  A $15.00 non-refundable service charge to reserved the youth group area.   Call 1-888-432-CAMP(2267) for reservations.  YOUTH GROUPS THAT DO NOT POSSESS A MARYLAND YOUTH GROUP PASS WILL BE ASSESSED A $2 PER PERSON PER NIGHT CAMPING SERVICE CHARGE. THIS WILL BE PAID ON ARRIVAL. EACH GROUP MUST BE SPONSORED BY A RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATION & CONSIST OF JUVENILES AGE 17 AND UNDER. ID MAY BE REQUIRED.

DIRECTIONS:  1-1.5 Hours from Baltimore
Travel Interstate 95 NORTH.  Take EXIT 100 to Route 272 South for 11 miles past North East, MD.  

NEAREST HEALTH FACILITY:  Harford Memorial Hospital
501 South Union Avenue
Havre De Grace, MD 21078-3493
443-843-5000

OUTING HIGHLIGHTS:  We first broke up into teams and laid down ground rules in the opening circle.  Each team was given a set of chores to do for the weekend.  This helped to establish some structure at the beginning of the outing.  Create simple things to do for children that are not participating in chores (i.e. brainteaser, etc.). The new volunteers brought this along with them, and it kept the kids occupied trying to figure out the brainteaser.  The youth campsite was just wonderful, and it was much cheaper than the family campground!  It gave us PLENTY of space (enough for 50 people), and provided a large field on which we could play. The selected site (Beaver #3) was closest to the trees and river, and also the bathhouse.  A nice hike with roller coaster hills led the group to the Chesapeake Bay, which was a nice surprise.  Again, half of the people went into the water and played.

OUTING SUGGESTIONS:  No s’mores at night...the kids were up till 12 midnight.  No more camping in August as it was very hot and humid.  It has been decided to go camping in the cooler months in the future. (i.e. May and September).