SebastianCat Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Long story....but we were on vacation in Washington, D.C. two Septembers/Octobers ago when the government shutdown closed almost all of the museums and attractions in the city. We ended up having to re-arrange our itinerary and missed about 3 days' worth of sightseeing in the city (....which wasn't a bad thing in the long run, because we did some things we really enjoyed but hadn't planned....) So, now we are thinking about going back this fall to visit what we couldn't see the first time around. I think we'll have about 3 days in DC itself, and would like to do 1-2 side trips for the rest of our week, with 3-4 days outside the city. We would plan to rent a car and drive for that portion of the trip, then return to DC to fly home. Last trip, we went to Mt. Vernon and Williamsburg, so we don't want to go there again. Gettysburg is high on our list for this trip, but we aren't sure what else to do. Baltimore? Annapolis? Somewhere else? So what would you recommend we do if you had a car and 3-4 days to spend within a few hours' drive of D.C.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Charlottesville. Harper's Ferry. Lynchburg. Civil War sites. Delmarva peninsula. Monticello. Montpelier. Shenandoah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Baltimore! Some of our favorites are Walters Art Gallery, the Basilica, Enoch Pratt Free Library, and dinner in Little Italy (just east of the harbor). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btervet Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Assateaque (sp?) island. Sky line drive in the mountains, stopping at big meadow. Baltimore harbor. I think Old Town Alexandria is worth half a day as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Annapolis is really cool - it's old, great theater, and the Naval Academy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Annapolis is very nice. Go into the little town, too, after touring the Academy. There are a lot of nice little restaurants where you can sit on the waterfront area and watch the boats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Baltimore, harpers ferry, Shenandoah national park, Virginia beach if you don't live near a beach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Gettysburg Antietam Shenandoah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarinesWife Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Marine Corps Museum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 We did Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville/the Wilderness/Spotsylvania all in one day--Civil War sites. The park rangers were all fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 If you are going to Gettysburg you could also do Lancaster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 If you're really into Civil War stuff, and maybe even if you're not, Gettysburg can be a two day visit. There are the battlefields themselves, with tours (one place rents iPads for tours of the battlefield with overlays to help you see what it would have looked like), plus several other museums and sites. It's stunning here in the fall, although I would not come the first two weekends of October, because the Apple Harvest Festival just up the road from Gettysburg means lots of traffic. (And, ahem, if you come all the way up here, maybe we can arrange a fall WTM meetup with some of the other local ladies.) Hershey and its museums, Chocolate World, ZooAmerica, etc. is about an hour from Gettysburg, and Lancaster (and the historic working farm of Landis Valley) is about an hour and a half from Gettysburg, but those might end up being a little too much driving for you from DC. Baltimore -- the Aquarium (although expensive), Science Center, art museums. Annapolis is cute too. There's St. Mary's City too, less polished than Williamsburg, but cool. The Thurmont area (less than an hour from DC and 20 minutes south of Gettysburg) has some great hiking spots and the Catoctin Zoo. Harper's Ferry is interesting and has some good hiking too. If, when you went to Williamsburg, you did not go to the Jamestown and Yorktown sites, those are good trips too. There's the battlefield at Yorktown (I have not been there, as my kids were all pretty little when we were in the area), the Yorktown Victory Center, the recreated Jamestown site (huge galleries of artifacts and so much to see), the ruins of the original Jamestowne site, and the glass blowers near Jamestown. (And now I've just described our family's last decade of weekend outings, LOL!) