Visitors

DNA on display If you're fascinated by forensic science, you'll want to catch the final day of the exhibit Putting DNA to Work, on view at the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. Today is your last chance to explore the hands-on exhibit, which features 15 interactive displays and videos on how the science of DNA is used in everyday life. Visitors can learn how genetically similar humans are to various other life forms, such as chimpanzees, mice, fruit flies and a type of weed.

The head of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association announced yesterday that he has hired a tourism marketing veteran to fill the newly created position of executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Sam Rogers, who spent a total of 15 years working for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, is set to become the second in command of BACVA when he begins work Oct. 10. Rogers has spent the past two years launching Amicus International Hospitality Services, a destination management company in Philadelphia.

Within minutes of starting their visit to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Pasadena residents Arnold and Kathleen Isaacs had their binoculars out ready to spot birds and any other creatures that might pop up. The two spent a few hours exploring the research center campus on the shores of the Rhode River and Muddy Creek in Edgewater. "It was a very pleasant walk in the spring," said Kathleen Isaacs. "What really struck me was how much of the surroundings of the bay must have been like that when we moved to Maryland in the 1960s.

ANOTHER GOLDEN ERA FOR ROMEAfter nearly 20 years of renovations, Nero's famous Italian palace, Domus Aurea (which means Golden House), reopened last month. Built between the years 64 A.D. and 68 A.D., the palace was known for its size and opulence and also for its historical significance.When the Flavian dynasty came to power after Nero's suicide in 68 A.D., they started dismantling Domus Aurea in an attempt to erase the emperor and his tyrannical rule from history. The palace remained buried beneath soil until the late 15th century.

Go fly a kite! This time, that's not a put-down.The Friends of St. John's are sponsoring the Great Kite Fly this weekend as a way to help the community get to know "that liberal arts school" where students study for oral debates and don't get grades.If there's sunshine and a breeze over College Creek that's not too strong Saturday, expect to see hundreds of visitors trampling the greens at St. John's College, sending up their favorite flying devices."It's so that more people will come to St. John's and see the great things going on there," said event chairwoman Esther Slaff.

Go fly a kite! This time, that's not a put-down.The Friends of St. John's are sponsoring the Great Kite Fly this weekend as a way to help the community get to know "that liberal arts school" where students study for oral debates and don't get grades.If there's sunshine and a breeze over College Creek that's not too strong Saturday, expect to see hundreds of visitors trampling the greens at St. John's College, sending up their favorite flying devices."It's so that more people will come to St. John's and see the great things going on there," said Esther Slaff, chairwoman of the event.

The opening of a string of new attractions has state tourism officials hoping to make a leap toward long-held goals of getting visitors to spend time and money.Looking only as far as the Inner Harbor, last year was studded with successes, including the opening of the world's first ESPN Zone, a Barnes & Noble bookstore, a Planet Hollywood and Port Discovery. Despite the major accomplishments, challenges lie ahead."We do need to have a far better understanding across the state that tourism is a legitimate economic development tool in this state," said George Williams, Maryland's director of tourism.

For the first time, the three agencies that promote the city and its events have joined forces through a single, quirky advertising campaign that celebrates all things uniquely Baltimore.The three agencies, the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, Downtown Partnership and the Baltimore Office of Promotion, pitched in to pay for the creation of the branding campaign, called "Baltibaloo." Each organization will use the campaign in ways tailored for its constituents."We were looking for something new and different," said Dan M. Lincoln, vice president of tourism and communications for BACVA.

As armies of schoolchildren invade Gettysburg, the National Park Service will reopen a popular battlefield attraction today -- the Cyclorama Center, home of a panoramic painting of Pickett's Charge -- after tests for asbestos found safe levels.The circular hall near the visitor center closed Tuesday afternoon, said Katie Lawhon, spokeswoman for Gettysburg National Military Park, after employees opening the building found a 14-inch section of ceiling had fallen in a second-floor lobby entrance.

Much like visitors who gawk at fish in the National Aquarium, a delegation of Mozambique politicians came to Baltimore yesterday to observe the city's newest exhibit: the 1999 mayor's race.The eight African officials are guests of the National Democratic Institute, a Washington agency created to foster world democracy. The contingent, which included two elections commissioners, spent a day with three of Baltimore's leading mayoral candidates, getting a front-row seat to what has become a turbulent campaign involving 27 candidates.

