We Dare You to Cross That Line Carolyn Spencer Brown Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, June 7, 1998; Page E01

Norfolk's Chrysler Museum now features war artists' views of battle. (By Peter Aaron)

Baltimore's Inner Harbor

What's New:: The theme restaurant invasion that began last summer with the Hard Rock Cafe (Pier 5, 601 E. Pratt St., 410-347-7625) continues this year with Planet Hollywood (201 E. Pratt St., 410-685-7827), which opened yesterday at Harborplace's Pratt Street Pavilion. On July 12, America's first ESPN-Zone (Pier 5, 601 E. Pratt St., 410-685-3776) premieres; it's a family-oriented restaurant, sports event screening room and sports arena.

What Else: Try the National Museum of Dentistry (31 S. Greene St., 410-706-0600, www.dental.umab.edu/dental/museum) if the urge strikes to play a tune on the tooth jukebox. The latest offbeat exhibit at the still-newish American Visionary Art Museum (800 Key Hwy., 410-244-1900, www.avam.org) is "Love: Error and Eros," which examines love as presented by creations of self-taught visionary artists.

Coming Attraction: Port Discovery – The Children's Museum in Baltimore (34 Market Pl., 410/727-8120), with Disney-designed exhibits, opens in December.

Williamsburg

What's New: Colonial Williamsburg (http://www.history.org) has added some walking tours: "Pirates: The Last Walk," "Of Planters, Pirates and Patriots" and the interactive "Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry: A Question of Freedom." New programs include "The Young Recruits" for boys age 6 to 14 and "Colonial Girls," in which girls dress in period dresses and engage in typical 18th-century activities. At the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, summer exhibits include "Child in Fashion: Costumes From the Tasha Tudor Collection" and "Toyz," featuring antique toys and games.

Just six miles away, the 17th-century Jamestown settlement (1-888-593-4682, http://www.nps.gov/colo/ ) – America's first permanent settlement – offers "Jamestown Celebrates," an exhibit chronicling anniversary observances. At Yorktown Victory Center (Old Route 238, 1-888-593-4682), "A Band of Music" will play throughout the summer; this exhibition explores music during the Revolutionary War era.

What Else: Numerous packages combining accommodations and admissions are available; call 1-800-447-8679.

Richmond

What's New:: At the Valentine (1015 E. Clay St., 804/649-0711), a museum considered the city's "attic," is "Inside/Out: The Underpinnings of Fashion, 1800-1905."

What Else: Did you know that the largest rapids on the James River run right through downtown? The Richmond Raft Co. (1-800-540-7238) takes white-water aficionados on three- to five-hour trips. The restored 18th-century Shockoe Bottom – Richmond's answer to Baltimore's Fells Point – is home not only to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (1914-16 E. Main St., 804/648-5523) but to some of the city's trendiest eateries.

Coming Attractions: You can already walk the 1.5-mile "canal," an engineering marvel recently built alongside the James, but boat rides and interpretive signage telling the story of Richmond won't be ready until next spring. In September, the Virginia Historical Society (428 N. Boulevard, 804/358-4901, http://www.vahistorical.org), opens a wing showcasing interactive exhibits.

Blue Ridge Parkway

What's New:: In Roanoke, a spur road (at Milepost 115 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, 540/427-1800, http://www.explorepark.com) now connects directly to Virginia's Explore Park, a 1,000-acre recreational, historical and environmental facility. A five-mile mountain-bike trail opens June 14, and the restored 19th-century Brugh Tavern has been moved here; it's one of the few restaurants along a 30-mile stretch of parkway.

African American History

What's New:: The Hampton University Museum (Huntington Building on the Hampton University campus, 757/727-5308, http://www.hamptonu.edu) has unveiled "The Art of Africa: Power, Beauty, Community," an exhibit featuring more than 3,500 objects, including the William H. Sheppard collection of Kuba art.

What Else: The city of Hampton offers a well-mapped, self-guided tour that links more than 20 heritage sites. Call 1-800-487-8778 for a free copy of "Family Tree." Baltimore's Great Blacks in Wax Museum (1601-03 E. North Ave., 410/563-3404) has mounted "The Struggle Against Lynching: Lessons for Today." Just outside Baltimore's city limits, the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park & Museum (300 Oella Ave., 410-887-1081), which celebrates the famous Colonial-era African American astronomer and mathematician.

Coming Attraction: At Norfolk's Nauticus (1 Waterside Dr., 757/664-1000, http://www.nauticus.org), "A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie" runs Sept. 26-Jan. 4; topics ranging from slave trading to underwater archaeology.

On the Waterfront

What's New:: At the Mariners' Museum (100 Museum Dr., 757-596-2222, http://www.mariner.org) in Newport News, Va., "Titanic: Fortune and Fate" has been extended through October. The exhibit boasts a "never-before-assembled" collection of artifacts, but it's the items from James Cameron's flick that's pulling in the crowds. Area hotels and motels are offering packages; call 1-888-493-7386.

