Audio tour Walking with Bess: Exploring Wild Virginia

Welcome to Walking with Bess, a series of walking, floating, and driving adventures, based on a legendary 5-minute radio program called Natural History Notes, written and produced weekly by Bess Murray in conjunction with WTJU in Charlottesville, VA between 1991-2005.

You can experience these adventures on foot (or boat if it's a float), by car if you're driving far afield, or in the comfort of your own home. 

Before you get started, I'd like to take a minute or two to review a few handy hints on how best to use this app.

First let's be sure the settings on your phone are optimal.
Be sure your phone volume is up and that the location setting is turned on. It’s also best to download the tour using available wi-fi, so to avoid using your phone’s data – although it’s not necessary.

Pressing START will take you to the homepage with a google map of all the stops, and a TOUR ITINERARY.

While you're on this page, just check to see that your ear speaker is on if you're using ear buds or Bluetooth, such as through your car’s audio system, and off if you want to hear it aloud through your phone. That setting is in the upper right hand menu (those 3 bars at the top right).

Each stop also comes with images. To access these, tap on the thumbnail image as a story plays, and then tap the image again which enables you to swipe through all the images.

At any time, on site or at home, you would like to skip a story, just press the small fast forward button, next to the larger play button.

We hope you enjoy Bess’ amazing stories about the natural wonders in Virginia. And do watch for more Walking with Bess tours as they come online.

 photo:

Sunset in the Shenandoah National Park by National Park Service and licensed in the Public domain
Blue Ridge Mountains by Ken Thomas and licensed in the Public domain