Benjamin Ritt, Glenn A. Jones, and David Retchless
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread in early 2020, Galveston, Texas, suspended beach access from 29 March 2020 through 1 May 2020. This action was designed to reduce the number of visitors to the island and to reduce nonsocially distanced interactions. After the 1 May 2020 reopening mandated by the Texas governor, numerous individuals, largely from the Houston area, drove to Galveston to use the beaches. At that time, TV coverage of the large crowds left the impression that there was little to no adherence to the reopening guidelines put forward by the state and city. In order to gauge the effectiveness/observance of the reopening guidelines by Galveston’s beachgoers, a headcount and analysis of the measured distance between individual beachgoers was completed on 23 May 2020 using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) photography and Geographic Information System (GIS) measurement techniques. By June, the number of positive COVID-19 cases w
Here are some fantastic weekend getaways with clusters of attractions to keep the whole family entertained.
Boone/Blowing Rock
An underrated destination that is often listed behind Asheville, the Boone/Blowing Rock area tops my list of North Carolina mountain getaways.
It has the nostalgia factor of taking your kids to the same places you remember visiting in years past and some of them, like the slanted house at Mystery Hill and various gem mining stops, haven’t changed.
Other attractions, like Grandfather Mountain, have undergone extensive upgrades.
Where to go: Boone and Blowing Rock are less than nine miles apart, with the Blue Ridge Parkway running through. Aside from the parkway’s beautiful overlooks, you can visit Grandfather Mountain for hiking, the iconic mile-high bridge and a mountainside zoo.