Day trips (Charlottesville, Staunton, Front Royal: buy, theater, organic)

[EuroExpat]

Looking for cute places to visit within ~ 2-3 hr drive from Loudoun County. You know; nice scenery, maybe something historical and idyllic. I prefer staying away from 95 (who doesn't..). Been to Williamsburg, Harper's Ferry WV, Gettysburg PA and Lancaster PA. Beach at a lake would be fun or nice views of hills. I'm not too picky but would love to see the countryside around here. Any ideas?

[worldtravelermsk]

Charlottesville, VA is a pretty nice place that falls into your criteria. Probably nice to go now during the summer when UVA isn't in full swing. Lots of things to see and do there and it's a reasonable drive down US-29.

Middleburg, VA is another option and in Loudoun County on US-50. It's a touristy/historical little town in the Piedmont. Also, If you don't mind taking I-495 on a weekend or going through the city on US-50, Annapolis, MD is a neat place to visit.

[claremarie]

Waterford VA

[Margery]

Take 66 to Front Royal and get on the Skyline Drive. Very beautiful scenery and many small towns along the way for side trips. Great antique stores in Luray and New Market. There are 2 places to stop for lunch right on Skyline Drive, Skylands and Great Meadow Lodge. The speed limit is only 35 MPH so you are forced to take a leisurely drive, plenty of pullovers to stop and enjoy the view.

[statecollege]

Various wineries up and down the Shenandoah Valley. Helvetia in WVA: Helvetia, WV News. Deep Creek Lake in western MD: http://www.visitdeepcreek.com/. Raystown lake in central PA: Raystown Lake, Pennsylvania - In The Heart of Huntingdon County.

[EuroExpat]

Thanks guys!! All are great ideas. Keep em coming.

Been to Middleburg and Waterford (loved them, but they're too close to consider a day trip). I was looking into Shenandoah Valley like Margery suggested, I've heard a lot of good things about Skyline Drive.

[Alicia Bradley]

Shepherdstown, WV is a really cool little town, if you like the funky-cultural sort of thing.

For raw scenery, the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia can't be beat (but is about 3-4 hours away from D.C. metro, generally speaking, depending on where you go). The area around it is sort of undeveloped, though.. My roomie and I went to Elkins, WV a couple years ago because I wanted "mountains, dammit!". I think there's a passage in Catherine Marshall's _Christy_ about the Great Smokies sort of swallowing/oppressing/crushing the people who live in their valleys, and that was the sort of feeling I got in Elkins.

Old downtown Elkins was very cool in a mining-town-that-time-forgot sort of way, and even had a cute little coffee shop and a bookstore or two. But a couple times I noticed (usually older) locals checking out my roommate and me from inside their pickups with a sort of "What are you doing here?" vibe about them (that I'm biracial, albeit fairly light, probably didn't help). I did notice a darker-skinned teenage girl hanging out with a bunch of white teens (near the coffee shop, actually), all of whom were getting along apparently very amicably, so chalk it up to paranoia on my part, if you will. In any case, though, I highly recommend the Monongahela NF area for raw scenery but nothing else. (Well, the Kelly Mountain Lodge, where we stayed, did have incredible, incredible, incredible food, but I wouldn't make another eight-hour round trip for it. )

[Stephen 81]

I'm biased, as I spent three years in Charlottesville, but it's really a great place to visit. You've got Monticello, Ash-Lawn and UVA's Rotunda for history, views of the Blue Ridge, and a really great pedestrianized "mall" downtown with stores, cafes, and outdoor markets on the weekend. Summer is a great time of year to visit, too, because a lot of the students are out of town (and despite being further south, Cville is typically less hot and humid in the summer).

Staunton is a little farther, but it's slightly less touristy and has some things you'd never expect in rural Virginia, like a replica of a Shakespearean theater. You can also visit Woodrow Wilson's birthplace and a museum dedicated to early frontier life in the Shenandoah. There are also some great organic/natural farms in the area where you can buy produce, eggs, and meat straight from the source.

[JfromReston]

Tour Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Fallingwater
http://www.fallingwater.org/

Raft the Lower Yough
http://www.laurelhighlands.com/

[FrannyBear]

Ditto for Fallingwater -- it is awesome and well worth the trip! Also -- Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland in early October -- gorgeous lake and gorgeous leaves and a cute little town. LOVE that place -- but it gets cold EARLY there!