Recent Stories
Canoe tour shows best of Everglades
FLAMINGO, Fla. – Weekly downpours, migrating birds, and an assortment of insects deters some visitors from the Everglades. The month of April marks the start of South Florida’s wet season, when the Everglades comes to life and ranger-led tours and activities are put on hold. The events calendar is reducedRead More…
Lafitte dedicated to the Acadian culture
NEW ORLEANS— Jean Lafitte is an interesting name for a national park when you consider what kind of man he really was. Long debated among historians, Lafitte could be considered either a pirate or a privateer, depended on how you choose to view him. Born in what is now HaitiRead More…
Food surprises first-time UK visitor
NEW ORLEANS — As an exchange student coming to Miami from Scotland, I jumped at the chance at getting to see some more of the States by travelling to New Orleans on a class trip. I wasn’t sure really what to expect; all I knew about New Orleans was MardiRead More…
Program draws jazz musicians of all ages
NEW ORLEANS — The audience members applaud enthusiastically and click their cameras for the band headlining this morning’s concert at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park’s Visitor Center in the French Quarter. The eager reception is not for today’s brass band, The Storyville Stompers, but for the array ofRead More…
Oral History Project preserves jazz heritage
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park faces a challenge in preserving the musical tradition that is its namesake. “We don’t have museum artifacts per se,” Bruce Barnes, interpretive park ranger for the park, said. “It’s important to collect the histories.” One of Barnes’ many responsibilities includesRead More…
Miccosukees offer different food experience
SHARK VALLEY, Fla. — Cruising down U.S. 41, Tamiami Trail with the windows down and music blasting gets my adrenalin pumping as my friend Christa Sacco and I pass airboat ride sign after sign for miles. We have entered the swampland of the Everglades and are getting ready for anRead More…
Drives offer comfortable view of Big Cypress
OCHOPEE, Fla. — Scenic drives within the Big Cypress National Preserve enable visitors to enjoy beautiful views comfortably accommodated inside their car. Especially in the summer, when temperatures in Florida can reach 90 degrees during the day, this is a pleasant activity. But, of course, you will leave the air conditioningRead More…
Concerts draw jazz lovers to Visitor Center
NEW ORLEANS — Visitors passing through North St. Peter’s Street on a Saturday afternoon can hear the sounds of saxophones, trumpets and soulful vocals emanating from the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park Visitor Center. Free concerts are held every Saturday and Wednesday at the center and the music seepsRead More…
Concessions provide visitors’ needs in parks
The National Park Service system includes a very large group of parks that show our nation’s beauty. But just how beautiful is it when a person smells Starbucks coffee, instead of the fresh mountain air? Presidio of San Francisco, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, hasRead More…
Parks suffer from their own popularity
“It’s just not the same,” Claudy Joseph, 23, from Sunrise, Fla., stated somberly. Joseph has been visiting Northern California’s Yosemite National Park with his family every year for the past 20 years. “The lines, the trampled trails, the trash, that is not how it used to be,” Joseph explained. During theRead More…
Self-guided audio tour reveals jazz history
NEW ORLEANS — After a coffee- and sugar-filled breakfast at Café De Monde, why not walk off those beignets while learning some New Orleans history and grooving to some jazz? All you need is a fully charged cell phone. The self-guided walking tour of jazz sites in New Orleans is narratedRead More…
Pythons causing problems in Everglades
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The Everglades National Park is a welcoming refuge for wildlife and tourists alike. The same goes for the invasive, non-native snake population that has infiltrated the park ecosystem as its new home. “We have a python problem in the park,” said Everglades National Park Ranger Erica Baker.Read More…