On Solomons Island in southern Maryland, the Calvert Marine Museum (Route 2/4, 410/326-2042, http://www.somd.lib.md.us/MUSEUMS/ Marine_Museum.htm) features "Treasure From the Cliffs: Exploring Marine Fossils." Also, a boardwalk finally links the museum's J.C. Lore Oyster House (a restored oyster cannery) to Back Creek and the adjacent Watermen's Memorial Park.

In Virginia Beach, the Old Coast Guard Station (24th and Oceanfront, 757/422-1587) has added TowerCam, a high-tech interactive exhibit that replicates old-fashioned Coast Guard functions.

Coming Attraction: This fall in Chestertown, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the Sultana Shipyard, a re-created Colonial ship-building facility, will begin work on the schooner Sultana (Cannon and Mill streets, 410/778-6461). Here, 20th-century craftsmen and their apprentices will hew frames, steam planks, forge ironwork and sew sails using 18th-century techniques. The ship, to be completed in 2001, will be used as a maritime classroom.

Amusement Parks

What's New:: Adventure World (Route 214/Central Avenue, 301/249-1500, http://www.adventureworld.com) in Largo has unleashed Roar, a 1920s-style wooden roller coaster. The first drop is a 50-degree plunge into a 133-degree right turn and a "heart-pounding 180-degree spiraling second drop will subject riders to nearly 3.5Gs."

What Else: Paramount's King's Dominion (Doswell, 804-876-5000, http://www.pkd4fun.com) introduces Volcano, its 10th coaster. The world's first to be "linear induction suspended" (i.e., magnets move the cars from one place to another), it gives a boost of power – about 70 mph – that blasts you in and out of the mountain. New at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg (1 Busch Gardens Blvd., 757/253-3350, http://www.buschgardens.com) is "Pirates," a four(!)-dimensional special-effects "entertainment adventure" starring Leslie Nielsen and Eric Idle … and, presumably, you. At the adjacent Water Country USA (757/253-3350, http://www.watercountryusa.com), Nitro Racer allows six visitors at a time to race down a 320-foot drop.

War Is Swell

What's New:: The big news on the Civil War front is that in Virginia, the last two segments of the five-part Civil War Trail (1-888-248-4592 for information) are basically complete. These trails link more than 250 historic spots via a network of driving, cycling and walking trails; the latest additions include a Northern Virginia trail that highlights the defense of Washington.

In Norfolk, the Chrysler Museum of Art (245 W. Olney Rd., 757/664-6200, http://www.whro.org/cl/cmhh) features "Sacred Sites Then & Now," juxtaposing eyewitness views of battles as witnessed by war artists alongside contemporary renderings of the same sites. A highlight is Edouard Manet's illustration of the great naval battle between the Kearsarge and the Alabama.

Richmond's Museum of the Confederacy (1201 E. Clay St., 804/649-1861) has "Every Kind of Wound and Disease: The Confederate Medical Department." In Maryland, Frederick's National Museum of Civil War Medicine (48 E. Patrick St., 301-695-1864, http://www.CivilWarMed.org) is exhibiting rare Abraham Lincoln artifacts, including a lock of his hair.

Coming Attractions: Pamplin Park will dedicate a new Civil War museum next year. Norfolk is the first U.S. city commissioned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Korean War; look for special activities at the MacArthur Memorial in 2000.

Eco-Tripping

What's New:: In southwestern Virginia's Blue Ridge Highlands, there's the Heart of Appalachia Bike Route (1-888-798-2386), a 125-mile back-road and back-country trail running from Burke's Garden to Guest River Gorge. The route, which includes 40 miles of side trails, offers rails to trails, historic sites, natural preserves and three scenic rivers.

What Else: The Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, opening later this summer (date to be announced), is home to nearly 220 species of birds. The 500-acre Leesylvania State Park, on the Potomac in Prince William County, is adding a visitors center in September.

Resort News

What's New: Tucked into the Allegheny Mountains of Western Maryland, the Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort (16701 Lakeview Rd., 1-800-724-0828) features a 243-acre lake, private beach and fitness center. Rates start at $105 double, with packages available.

What Else: Maryland has its first destination spa. Turf Valley Resort and Conference Center (2700 Turf Valley Rd., 1-800-666-8873, http://www.turfvalley.com), in Howard County, offers massage, detoxifying wraps, facials, body polish, aromatherapy and hair and nail care. Overnight packages, like the $328 Golf Widow's Revenge (he plays golf, you indulge -- or vice versa), including 18 holes and a spa day, plus accommodations, are available. At Virginia's Wintergreen Resort (1-800-325-2200, http://www.WintergreenResort.com), in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the "Tuckahoe Nine" is a nine-hole Rees Jones-designed expansion.

For more information on Virginia: 1-800-932-5827, http://www.virginia.org. For Maryland, contact 1-800-634-7386, http://www.mdisfun.org.