<h1 style="text-align: center;">Silver Spring, <em>Washington DC</em></h1>
<p>Silver Spring, MD is an unincorporated area in southeast Montgomery County, with a population of nearly 77,000, the fourth largest populated area in Maryland. Portions of Silver Spring border Washington, DC. It boasts business hubs and tranquil rural residential areas. Silver Spring is duly named after the original spring, located in the southern area of the county, far away from the bustling business activity. Even with the spring, there are no large bodies of water, only a few creeks and small lakes.</p>
<p>Discovery Communications (parent of the Discovery Channel) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) have located their national headquarters in Silver Spring along with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.</p>
<p>Silver Spring offers fabulous get-away areas like the Brookside Gardens, offering beautiful nature walks, a butterfly house during the warm summer months, and horticulturally-oriented classes and lectures. Rock Creek Park, on the west side of town, offers hiking, picnicking and weekend bicycling. Another beautiful area for hiking is the Northwest Branch Park, which surrounds, logically, the northwest branch of the Anacostia River, and don&rsquo;t forget to bring your horse, because they also have equestrian trails.</p>
<p>If you are looking for independent film entertainment, stop by the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center any time, but especially for the AFI&rsquo;s Annual Lifetime Achievement bound issue and DVD. The Silver Spring Jazz Festival is a must-be-there kind of event, but you may want to take a few lessons at the Arthur Murray Dance Center. They offer dance classes and performing arts classes, as well.</p>
<p>Here&rsquo;s an opportunity you won&rsquo;t want to miss, especially if you are interested in health care &ndash; the National Museum of Health and Medicine. It is even entertaining for the kids.</p>