VA, etc. Road Trip

[michgc]

I still think you're trying to do too much. Why not visit Mount Vernon while you are in DC? You could easily get there even without a rental car. Then on Tuesday drive to Richmond, do some sightseeing or stop in Fredericksburg on the way before meeting your friend for dinner.

Then I would plan on spending a FULL DAY in Williamsburg. It is an amazing town. Even if you don't buy tickets to enter the colonial buildings, there are still some stores you can enter that sell colonial items; there are some outside attractions like the stocks. Sometimes there are public speeches or discussions like they had in colonial times. There are some authentic restaurants. And the welcome center has a good movie summarizing the period. It really is worth spending the day there.

And don't forget that the DC area is notorious for traffic. A 2-hour trip to Richmond can easily become 3 or 4 hours if there is an accident. I would allow for extra built-in time when planning your route. Have fun and welcome to Virginia!

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by michgc

I still think you're trying to do too much. Why not visit Mount Vernon while you are in DC? You could easily get there even without a rental car. Then on Tuesday drive to Richmond, do some sightseeing or stop in Fredericksburg on the way before meeting your friend for dinner.

Then I would plan on spending a FULL DAY in Williamsburg. It is an amazing town. Even if you don't buy tickets to enter the colonial buildings, there are still some stores you can enter that sell colonial items; there are some outside attractions like the stocks. Sometimes there are public speeches or discussions like they had in colonial times. There are some authentic restaurants. And the welcome center has a good movie summarizing the period. It really is worth spending the day there.

And don't forget that the DC area is notorious for traffic. A 2-hour trip to Richmond can easily become 3 or 4 hours if there is an accident. I would allow for extra built-in time when planning your route. Have fun and welcome to Virginia!

That's not a bad idea. I've seen some bus trips and even a boat trip down from DC to Mt. Vernon. Worth a looksee. Thanks for the advice.

Now, as to the drive south: Would we be better off taking a route other than I-95? I see Highway 1 for example, but it looks to be the old road that bisects each town via surface streets. South from Fredericksburg there's a Hwy. 2 that parallels on the east of I-95. Would that be a good alternate? We're not in love with interstate highway travel anyway.

[choff5]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

That's not a bad idea. I've seen some bus trips and even a boat trip down from DC to Mt. Vernon. Worth a looksee. Thanks for the advice.

Now, as to the drive south: Would we be better off taking a route other than I-95? I see Highway 1 for example, but it looks to be the old road that bisects each town via surface streets. South from Fredericksburg there's a Hwy. 2 that parallels on the east of I-95. Would that be a good alternate? We're not in love with interstate highway travel anyway.

As bad as the traffic is on I95, and it is bad, it would be the fastest if time is an issue. Traffic is always heavy, but also usually moving at 60-65+ mph. The old roads would be more scenic, you would be going right through Fredericksburg which is an old historic town with a nice downtown area that you could detour to drive through. I don't know much about Rt.2 but imagine about the same. A lot of Rt.1 to Fredericksburg is four lane, but a lot of stop lights. Bottom line is time and how much you want to avoid the interstate raceway.

[Jaybee]

Just returned from a great trip. We had a woderful time. We used Metro to commute back and forth to DC, then rented a car and drove to Richmond via Fredericksburg. Took Metro and the bus line down to Mt. Vernon and then shopped in Alexandria on the way back to motel in Crystal City.

Couldn't find a parking space in Richmond to visit the Museum of the Condeferacy, but oherwise found the capital city quite attractive. We opted not to spend the money ($35 or so) for the Williamsburg tickets and instead just wandered thru on our own. We were happy with that.

Spent two nights in VA Beach and travelled down to Kitty Hawk (NC) one morning to visit the Wright Bros. monument. Ultimately travelled across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel thru MD & DE and on back to DC for return flight.

Weekday traffic is terrible in northern VA! Best advice received was to forego renting a car for DC visit part of the trip and to rely on Metro.

Thanks again to all who commented here. Your advice helped form the itinerary for a terrific vacation!

[LynchburgLover]

Glad to hear you had a good trip! It's always nice when people come back to report how it went.

[choff5]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Glad to hear you had a good trip! It's always nice when people come back to report how it went.

I second that. Great to hear back from you on how it went. So glad you had a good time.

[LilyLady]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Glad to hear you had a good trip! It's always nice when people come back to report how it went.

I agree .... thanks for taking the time to come back and let us know how it went. That's great that you had a successful and enjoyable trip!