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michigansandzil's avatar
michigansandzil
Explorer
Jul 07, 2015

2 week Patriotism and Pony tour

I'm counting down the days until our 2 week vacation. We're in our late 30s and the kids are 12, 10 and 6. We've never been to any of the places listed and probably won't be back anytime in the near future.

Anyone have any additional suggestions; aside from saying that I am driving too far per day, we're too ambitious, and I need at least 2 weeks at each destination? Reservations for all campgrounds have already been made. This itinerary is more planned out compared to our usual vacation style, but ticket purchases made advanced planning a necessity. We do prefer to be flexible and sometimes we don't know what we're going to do until that morning when we wake up. Every place except our last stop has a pool or we're on the ocean, so I expect to be back every evening for the kids to have time to swim and relax.

Day 1- Leave after work. Drive from Michigan for a few hours and stop in Ohio for the night.

Day 2- Drive to Cherry Hill in DC area, stopping at Gettysburg en route. The kids don't care for civil war battlefields so this will be a few hour visit as a compromise.

Day 3-5- Visit DC X 3 days. This is unfortunately happening in August so I plan to bring lots of water and visit the Smithsonians during the peak of the heat. We are still waiting to hear back from our Senator if we have tickets to see the White House (my 10 year old's request). We already have tickets to go into the Washington Monument. Possible stops to Arlington for the changing of the guard, National Archives, Duck tours, and the Spy Museum. Not sure if we should stick to the subway or by tickets for the on off trolley.
One of the three days we will visit Baltimore for Fort McHenry and the National aquarium.

Day 6- Travel from Cherry Hill to Virginia Beach KOA stopping at Jamestown en route. None of the kids want to do Colonial Williamsburg or Busch Gardens.

Day 7- Visit Norfolk. Take Victory Rover cruise and visit the museum there.

Day 8- Drive from Virginia Beach to Assateague state park.

Days 9-12 at Assateague State park. One night visit Ocean City boardwalk. Other possible side trips to Fort Delaware (my understanding is it's a two hour drive and we might not be interested in driving that far after driving so much already) or ferry over to Wildwood. I think Assateague will be a well needed respite for us in the middle of our big city tour so we might decide to sit on the beach for 4 days and not go anywhere.

Day 13- Drive from Assateague to Liberty Harbor in Jersey City stopping in Philly en route. We found a place to drop the camper just outside of the city. We have tickets for Independence Hall and we want to see the Liberty Bell and eat a Philly cheese steak. Considering stopping by Eastern State Penitentiary or a Children's museum if time allows.

Day 14-15 tour NYC- We have early morning tickets to go to the crown of the Statue of Liberty on day 14. We leave from Jersey City and might get off at Battery Park. This is where we're not sure about our plans. The only other "Must visit" spot for us in NYC is the American Girl store and site of 9/11. We'd like to use an on/off bus to sight see. Just the idea of visiting the city is overwhelming to me, nevertheless trying to figure out how to get around. Any recommendations for sight seeing tours? Can we take the ferry from the statue to Battery park and get a tour close by? How do we get from Manhattan back to Jersey City?


Day 16-17 Drive home.
  • Two_Hands's avatar
    Two_Hands
    Explorer
    Jul 07, 2015
    It sounds like you have a great trip planned. Just because the kids don't want to do a certain thing on your trip or go to a certain museum doesn't mean you shouldn't do that activity. Our kids hated the national park nature tours they were "forced" to walk on. Now they are grown with kids of their own and constantly remind us of how much they really enjoyed those activities. And I think you may have been too ambitious with your time in Washington, D.C. as well as most of the other places you plan to visit. It will be like Clark Griswald driving thousands of miles just to glance at the Grand Canyon before rushing off toward Wally World.
  • michigansandzil's avatar
    michigansandzil
    Explorer
    Jul 07, 2015
    Two Hands wrote:
    And I think you may have been too ambitious with your time in Washington, D.C.


