DC, Virginia and Outer Banks

[HookEm 2467]

I booked an extended vacation the family this summer to explore the North Carolina coast, Virginia and Washington DC.  We are flying into Raleigh and driving to a variety of places in sort of a figure 8 pattern.  Here is the basic outline and order of destinations.

• Outer Banks, NC
• Colonial Williamsburg (and maybe Jamestown)
• Charlottesville, VA (and Monticello)
• Shenandoah Valley National Park
• Washington DC
• Richmond, VA

Any tips on things to do, places to eat, etc?

[CooterBrown 18005]

The Outer Banks are cool. Be aware that the surf is fucking crazy rough. It's a popular surf location for a reason. 

Ocracoke Island is interesting and a fun day trip. It has a language dialect all its own. I guess from isolation and inbreeding. 

 

[VABuckeye 2472]

For a different Virginia don't drive up 95 (it sucks royally anyway) and venture up to DC via the Northern Neck of Virginia.  It's fantastic.  Virginia's Northern Neck

Enter Skyline Drive at Front Royal and just check it out.  New Market is great if you're into antique shopping.

[VirginiaLonghorn 4771]

Nothing to see in Richmond.  All of the history has been torn down and hauled away.

[dcbc 14471]

Your speed in VA is not, in fact, checked by aircraft.

[HookEm 2467]

We’re just stopping for the night in Richmond on the way back to Raleigh to fly home.  Other option would be somewhere on the outskirts of DC like Alexandria. Or drive all the way back to Raleigh and spend the day there before our flight.

[HookEm 2467]

I can see this is a popular destination, lol

[Moby Ric 2058]

I lived in VA Beach for a little bit and worked out at the outer banks for a summer.  Great area.  Outer banks is cool.  A couple of things to do.

Kill Devil Hills.  Dunes are huge, it is where the Wright Brothers flew.  May be a museum, its been a few years.

Beaches at OB are nice, the waves are tough.  If you can do some offshore fishing this is the place.  The jet stream comes in closer and the fishing is pretty good.

If you can make it to VA Beach, or Norfolk there is the home of the Atlantic fleet there, a huge naval base, also Oceana Naval Air station.  There is a ton of US military things in the area if you like that stuff.  Beaches and the boardwalk at VA Beach is nice.  Tourist type shopping on Atlantic Ave is plentiful.  And the seafood is fantastic in the area.

Williamsburg is ok, it will be fucking hot so take mosquito spray and plenty of water.  Plenty of touristy stuff to do in the area (Busch Gardens).

Monticello is very nice, and just down the hill is UVA.  You will spend half a day at TJ's home.

DC, do the typical stuff and get a metro card.  If you call your congressman ahead of time they will do a private tour of the Capitol Building.  At least they used to.  Might want to check into that cause the sign up tours are filled with sweaty people.

Richmond - skip it.

Other than that there is plenty to do, VA Coast has a lot of great parks, beaches etc.  As someone said earlier, stay off 95, the traffic is tough.  Enjoy.

[phdhorn 6224]

- Outer Banks are nice - as said here, see the Wright site.  There's a Visitors Center but it's not really a museum.  But they've really preserved the dunes and beach.  Nags Head is the big stop on the OB - expect it to be crowded in the summer.  You're close enough to Roanoke (Ft. Raleigh) to check it out since you're there.  Not a lot to see but fascinating anyway.

- Williamsburg is cool but if you're not into the history, it's kind of boring.  But I'm a history buff, so I always liked it.  I also really liked Jamestown maybe even more, it's eye-opening to see the conditions they lived in, but again not a lot for non-history buffs after a few glances.

- Montecello is great as is UVa.  Do them.  There are also quite a few wineries within a few minutes' drive of Montecello if interested.

- Shenandoah NP - very nice, but keep in mind it's a camp/hiking park, so by car it can get old after an hour or two.  If you're going up 64 from C-Ville, take the U.S. 250 exit into the park (north is Skyline Drive, South is Blue Ridge Parkway - same road, different names at that point).  Once you're in, the next access out is U.S. 33, about 30 miles up the road.  Take it if the family has seen enough - the next egress road is U.S. 211 - about 40 more miles.  The drive can have traffic and is a little wind-ey... most of the length of the park is the same essential views across the valley, which are all nice - but you don't need more unless you camp/hike (IMHO).

- Richmond - nothing there really.

- D.C. way too much to talk about, but obviously if first time do all the "tourist things" - historical/political sites, museums.  It'll be humid and fairly crowded.  You mentioned Alexandria, very nice town, worth a stop, especially the older part down near the harbor.  Other than that I'd have 35 paragraphs on how to do D.C.  Way too much here, ask if you want specifics.

- I-81 is just as bad as I-95 - maybe even moreso, as it's very crowded (more traffic than 95!) and essentially a 4-lane highway.  LOADED with semis, trailers, etc.  Hilly and a lot of cars in the summer = tension.  I'd turn right on 33 out of the park (not left to get to I-81) to get U.S. 29 (about 15 mi.) and go to D.C. that way.  Very pretty, a bit slower granted (but not that much!) and not nearly the traffic.

