Research Blog : vacation

Vacation on a budget...

SuDocQueen@evpl — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:38:00 GMT

Nowadays everyone’s talking about staycations. This reminded me of the wonderful vacations my parents took me on even when we had to watch every penny. How’d we do it? By visiting our National Parks and State Parks (and camping, but that’s a whole ‘nother story). Most parks have entrance fees for an entire passenger car that are cheaper than an individual ticket to Disney World.

Starting in the winter my parents would send away for scads of pamphlets and maps of parks like the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, and Slide Rock State Park. Planning early is still a good idea but now it’s even easier. All you have to do is go to www.nps.gov. From there you can learn about every national park in the country. They have a great search tool on that front page. Just click on the state you’re interested in visiting and you’ll get a list of all the parks in that state. But what if you know the name of a park but not what state it’s in? No problem. Click on the “Advanced SearchTool and Map.” From there scroll below the map and you’ll see a great browser tool that will let you pick your park by name, location, preferred activity, or even topic (like mountains or volcanoes or coral reefs).

But what about state parks? Well, if there’s a site out there that pulls all state parks under one “roof” I haven’t found it yet, but putting “state parks (insert the state name of your choice)” into Google does a terrific job of pulling up each state’s website.

And, if you’re at Central Library stop by and take a look at some of the books and pamphlets the National Parks Service still puts out. We have a whole series of pamphlets on the Blue Ridge Parkway trails. Just ask one of us about Call # I 29.149. Or if you’re interested in the historic details of sites, you might want to take a look in our I 29.88 area. Those are historic structure and site reports on places like Fire Island Lighthouse, the Eleanor Roosevelt Historic Site, and Antietam National Battlefield.

It's Orange Cone Season Again: How To Avoid Construction Delays

Bufkinite@evpl — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:09:00 GMT

Orange cones seem to blossom along our state's road and highways this time of year like mushrooms after a spring rain. Coming to work every day from Posey County, I already have to navigate six to eight miles of one-lane traffic along State Highway 62. People traveling on Lincoln Ave. and other areas in the northeast of Evansville are also contending with traffic delays and congestion resulting from road construction.

There are a few resources for finding out about road construction projects which may come in handy if you're planning a road trip in the Hoosier State anytime soon. It would be nice if all of these resources were combined into one site where all current state-funded projects were listed, but until then, use these three to locate construction projects in your area:

The "Major Moves" website of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) features a map of Indiana counties, where clicking on any county returns a list of Major Moves projects going on there.
INDOT also maintains a road restrictions page for non-Major Moves projects that temporarily close, partially close, or restrict access to state roads and highways due to construction projects.
Finally, INDOT has a current construction projects page that lists projects currently under construction, projects near construction, and current study corridors.

The Vanderburgh County Highway Department has a Road Alerts page that includes links to information on road closings, snow removal, flood alerts, and more - including a link to a page where you can report a problem or file a complaint.

Something You May Have Never Done On Vacation

wag.mado@evpl — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:43:00 GMT

Are you one of those people who are going to stay close to home this year for vacation? Would you still like to do something you've never done before? Well, St. Louis, Missouri may have something for you. If you visit St. Louis any time this summer you can take a tour of the downtown area or a tour of Forest Park area on a Segway PT (personal transporter). The guided tours are offered by Glide St Louis Tours or Science Center Segways and range from $65.00 to $100.00 depending on the type of tour you are interested in. Take a look at the FAQ's for more information.

There are many other cities that offer Segway tours. So before you leave on your next trip, check to see if there's a tour offered at your destination.

And, if you decide to visit St. Louis, don't forget to check out some library materials before you go. We have guidebooks, books about the St. Louis Cardinals - including some DVD's, and much more.

If you would like to read more about the Segway and it's origin, check out the book Code Name Ginger by Steve Kemper.