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Point Lookout way down at the bottom of St. Mary's County, a couple hours from DC. You can hit the Dr. Samuel Mudd House on the way since it's not far from the road you take to get to Point Lookout (he's the guy that set John Wilkes Booth's leg after Booth shot President Lincoln - Booth's boot is still at the house). If you go there, the outhouse behind the Mudd House is not original to the house. It was actually my great-grandparents' outhouse. It was period appropriate so they moved it the about one mile to the Mudd House when they opened it as a museum. A few miles from the Mudd House is St. Mary's Bryantown Catholic Church which is where Dr. Mudd was buried and where Booth was seen talking to Mudd not long before the assassination. A lot of my relatives are buried there including my uncle who was a priest and his ostentatious obelisk complete with an engraving of his picture (and a misspelling of Colombia) is not far from Mudd's huge gravestone in the cemetery. The stained glass inside the church is amazing (and one is even dedicated to my grandparents). Once you are down in southern MD, there is actually quite a bit in all three counties. There's some stuff in Charles County, there's St. Mary's City in St. Mary's County, and Solomon's Island in Calvert County. It's an often overlooked area, but there's a lot of history there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Oh, and how can I forget St. Michael's? It's across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis and is a pretty little town with a great maritime museum. (DH proposed to me overlooking the Bay at sunset; it was gorgeous!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Thank you so much for the great ideas! Off to research them now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*lifeoftheparty* Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 We live here, so I've been all the places mentioned. I would choose Philadelphia- there is so much to do there!! It would be 3 hours or less away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Baltimore is close enough for a day trip. My family likes the Aquarium, Science Center, Port Discovery for little kids, and the American Visionary Arts Museum (it has a yummy restaurant, but it's not for the chicken nugget crowd). It would be easier to stay in Baltimore a few days, but its commutable if you are based in DC. As long as you avoid rush hour when you travel it's less than an hour's drive. Also, don't forget the Arboretum. It's not IN D.C. so you wouldn't happen upon it, but I love it and it's a safe place for kids to run around without watching for traffic. If you're up for more driving, you might wanna look into a trip to Assateague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Oh . . . St. Mary's CIty is nice too! http://www.hsmcdigshistory.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 You've gotten great suggestions, but I'm going to throw in Mount Vernon since that's not DC proper or metro accessible. I thought that was well worth a day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I agree with happypamama about Gettysburg. It can take a bit of time to really see the park and museum here. If wanting to continue with the Civil War theme, adding Antietam and Harper's Ferry are both nearby as are places in VA. Shenandoah NP is gorgeous with many nice hikes. Skyline Drive goes through it and has many scenic overlooks if you're not into hiking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Philadelphia. Or the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA. Hands down, one of the two best museums we've EVER been to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Charlottesville. Harper's Ferry. Lynchburg. Civil War sites. Delmarva peninsula. Monticello. Montpelier. Shenandoah. I have to be honest: I can't second Charlottesville. What is there to do there? Monticello is worth seeing. Montpelier is cool, but very out of the way. The distance might not make it worth it. There's also a marine museum just minutes out of DC that's awesome-cool. Very, very well done. And free. I've never been to Gettysburg -- that's where I'd go. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Frederick, MD (on the way to Gettysburg) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellen Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Charlottesville. Harper's Ferry. Lynchburg. Civil War sites. Delmarva peninsula. Monticello. Montpelier. Shenandoah. This is a great list. I though Charlottesville was worth a daytrip. We did Monticello which was quite interesting and looked around the University of Virginia campus. We were there in September so the gardens were lovely. some professors live on campus and their gardens are open to the public. Philadelphia is another good suggestion. I really enjoyed The Constitution Center and Capogiro gelato. Harper's Ferry is a historic town in beautiful surroundings. I liked the scenery more than anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I have to be honest: I can't second Charlottesville. What is there to do there? Monticello is worth seeing. Montpelier is cool, but very out of the way. The distance might not make it worth it. There's also a marine museum just minutes out of DC that's awesome-cool. Very, very well done. And free. I've never been to Gettysburg -- that's where I'd go. Alley I love poking around UVA and the Academical Village. And going downtown. Or sleeping there and going to Monticello and Montpelier from there. And I visit my friends because we lived there for a year and it's an easy trip when we live in DC. :) Also I love to go to the apple orchards in the area if it's the right time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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