State offi­cials and local vol­un­teer groups cel­e­brated a vari­ety of improve­ments at Hueston Woods State Park with rib­bon cut­ting and ded­i­ca­tion cer­e­monies on Wednesday, accord­ing to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

The Midwest’s largest zipline tour, Ozone Zipline Adventures, reopens for the sea­son on April 1. Much like zipline tours in exotic des­ti­na­tions, Ozone Zipline Adventures is an eco-adventure that com­bines the thrills of fly­ing through the tree­tops at heights of 200 feet above the val­ley floor, with out­door recre­ation, envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion and his­tor­i­cal awareness.

Dred Scott. George Washington Carver. Scott Joplin. Buck O’Neil. You might be famil­iar with the names, but have you been to the cour­t­house where Scott, a slave, sat after he suc­cess­fully sued to earn his free­dom? Have you walked the grounds where Carver devel­oped his love for agri­cul­ture? Can you hear the music play as you imag­ine Joplin sit­ting at his piano and com­pos­ing “The Entertainer” or pic­ture what O’Neil’s accom­mo­da­tions might have been like for road games? If you answered “no” to these ques­tions, it’s time for a visit to Missouri, a state rich in African-American cul­ture and a great loca­tion to learn about the peo­ple who strug­gled to gain free­dom, fought to make con­tri­bu­tions to soci­ety, put their own stamp on a gen­er­a­tion and sim­ply wanted to get in the game. The Old Courthouse in St. Louis, www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/och.htm plays an impor­tant role in the his­tory of African-Americans in Missouri and in American history.

Dred Scott. George Washington Carver. Scott Joplin. Buck O’Neil. You might be famil­iar with the names, but have you been to the cour­t­house where Scott, a slave, sat after he suc­cess­fully sued to earn his free­dom? Have you walked the grounds where Carver devel­oped his love for agri­cul­ture? Can you hear the music play as you imag­ine Joplin sit­ting at his piano and com­pos­ing “The Entertainer” or pic­ture what O’Neil’s accom­mo­da­tions might have been like for road games? If you answered “no” to these ques­tions, it’s time for a visit to Missouri, a state rich in African-American cul­ture and a great loca­tion to learn about the peo­ple who strug­gled to gain free­dom, fought to make con­tri­bu­tions to soci­ety, put their own stamp on a gen­er­a­tion and sim­ply wanted to get in the game. The Old Courthouse in St. Louis, www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/och.htm plays an impor­tant role in the his­tory of African-Americans in Missouri and in American history.

Waiting for warmer weather to plan week­end get­aways with fam­ily and kids? Just because winter’s here doesn’t mean you and yours can’t strike out on a week­end get­away or snow day vaca­tion and ward off cabin fever. Kentucky has so many des­ti­na­tions that fit the bill even bet­ter dur­ing win­ter months so you can save all those spring and sum­mer breaks to get out­side! Roads are cleared so unplug the TV or com­puter and get on the road to plenty of indoor fun and enter­tain­ment for the whole gang.

It’s more and more dif­fi­cult to stretch a dol­lar these days, and there’s noth­ing harder to deal with than bored kids who just want “some­thing to do.” Well, there are lots of things to do in Missouri that don’t cost a dime and will keep the kids happy and occu­pied. You just need to know where to find them.