Bayside Nature Center

I'm always up for a field trip, something new to see, something different to learn. The kids and I have developed a nice little routine here in Ocean City. We now have things to do, places to go and people--people who actually know us--to see. Still, the idea of doing something new is always appealing.

I'd read many times of the Bayside Nature Center, but every time I'd searched for it online, I'd come up empty handed. Save for a description on the OC Chamber of Commerce website, I couldn't find a website, a schedule or anything. A website is a great mom barometer. It helps me judge if an event or attraction is worth getting 3 kids into the car, buckling car seats, navigating through traffic, unbuckling car seats and getting 3 kids out of the car.

Today, we went to the beach with our new friends from camp, Zach and his mom Brenda. When Brenda mentioned the Bayside Center, I knew we had to give it a try. After dinner, we met there, at 5th and Bay, to hear a kid-friendly speaker. The speaker, however, was late, and after 20 minutes of letting the kids run around the parking lot, we decided to call it a night.

Sometimes it pays to be slow. It took me a while to load every one back into the car, and just as we were pulling out of the driveway, the speaker arrived. He waved us back into the parking lot and convinced us to stay. Will and Carter made up the small, but captive audience.

The speaker, a man named Colby from the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (www.fsw.gov.northeast/forsythe), talked to the kids about the wilderness. He gave then note cards and asked them to write or draw what they thought of when he said the word "wild." Will drew a dinosaur and a swordfish. (Carter wrote the letters x, o and t, never missing an opportunity to show off. He later demonstrated his ability to add and spell the words "top" and "tot." Thank you, Electric Company.) He then talked to the kids about what wilderness is and showed them pictures of his trips through the wilderness in the desert in Joshua Tree, in Alaska and in Idaho.

He did a great job and really kept the kids engaged. Real kudos to him, since I'm sure we weren't quite the audience he was expecting. He gave the kids lots of opportunities to ask questions and they learned a lot about native plants, caribou, bears and moose, plus a lot about the concept of preserving our nation's wilderness.

The Bayside Nature Center is also a museum, right on the Ocean City bay. Another bonus of our private class was the wonderful view of the sunset from the top floor of the center. We'll definitely go back to explore the museum itself, which includes a whole room on life saving, right up Will's alley. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, they offer free, hands-on presentations done by different speakers from the community, all geared towards kids and nature.

We'll definitely go back again. Website or not, it passes this mom's 3-kids-in-car seats test.