Off-Campus Recreational and Cultural Opportunities
When you are not in the laboratory, you will discover an abundance of cultural and recreational opportunities to enrich your leisure time, whether you want to travel only a few minutes or a couple of hours for a change of scene. Near the NIH campus, downtown Bethesda features a diverse selection of almost 200 restaurants that offer everything from pizza to ethnic cuisines. A short distance from campus, the state-of-the-art Music Center at Strathmore serves as the second home for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and offers classical, jazz, pops, holiday and summer concerts. Fifteen or 20 minutes away, Washington, D.C. offers magnificent monuments, world-class museums, and the opportunity to see the U.S. Congress in action. In addition to the National Gallery of Art and the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, smaller museums such as the Phillips Collection and the Corcoran Gallery of Art should not be overlooked. Music and theater performance thrives in the city as well. The halls of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are booked year-round with a variety of entertainment from symphony and chamber music concerts and operas to Broadway plays and musical comedies. Other performance sites, such as Arena Stage and the National and Shakespeare theaters, are scattered throughout the city and suburbs. Washington's best-known outdoor recreational area, Rock Creek Park, offers a spacious and beautiful landscape much appreciated and heavily used by bicyclists, joggers, and picnickers. For those interested in spectator sports, Washington is home to the Washington Nationals, Wizards, Redskins and Capitals.

Washingtonians often make the trip to Baltimore to watch an Orioles game or enjoy the Inner Harbor restaurants and shopping. Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay, western Maryland, and Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, are other convenient recreational destinations. The popular beaches on Maryland's Eastern Shore are about a three-hour drive from Bethesda. Numerous ski resorts in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania are also within a few hours drive of Bethesda.

Public Transportation
Many students bring cars to the NIH, but good public transportation is available. The Metro (the District of Columbia-Virginia-Maryland bus and subway system) has a subway stop on the grounds of the NIH near the Library of Medicine. Students can take the Metro into downtown Bethesda, Georgetown, or the Washington Mall near the Capitol. Amtrak runs trains regularly, making weekend trips to cities on the Northeast corridor relatively easy. Many Scholars bring their bicycles to commute on NIH's extensive campus.

Tourism Links
For more information on what to do in Bethesda and Washington, check out these Web sites:
• http://www.washington.org
• http://www.bethesda.org

Photo: Kay Chernush