overnight trip from DC
 

Any suggestions on an overnight/weekend trip not too far from DC?

We're looking at leaving mid-afternoon Friday, and probably coming home Saturday evening. We're thinking along the lines of Richmond, a nature reserve on the Cheasapeake, Philadelphia, the Shenandoahs....somewhere the kids can play, we can check out something cool (the kids are fine with museums and historical stuff - living history places like Yorktown/Jamestown/Williamsburg are great, but we've been there), and relax on what will probably be our only free weekend between now and August.

:tumbleweed:

Hmm, I've been to Shenandoah and it was nice. Lots of good hiking, although depending on when you're thinking it might be a bit cold for that still.

I heard that they're building some monstrosity of a conference center in the middle of Valley Forge National Park this summer, so you might want to head to Philadelphia before that begins construction.

Yeah, we've been fighting that pretty hard. Its still up in the air what's going to happen. But Valley Forge is a nice park. Its about 30-45 minutes west of Philadelphia (I-76 West will take you there - If you do go PM me for real directions).

But Philly has a lot of great stuff too. I was just telling Mish99 in a PM - check out the Mutter Museum. I think your kids might like it. Its full of bones and full skeletons and other weird body parts preserved in formalthehyde (sp). They have a good website if you want to make sure its not too gross or graphic before you go. :: The College of Physicians of Philadelphia - Mutter Museum ::

The museum sounds intriguing, in a slightly creepy way...

It's supposed to snow tonight so not sure if we want to undertake the great nature trek quite yet!

Alternatively, we may do something locally - there's so much around here to do. Ai, decisions decisions. Thanks for the ideas!

:tumbleweed:

Yeah, maybe hold off 'til spring. Another cool thing they do up here in Valley Forge park is have people play the roles of soldiers from the Revolutionary War. They fire muskets, build campfires, etc. There are cannon to explore and touch. I think kids would get into it, especially because it sounds like yours are inquisitive smart little tykes.

Have a wonderful weekend with the family no matter what you do...

We went to the American History Museum today. How great is a place where you can see C3PO and THE star-spangled banner in the same place?

One daughter is working toward some girl scout badges, so she was on the prowl for examples of textiles, fashions and jewelry from different eras. First Ladies exhibit took care of that nicely.

Another daughter has been studying about Lincoln, he had a whole exhibit to himself. She was also full of historical gossip and fun facts - did you know Martha Washington was a beauty in her day? Or that one President's daughter filled in as First Lady after her mother's death because mom made dad promise not to remarry? Or that the tune for the Star Spangled Banner was a popular English drinking song at the time? Not growing up in the US, I didn't study much American history as a kid, but I doubt we'd have learned those kind of details if I had!

Our son is learning about the Presidents this year, and did a project about U.S. Grant. Lo and behold, there were the great man's slippers. He was also fascinated by the British rocket (of "red glare" fame) and our kindergartner sang her way through the exhibit, and couldn't believe she was actually allowed to touch the exploded bomb fragment (presumably one that had burst in air). She probably would have liked to see the ruby slippers, but we ran out of time. We'll just have to go back...

I'm glad we didn't plan something outdoors, since it snowed half the morning. Brr.

Thanks for the suggestions, I hope we'll get a chance to get up there later this year - there is so much to see in this part of the country, it's hard to fit all it in while living real life.

:tumbleweed: