Visit to Washington and road trip to Atlanta (chapel, house)

[rachiehors]

Hello,

I will be visiting the USA from England in December. Part of the trip will be spending a few days in Washington and then driving to visit relatives in Atlanta. I would appreciate if anyone could suggest any must see / must do attractions in Washington and also any good routes to travel to Atlanta. We are planning to drive over a couple of days, stopping at any nice attractions on the way down.

Many thanks
Rachel

[OleTomCat]

We normally take I-81 through the Shenandoah valley when we go up to DC, not a lot to do unless you like caves and caverns but absolutely beautiful drive...

[juniperbleu]

The "must see"s for me in DC are the monuments. There are also a lot of museums, which are mostly free (Smithsonian museums are all free).

As for places to stop on the way down, if you take I-95 you could stop in Fredericksburg, VA. It's a cute town with a lot of history. There was a big Civil War battle fought essentially in the town, so you could go to the battlefield for a tour. There's also interesting things like the Confederate cemetary, Mary Washington's house (George Washington's mother, he grew up there), an old apothecary shop, and old tavern which both focus on colonial life. There's other museums too, but I can't quite remember. Otherwise, it has a cute downtown with antique shops, small art galleries, and restaurants. It has more of a "real" Virginia feel than places near DC.

From there you could continue down through Richmond (you could stop, but I don't know Richmond at all to give suggestions) and then get on 85 to Atlanta. Again, on the way you could check out Raleigh, NC (get barbeque) or Chapel Hill, NC (cute college town; again, get barbeque).