As Maryland's hospitals brace for the worst that the swine flu pandemic could offer, they are making big changes in the way they handle visitors - restricting children, limiting certain adult visitors and issuing face masks at entrances - in an effort to stem the virus' spread. In a recent poll by the Maryland Hospital Association, 15 of 39 hospitals' representatives said they had already put new policies into place. Almost all of the others said they are considering a policy change but hadn't finalized the details.

LOS ANGELES -- Move over, Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The hot new Southern California tourist attractions are the restaurants, boutiques and tattoo parlors where some of reality television's most popular shows are filmed. Tourists from as far away as Germany fly in to visit the West Hollywood tattoo shop featured in the Learning Channel's LA Ink. Fans of the E! hit Keeping Up With the Kardashians stream into the Calabasas clothing stores run by the show's stars. And sightseers and diners alike jam the pricey West Hollywood eatery frequented by personalities on MTV's The Hills.

With most schools closed or closing this week, the summer vacation season moves into full swing for many families. This year, job uncertainty and economic woes seem to have put a lot of travel plans in flux. Some destinations report that visitors are waiting until the last minute to make reservations and when they do, they're bargaining for - and often receiving - lower prices. Good for them. It may be too far a stretch to say the annual rite of summer travel is in danger, but HomeAway.

The city is different after the sun sets. Edgier. More eclectic. More energized. More youthful. More dangerous. Recent violence is either out of control, as some residents and visitors suggest, or it's an exaggerated, isolated byproduct of a vibrant after-hours social scene that takes over neighborhoods north of the Inner Harbor as most people are climbing into bed. City Councilman William H. Cole IV spends many weekend nights cruising through his...

On the day before the 2009 Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage opened, co-chair Hilles Whedbee hosted a luncheon for 70 volunteers at her northern Baltimore County home. She has attended most of the tours this month and on Sunday she will open Shawan House, a Georgian brick colonial that overlooks Western Run Valley, to about 400 visitors. She works full time as a nurse midwife, is planning graduation parties for both of her daughters and is going about sprucing up her home and its spacious grounds without anxiety.

Nita Settina oversees vast tracts of public land, from Deep Creek Lake out west to Assateague on the Atlantic Ocean. But this year, with families pinching pennies, the Maryland State Parks superintendent thinks that no matter how many destinations she has, "If the weather cooperates ... we're going to be swamped." Despite having among the highest user fees in the country, state parks attracted 11.3 million visitors last year, an increase of 1 million over the previous year. The vast majority of visitors spent the day at beaches, on hiking trails or at family gatherings at picnic pavilions.

Fort McHenry visitors center Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine will break ground Monday on a visitors center that will commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The new building will open in the fall of 2010 and replace the existing facility, which opened in 1966 and was built to accommodate 250,000 visitors a year. Fort McHenry officials said they now host about 600,000 visitors a year. Congress allocated more than $11 million in 2005 for the construction of the facility at Fort McHenry, which is a national park.

The Philadelphia Flower Show is always a floral spectacle and a welcome respite from winter. But this year, it will likely mean more to its quarter-million visitors. Brought low by economic hard times and a winter that seems, as all winters do, to drag on and on, those who spend a day in the city's cavernous Convention Center next week should feel transported. Literally. The show is titled "Bella Italia," and designer Sam Lemheney is attempting to carry visitors to the majestic gardens of ancient Rome, the lush hills of the Tuscan countryside, the romantic waters of Venice and the artful flora of Florence.

* Forget MARC. It's sold out. * MTA commuter buses will depart Kent Island, Annapolis, Columbia, Scaggsville-Burtonsville, Frederick, Upper Marlboro and three Southern Maryland locations this morning and connect with the Washington Metrorail system. Tickets can be purchased onboard. Reservations are not required. Round-trip tickets are $10. Exact change is required. Schedules and other information at www.mtamaryland.com. * One of the most economical ways to go from Baltimore is to take the light rail to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport ($1.60, one way)

Click, clack, click, clack, click, clack, hiiiiiiiissssssss ... the train's wheels sputter and squeak as it rolls to a stop, causing rows of theater seats to rattle and shake. "Ready to go?" a kindly conductor asks. "Go ... where?" asks a puzzled young boy as he tugs on his blue robe. "Why, to the North Pole!" exclaims the conductor. They ride into the night, bound for holiday adventure. Click, clack, click, clack, click ... Like the conductor, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, which is not traditionally thought of as a holiday-time destination, is hoping that its The Polar Express 4-D Experience will stir up some holiday magic this year for visitors.