My favorite place in Kentucky is the Natural Bridge State Park. It is perhaps the last place to go and feel like you have stepped back in time.  

Coming up is the annual Natural Bridge herpetology Weekend.  If you have never been to the state park take this chance to go.  Here are the details.

Natural Bridge Hosts Herpetology Weekend

FRANKFORT, Ky.
–Learn about some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures at the
annual Natural Bridge Herpetology Weekend, scheduled for the weekend of
April 21 and 22.  Biologists will lead field trips into the Red
River Gorge to search for the creepy critters in their native
habitat.  Evening presentations will help explain what makes these
animals so cool, and what you can do to help them survive.

     On Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.,
enjoy a live turtle program with the Kentucky Reptile Zoo’s Byram
Feltner, followed by US Forest Service biologist Tom Biebighauser
explaining the importance of ephemeral wetlands.  If you really
know your herps you might win a prize in the “So You Think You Know
Kentucky Herps?” trivia contest that evening. 

    On
Saturday morning, join in as Biebighauser actually builds a wetland and
provides instruction on how they can be constructed on your own
property or school grounds.  At 1 p.m.
at the nearby Kentucky Reptile Zoo, Jim Harrison will extract venom
from live snakes and you’ll learn how important that venom is to
medical research throughout the world. Also that afternoon, researchers
Marc Gumbert and Dan Dourson will track copperheads through the woods
and demonstrate how radio telemetry is helping biologists understand
snake movement patterns. 

     Field trips into the Red River Gorge National Geologic Area will begin at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.  Finally, the event will cap off at 7:30 p.m. with biologist James Kiser and Glen Schulte of the Cincinnati Zoo Academy presenting informational programs.  

     The
registration fee is $5 per adult and $2 per child.  For lodging
information please call 1-800-325-1710.  Registration begins at 7 p.m. on the 21st at Natural Bridge’s Hemlock Lodge.  All evening programs begin at 7 p.m. in the park’s Activities Center. 

     Instruction
and materials provided by Natural Bridge State Park, the Kentucky
Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the Kentucky Reptile Zoo,
the Arches of the Cumberland Chapter of the Kentucky Society of Natural
History, and the United States Forest Service. 

   For more information on other Herp Weekend programs contact Zeb Weese at jason.weese@ky.gov or by phone at 1-606-663-2214.

Technorati Tags: Kentucky, State Park, Herpetology, Tourism

You will only be able to get 50 of these fine mint juleps. They are going for a good cause and are made with ice from the artic circle, as well as mint from Morocco. The sugar is from the South Pacific. You will be able to sip it through a silver straw and a gold plated cup. Cost: $1000

Free Refills anyone?