Embracing cell phones at the beach
July 7, 2008
When I’m out hiking or enjoying the great outdoors in some form, I tend to scoff when I see people out in nature yacking on their cell phones. But at Assateague Island National Seashore, the park is making your cell phone part of the whole nature experience.
The park announced Thursday that visitors can now use their cell phones to take a guided audio tour of the seashore and learn more about the island’s famous wild horses. Users will sacrifice their own cell minutes for the call, but there’s no charge for the tour.
The pilot program is provided by OnCell Audio and listeners will have the option to provide feedback on their experience. The program has improved “proved fairly popular and effective” at least for some organizations.
On the surface it seems like a neat idea, but I can think of a few hitches. Like, what if you don’t get cell service out on the beach? Or your call breaks up and you have to keep redialing? Last time I was at Assateague I didn’t have any service problems but I didn’t try to use my phone once I was inside the park gates.
What do you think about this new offer? Is it a modern move for a national park or something that could potentially exclude some visitors’ access?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentThe value of ocean air
May 22, 2008
While doing the reporting for today’s story on Ocean City’s summer tourism expectations, I learned about — and experienced — something I’ve come to call the “ahhhh” phenomenon.
It’s that feeling you get when you cross the Bay Bridge and get to the Eastern Shore. (That is, unless you are sitting in beach traffic, in which case you are probably experiencing a different phenomenon I can’t repeat here.)
Maybe it’s the thrill of knowing you can top off for at least 10 cents a gallon cheaper in Easton or Cambridge. Maybe it’s the sprawl of farmland and low, unassuming buildings. Or the quiet produce stands that come to life during the summer weekends with smells of berries, fresh produce and the occasional fresh baked apple pie.
Or maybe it’s just the fact that I grew up about an hour’s drive from a beach (albeit a cold one), and it makes me think of being a kid.
Whatever the reason, there’s a sense of peace and ease that’s unique to that part of our state. People make eye contact with you as you pass by on the street, drivers on the roads suddenly keep an appropriate distance from one another other and remember to use their turn signals, and the odds of getting a tan by mid-May are pretty good.
But I’m wondering with the economic climate the way it is today, will the “ahhhh” phenomenon still be enough to draw people out this summer to let off some steam? Or will the squeeze at the pump — and at home — convince people that staying put is less stressful?
Where are you getting your “ahhhhs” this summer?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentSmith Island cake wins over Senate
March 18, 2008
Smith Island layer cake got a sweet deal from the Maryland Senate on Monday; the body voted 44-1 to make the Eastern Shore’s creation our official state dessert.
The only senator to vote against the cake was Republican Sen. Alex Mooney, who told the AP he voted in jest because his county, Frederick, grows apples and he prefers the fruit pie.
Now, on to the House…
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentBattle for state dessert designation
January 24, 2008
Delegate Page Elmore, R-Somerset, is hoping to win a sweet victory in the legislative session: to pass his bill that proposes naming Smith Island’s 10-layer cake the official state dessert. (In the newsroom, we’re wondering: what about Baltimore’s Berger cookies?)
On Tuesday, Elmore sought to win the hearts of lawmakers through their stomachs when he had about 500 slices of the cake delivered to the State House.
AP writer Kristen Wyatt watched Del. Melony Griffith, D-Prince George’s, tuck in to a thin slice of the most common flavor: yellow cake in 10-centimeter thick layers with chocolate frosting. “I make a pretty mean sweet potato pie, but oh, this is good,” said Griffith.
About 50 lawmakers have agreed to co-sign the bill, but there are some doubters. Maryland already has 21 state symbols, from the Calico cat to the state sport of jousting, and though some of them are well known, many are not.
Elmore is hoping the bill will boost Smith Island, as pollution has hurt the seafood industry and the working population of the island is dwindling, something former Daily Record reporter Steven Overly discovered when he visited the island for a feature story in August.
On the bill, anyway, we’ll just have to see how the cookie crumbles.
JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Above: Del. William J. Frank, (R-Baltimore County) accepts a wedge of 10-layer Smith Island cake Tuesday, Jan. 22.
UPDATE: Read the extended version of this post for the recipe for Smith Island cake.
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