Excursions

Here is a list of the four fun excursions being offered for the last day of the meeting. Please register for excursions on the meeting registration form. Detailed descriptions of each excursion follow below.

1) Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center (formerly VA Marine Science Museum) in Virginia Beach (1 hr 15 min drive)
Depart Hotel: 8:30 am
Depart Museum: 3:00 pm
Count: 47 people maximum
Cost: $16.50 (transportation and museum admission). IMAX for an additional $7.50 on site.
Web site: http://www.vmsm.com/visit.html

2) Colonial Williamsburg (all day) Colonial Sampler ticket:
Depart hotel: Anytime (within walking distance of hotel)
Return: Anytime
Count: unlimited
Cost: $30.15 Adults
Web site: http://www.history.org/

3) Virginia Institute of Marine Science Tour (1/2 day)
Depart hotel: 9:15 am
Return: 1:00 pm
Count: 20 people maximum
Cost: Free
Web site: http://www.vims.edu/

4) William and Mary Campus Tour
Meet at University Center: 9:00 am (walking distance from hotel)
Return: 11:00 am
Count: 15-20 people
Cost: Free
Web site: http://www.wm.edu/

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF EXCURSIONS

1) Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center (VA Beach)

Description:

Atlantic Ocean Pavilion & Main Building

The Atlantic Ocean Pavilion and Main Building host the 300,000-gallon Norfolk Canyon Aquarium including sandtiger, nurse and brown sharks, as well as stingrays and other large open-ocean dwellers. You'll also find the 70,000-gallon sea turtle aquarium, sea turtle hatchling laboratory, hands-on ocean exploration exhibits, jellyfish and octopus aquariums, and even a life-size model of a humpback whale.

Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion

The Pavilion tells the story of life in Owls Creek salt marsh, the waterway on which the museum is located. Exhibits include dozens of aquariums and terrariums featuring river otters, seahorses, fiddler crabs and a macro-marsh where animals and plants are magnified ten times their normal size. Visitors will enjoy the one of-a-kind interactive theater where they can test their knowledge about the local environment. In addition, an outdoor aviary features over 55 local bird species such as egrets, pelicans, royal terns, ducks, turkey vultures and great blue herons.

Nature Trail

Take a walk on the wild side! Connecting the museum's two buildings, the 1/3-mile nature trail meanders through more than ten acres of salt marsh preserve along Owls Creek. A 30-foot observation tower, information boxes, elevated boardwalks and shaded trail system give viewers clues about the menagerie of life to be found in this living exhibit.

Daily Programs

Informative 10-to-15 minute programs are conducted throughout the day in both of the museum's buildings and along the nature trail. Knowledgeable staff introduce a variety of topics followed by a question and answer session while trained volunteers are stationed at various exhibits as well.

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2) Colonial Williamsburg

Description:

Spend a full day as a citizen of our colonial capital!

Includes

• A single day's admission to Great Hopes Plantation and authentic 18th-century exhibition sites such as Courthouse, Gaol, Magazine, and the homes of Peyton Randolph and George Wythe.
• Orientation Walk
• Complimentary Historic Area shuttle bus service
• Viewing of the movie short Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot
• Free Parking at the Visitor Center
• The Colonial Sampler Ticket does not include the Capitol, Governor's Palace, Bassett Hall, DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Arts Museum or Colonial Explorer Activities.

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3) VIMS

This tour will be conducted at the main campus of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). The main campus is located in Gloucester Point, VA, at the mouth of the York River, a major tributary and passageway to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. The tour will include a short introductory video and visits to the VIMS aquariums, library, Teaching marsh, Boat Basin, and Ichthyology Collection.

VIMS has a three-part mission to conduct interdisciplinary research in coastal ocean and estuarine science, educate students and citizens, and provide advisory service to policy makers, industry, and the public. The VIMS School of Marine Science (SMS) is the professional graduate school in marine science for the College of William & Mary. Chartered in 1940, VIMS is currently among the largest marine research and education centers in the United States, and is one of five graduate schools of the College of William and Mary. VIMS' tripartite mission to provide research, education, and advisory service in marine science is mandated in the Codes of Virginia.

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4) William and Mary Campus Tour

This excursion will take you on a walking tour of the William and Mary Campus. When you walk the brick walkways of the College, you trod the same paths as people who shaped our republic--presidents, thinkers, legal scholars, revolutionaries. You'll find a place alive with history, yet vibrant with the energy of the minds that will shape our future. America's second-oldest college is also the best small public university in the nation. The Sir Christopher Wren Building at the College of William and Mary in Virginia is the oldest academic building in continuous use in the United States. It was constructed between 1695 and 1699, before Williamsburg was founded, when the capital of the colony of Virginia was still located at Jamestown. Tradition has it that the building was designed by the famed English architect Sir Christopher Wren who designed St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The Wren Building has been destroyed by fire three times in 1705, 1859 and 1862. Each time the structure was rebuilt, and for more than three centuries, it has been "the soul of the College." In the building, generations of William and Mary students have attended classes and lectures, enjoyed meals and attended chapel services. Classes are still held in the Wren Building, which also is home to several faculty offices.

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