If you've laid out 8+ days for your loop, that's pretty good.  Any less and you'll be pushing it.  That's a lot of miles driving (more than you'd think) and a few of those places really aren't good overnight destinations.  But it should be nice.  Starts getting humid about late June and man it can be a sweaty armpit if not used to it.  Take talc or whatever doesn't cause cancer nowadays.  Good luck, we're all counting on you.

Edited May 9, 2022 by phdhorn

[CooterBrown 18005]

3 hours ago, HookEm said:

I can see this is a popular destination, lol

Everybody who vacations there is from Ohio or Pennsylvania.  We only went because our Ohio friends invited us.

[HookEm 2467]

Thanks all. We are going June 4-11. So hopefully it will be a little better weather than later in the summer. 

Here is the general route, but I'm not certain what section of Shenandoah NP we will do.  We will get out and do at least a hike or two, probably under 5 miles total.

 

 

I'm not set on staying in Richmond on the way back or going down I-95, but it is pretty far back to Raleigh so I'm thinking we will make it part of the way there on Friday.  We fly out at 4 PM on Saturday.  I also have a couple of Marriott 35K nights to burn if there are better options.

Looks like we will be close to Luray Caverns.  Is it worth a detour?  We basically have one full day to get from Charlottesville to Dulles (staying there to make it easy to get to the Air & Space center the next day). That includes any hikes or anything.  We will try to see Monticello the day before.

 

 

[HookEm 2467]

Also, I don't really need recs for DC. I've been there a number of times, including taking my Longhorn granddad there on an honor flight - which was AWESOME.

[BearSchlong 8083]

Why even fly out of Raleigh on the return trip?  Why not change the tickets to leave out of DC or BWI?  Seems to me like that gives you an extra day to enjoy.

[HookEm 2467]

I have a very cheap company rate on the car and it has to be round-trip. Also my flight out of Raleigh was a lot cheaper.  It wouldn't matter if it was just me and the wife, but it gets expensive dragging along the whole family.

[mdmost 43001]

Got a chance to drive through Shenandoah NP this weekend. Did the Skyline Drive from Front Royal to Waynesport. It was fantastic. Easily one of the prettiest drives I've ever done. Didn't get out to hike as we needed to make it back to Texas but it was definitely worth the $30. Also got me really excited to visit the Smokey Mountains NP in the future. 

[EastHorn 281]

Charlottesville has a great food scene.  I would make reservations especially if you are there on a weekend as it is a popular weekend destination.  I like The Local, Oakhart Social, Brassaire Saison, Orzo.  I lived there for a few years and it changed my life for the better (special place).  For breakfast go to Bodo's Bagels (the line moves fast).  

[EastHorn 281]

Also as said before there are great wineries but with kids Carter's Mountain is a better option.  Great views, orchard on the mountain.  More family oriented than a winery.  If you are there Friday night downtown Charlottesville has a pedestrian mall with free concerts every Friday.  

[Mdhorn 5947]

I love Richmond. Some parts remind me of Austin back in the day.  There's about 30 breweries.  The Byrd theater is a really old movie theater that on weekends begins with a black and white Loony Toons cartoon and used to Friday or Saturday nights, have an organist that rose out of the floor (used during silent movie era) and would play.  Good food, especially at places like the original Mama Zu's--no signs and its in Oregon Hill, or Bottoms Up Pizza, which has an outdoor deck to watch the train rumble by.  You can spend a few hours at the Virginia Museum of Art which is pretty awesome, or go to Belle Island, which has an under the bridge walkway that crosses the James River and connects to the island (beautiful), which was used during the civil war as a POW camp. Has a rock quarry pool on it that's pretty interesting and some old spillway buildings you can explore, as well as the rest of the island.  Then there's another bridge that goes across the river that again, is pretty cool, a flood wall that you can walk along, or kill some time at Maymont, a great park that has otter, bison, black bear, and several other animal rehab pens, and gardens.  And by pens, I mean huge enclosures where they can walk and do their thing, since they will never be released back into the wild.  Then there's the parks--Hollywood Cemetery to see James Monroe, John Tyler and Jefferson Davis (yuck)--with great views of the river, frisbee golf, concerts at Brown Island or Innsbrook (saw the Strokes back in the day for $20 in a field), white water rafting on the James or gardens at Lewis Ginter.  And then more food (ZZQ, Legend Brewery, Banditos, original Joe's Inn, etc), especially since it hasn't been overrun by corporate chains.  And Quirk hotel is the bomb.   And visit the church where Patrick Henry said Give me Liberty or Give me Death, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, and I still haven't covered all the stuff to do.  

Byrd Theater

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=maymont+park&t=osx&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=belle+island+walkway+richmond&t=osx&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images (link is better)

Best site: https://jamesriverpark.org

But I'd love to retire there if I can still afford it later.    

Or just skip it and go elsewhere, since there's not much to do.  
 

[Baboontyme 2809]

Bump to read tomorrow.