Virginia/North Carolina area vacation help

[marbel]

This is sort of a spinoff of the Shenandoah NP thread.

 

I am looking for a place - a resort, maybe? - to meet up with my inlaws for a few days visit.  They live very far from us, in a rather hard-to-get-to, boring town.  Because of health issues we have to stop overnight when visiting them, because we can't make the 11 hour drive in one day.  And, we just don't enjoy visiting. For me, it's due to the large number of dishes I end up washing while there because they don't want to go out to eat (choices are limited anyway). The kids hate going because the main activity is sitting around chatting. 

 

Ideally the place would be no more than 2.5 - 3 hours drive from Asheville, NC, north/east-ish.  (We live in Pennsylvania.)  Roanoke is pushing it as far as distance north, though that seems the most likely place. Along the I-81 corridor would be great.  It could not be a luxury resort ($$$!) but not too rustic either.  There has to be access to recreation and/or stuff to do at the place, such as a pool.  I wouldn't mind a kitchenette type deal where we could do easy breakfasts and sandwich lunches, but would rather not have access to a full kitchen or we will end up spending too much time cooking and washing dishes. 

 

Any thoughts at all?   I've looked for some places but everything seems to be very high-end and not affordable for us.  VRBO might work, but there's that kitchen problem...  :-) 

 

Thanks for any thoughts or advice.

 

ETA for clarity:  Looking for places 2.5 - 3 hours from Asheville.   Roanoke area is a bit too far north though that might work if it we found something really idea, but Wythesville, VA would be about as north as we'd like, or to the east, Greensboro, NC.  

[unsinkable]

Massanutten?

 

I know very little about it beyond the name and that there is a waterpark and it's in VA.

 

Sorry I couldn't help more.

[BrookValley.]

Massanutten?

 

I know very little about it beyond the name and that there is a waterpark and it's in VA.

 

Sorry I couldn't help more.

 

This is the first thing that came to my mind, too. It's off I-81 and has plenty of recreational stuff to do, including the indoor waterpark unsinkable mentioned. It's a timeshare resort, so you might be able to find one of those deals where you get a really cheap night if you agree to listen to the sales pitch. It's not nearly as far south as Roanoke.

 

Or, if that's not far enough and you're looking for not-quite-as-far-south as Roanoke, I'd stop in/near Natural Bridge. There are hotels and campgrounds in the area (I think there's one of those "Jellystone" camping places nearby?), and plenty of things to do. The Natural Bridge, a zoo, safari park, etc.

 

ETA: I just googled, and there is both a KOA and the aforementioned Jellystone campground in Lexington (very close to Natural Bridge) and Natural Bridge, respectively. Both have pools, and it looks like the Jellystone has a sprayground and water slides, too. Of course, those types of campgrounds usually have a lot of planned, kid-friendly activities (movie nights and such), too. They have cabins; I bet some of them have small kitchens.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

To tie on with the above post- we just spent a long weekend in May in Staunton, VA and had a nice relaxing time. We stayed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and Conference center- it was right next door to a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, which puts on plays all year round.

 

It was also around the corner from Woodrow Wilson's birthplace and Presidential Library- which was neat.

 

We also went to the Frontier Culture museum- relaxing and educational.

 

We drove 45 minutes south and visited the Virginia Safari Park- that was a lot of fun, and yeah, there are other things to do in Natural Bridge.

 

We drove an hour north of Staunton and visited Luray Caverns, and we also drove 45 minutes east and visited Monticello.

 

There was an indoor pool at the hotel, neat little stores in town and quite a few GREAT restaurants- and a chocolate shop that had some of the best chocolate I've ever had!!

 

We really had a great time there :)

[BrookValley.]

To tie on with the above post- we just spent a long weekend in May in Staunton, VA and had a nice relaxing time. We stayed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and Conference center- it was right next door to a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, which puts on plays all year round.

 

It was also around the corner from Woodrow Wilson's birthplace and Presidential Library- which was neat.

 

We also went to the Frontier Culture museum- relaxing and educational.

 

We drove 45 minutes south and visited the Virginia Safari Park- that was a lot of fun, and yeah, there are other things to do in Natural Bridge.

 

We drove an hour north of Staunton and visited Luray Caverns, and we also drove 45 minutes east and visited Monticello.

 

There was an indoor pool at the hotel, neat little stores in town and quite a few GREAT restaurants- and a chocolate shop that had some of the best chocolate I've ever had!!

 

We really had a great time there :)

 

Oh, yeah. Another good idea. I've always heard Staunton is nice.

[marbel]

Thanks for the replies and names.  I was unclear though, and edited my OP.  Roanoke area is too far north - it's about 4 hours from Asheville and we are looking to be closer, about 2 and a half to 3 hours drive for my inlaws.

 

We usually stay in Staunton when we visit them.  It does look nice and the Shakespeare theater is enticing.  We also see the signs for Natural Bridges and such but we're always on a dead run south so never get to stop.  Maybe someday.

 

Thanks for the help and sorry for being unclear!  

[VaKim]

There are lots of nice places along the Blue Ridge Parkway, which starts in Cherokee NC and runs all the way up through VA. 

 

http://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm