Ashley gears up for her gold mine tour. Betsa Marsh photo

Ashley the Traveling Teddy became a deep thinker on a recent tour of Wales–very deep, down 70 steps into a dark  shaft once worked by Romans 2,000 years ago.

Ashley travels for the third-grade class of Meredith Schroeder at St. Joseph Consolidated School in Hamilton, Ohio. The Traveling Teddy program is a geography outreach of the Society of American Travel Writers.

The Romans, who built a fort nearby at Pumsaint,  searched for gold at Dolaucothi using a drift mine into the hillside rather than a vertical shaft. They used fire and water to crack the quartz, and little children ages 10 to 14 would then sort out the quartz, looking for gold. It took a ton of quartz, according to Ray Miller of the National Trust, to yield an ounce of gold about the size of a peanut.

Archaeologists have found fragments of the Romans’ water wheels

Ray Miler of the National Trust teaches Ashley the ropes. Betsa Marsh photo

on the mining site. They’re now on display in the Cardiff Museum.

After the Romans, small-scale mining resumed in 1853 and grew until 1912, when, according to the BBC, the complex geology of the site brought an end to work there. Miners returned to Dolaucothi one last time between 1933 and 1938, after which the equipment was sold off.

Today, the National Trust has reconstructed the mineyard to the 1930s period. There’s a gold exhibit, a shop with rare Welsh gold and a tea room.

You can, of course, pan for gold there–Ashley tried her paws, but didn’t find enough to quit her day job as traveling ambassador for the students of St. Joseph.

Ray Miller of the National Trust welcomes Ashley and other travelers to the Long Adit, the Roman opening to Dolaucothi Gold Mine in Wales. Betsa Marsh photo

Any veteran or current member of the armed forces can ride for free on the 1:30 p.m. train on Memorial Day. Immediate family members living with them ride for free, too.

Can’t ride on Memorial Day? Veterans, current military and their families receive a discount all year long on any regular train departing at noon or 2:30 p.m. Call to reserve a seat on the train and show your military ID or DD214 at the depot when picking up tickets. Leave a message at 800-967-7834 or call the depot on the weekend at 740-753-9531.

Weekends from May to October, volunteers blast the whistle, ease the train out of the station and start a trip back in time. The non-profit Hocking Valley Scenic Railway has been chugging through the scenery of the Appalachian foothills for 35 years ago.

Researcher/writers and book publishers will help you make the transition from research to interpretation to publishing. After the session at 1:45 p.m., the Kentucky Technology in Genealogy Users Group will offer a free program, “Finding Family Histories Online–What Has Been Printed, Where to Find Them and Whether the Books Are In or Out of Copyright.”

Reservations are required by noon March 12: 502-564-1792, ext. 4460 or RefDesk@ky.gov; a light lunch is available for $6. Free Family-History Workshops repeat each month.

• Cancun, Mexico for $405

• Denver, Colo. for $196

• Miami, Fla. for $178

• New Orleans, La. for $168

• Phoenix, Az. for $228

• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for $332

• San Antonio, Tex. for $178

• San Diego, Ca. for $278

• San Juan, Puerto Rico for $311

• Vail, Colo. for $278.

• A display will highlight Ohio Historical Society milestones from 1885 to 2010. Uncommon Ohio tours will feature Ohio’s Garden Path at noon and 2 p.m., and Echoes in Time Theatre will present “Saints Preserve Us! The Irish in America” at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

• In the galleries with the permanent exhibitions, Nature of Ohio and Ohio: Centuries of Change, you can meet people from the society’s past played by costumed interpreters. Shake hands with archaeologist William C. Mills, who discovered the Adena pipe in 1901, and U.S. Ambassador to Egypt J. Morton Howell, who donated the mummy known as Nasi-Khonsou-Pa-Khrodou, familiarly known as Nibit-Pi, meaning “the Mistress of the House,” and her sarcophagus to the Ohio Historical Society collections.

Today, the Ohio Historical Society has 58 historic sites and museums around the state, including the headquarters at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus. Collections total more than 3 million items, and OHS has educational and historic preservation programs in all 88 counties.

The games, from 7-10 p.m., will include Wii, a football throw, basketball and baseball toss, duck pond and bottle ring toss, putt-putt golf, face painting, balloon darts, trivia challenges, pop bottle target game and ping pong. Salt Fork also has a large indoor pool.

To book the $79 lodge rate and discounted cabin rates, enter the promotional code “CARNIVAL1” or call 1-800-282-7275.

The county is home to almost 300 different kinds of birds at different seasons of the year, including bald eagles which nest at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Seymour and near Starve Hollow State Recreation Area in Vallonia.

Migrating Sandhill cranes fly into Jackson County fall through spring, and sometimes 6,000-8,000 birds can be seen in the Ewing Bottoms, on the north side of Brownstown.

March 6 events:

• At Muscatatuck, children can make bird bookmarks and visitors can take home a free Sandhill crane poster. The hiking trails will be open, as well as the Visitor Center from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m.

• Starve Hollow’s Birding Day activities will include free gate admission, kid’s “crane” crafts and directions to view an eagle nest. The Visitor Center will be open 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

• At Jackson-Washington State Forest in Brownstown, the property manager will be on hand to answer questions about the birds and the Skyline Drive Scenic Overlook.

For information, call the Jackson County Visitor Center at 888-524-1914.

The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio, is leading a free workshop 1-4 p.m. April 25. The center uses RootsMagic to maintain the family history of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.

Pre-registration is required: 419-332-2081 or by email to bhill@rbhayes.org.

Like to have your palm or tarot cards read? Madame Sheri is available before or after each performance for an additional fee. Hotel room packages start at $189 through April 30.

Ashley with all-day suckers at Economy Candy in New York. Betsa Marsh photo

Lower East Side, popping into Economy Candy and Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery.

Ashley travels for the third-grade class of Meredith Schroeder at St. Joseph Consolidated School in Hamilton, Ohio. The Traveling Teddy program is a geography outreach of the Society of American Travel Writers.

Economy Candy has been dishing up sweets since 1937, and stocks every delectable adults remember from their childhoods.

Ashley with giant Pez dispensers. Betsa Marsh photo

Next up, a light bite at Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery on Rivington Street.  Ashley and her pal Marilyn Marx of New York split an Ooey Gooey with chocolate cake and chocolate-almond buttercream. Yum!!

Ashley, an Ooey Gooey and a cappuccino--perfect! Betsa Marsh photo

And the eating wasn’t done yet! The next day, Ashley attended the VisitBritain luncheon at posh Daniel, and saw Chef Daniel Boulud himself! For a bear who loves to cook, it was a big event!

Ashley at Daniel. Betsa Marsh photo