    I don't expect to see everything. I hope in two days we can stop in two Smithdonians for an hour or two, see Arlington, the Washington Monument and hopefully the archives. I don't think that is too ambitious. Everything else mentioned were suggestions.
    I'm realistic that we'll not even scratch the surface of what we want to see. But it'll be august and hot. Maybe we'll go back in the spring one year and see more if we like it.
  • 4runnerguy's avatar
    4runnerguy
    Explorer
    Jul 07, 2015
    Just got back from a few of the places mentioned. In DC, it's worth the drive out to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport. The space shuttle Columbia is on display was well as an SR-71 Blackbird and a Concorde plus lots of other airplanes. The planes at the Air and Space Museum along the mall may be more historic, but there's a lot more room for more displays at the Udvar-Hazy location. Plus, there's lots of stuff from the various space missions. Admission is free but parking is $15 unless you arrive after 4:00 p.m. But the place is open until 6:30 for most of the summer, so you'll have two good hours to see the highlights. I think this may have been the highlight for me in the DC area.

    I would skip Baltimore. Three days in DC will be very busy anyway. Most kids really like the American Museum of Natural History. You can still visit the Capitol even if you don't get into the White House. And while they may not appreciate it too much at their age, I would take them to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The Archives are quite close to the Natural History and American History museums. If you visit later in the day, we've found the lines at the Archives to be much shorter.

    If you get tired of the typical fare in the restaurants at the various museums, try the one at the National Museum of the American Indian (right next door to the Air and Space Museum). You can just drop in at lunch if you don't want to tour the museum. They have a much more interesting and diverse menu selection at that museum.

    While you will probably take the Metro to get in and out of DC, in terms of getting around DC, check out the DC Circulator. A whole lot cheaper than the trolleys and with more local stops than the Metro. Uses the same card as the Metro. Pick up everyone's Smartrip card the first morning you head into town and replenish as needed. Many of the museums are at the same end of the mall so walking is the easiest and often quickest way to get around. I'd use the Circulator to get down to the Washington monument. While there, check out the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, both must sees in my book.

    We found we often returned to our campsite sometime around 9:00 p.m. We'd leave DC after the museums closed at 7:00 p.m. (remember, most open at 10:00 a.m.) avoiding the 5-6 p.m. rush hour on the Metro. We'd then grab a bite to eat at some local eating spot I had scoped out before we left. We placed we liked near where you're camped was Sardi Pollo A La Brasa at 10433 Baltimore Ave. Simple, low key place with the best chicken I've had in years. (rotisserie, not fried).

    We found little at Jamestown that would draw us back again. Given the choice, I'd steer you instead to Yorktown.

    One more piece of advice on DC: intersperse museums with places like the Lincoln Memorial or the Capitol. One can quickly get burned out on too many museums. Although the kids we saw at the Natural History Museum were all having a great time.
  • michigansandzil's avatar
    michigansandzil
    Explorer
    Jul 07, 2015
    4runnerguy wrote:
    Just got back from a few of the places mentioned. In DC, it's worth the drive out to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport. The space shuttle Columbia is on display was well as an SR-71 Blackbird and a Concorde plus lots of other airplanes. The planes at the Air and Space Museum along the mall may be more historic, but there's a lot more room for more displays at the Udvar-Hazy location. Plus, there's lots of stuff from the various space missions. Admission is free but parking is $15 unless you arrive after 4:00 p.m. But the place is open until 6:30 for most of the summer, so you'll have two good hours to see the highlights. I think this may have been the highlight for me in the DC area.
    .


    Thanks 4runnerguy. Everything you mentioned was helpful, especially this portion about the shuttle.
    We went to the Air Force Museum last year in Dayton, Ohio and saw the Blackbird there. I've been wondering if the Air and Space Museum is going to be a bit too similar to that. I guess we'll see; if the kids loose interest, we'll move on. A stop in to see the shuttle sounds interesting. We've never seen one before.
  • NoVa_RT's avatar
    NoVa_RT
    Explorer
    Jul 07, 2015
    Given how busy the rest of the schedule is, some well-deserved relaxation at Assateague sounds like a good idea. Plenty of space at the campground beach; you'll have a few dozen people where Ocean City would pack in a few thousand. It's a little more crowded at the Park's day-use beach area.

    BTW, if you don't get your White House tour, the Capitol tour is pretty good - used to be better than the public tour of the White House, but haven't taken either for decades, and security considerations have affected both.
  • rekoj71's avatar
    rekoj71
    Explorer
    Jul 08, 2015
    Personally I think you nailed it pretty good.

    True you didn't leave enough time in DC, but how can you. The place is so huge and the amount of things to see so vast that you would be burned out on museums and walking by day 3 anyway. You really need 2 weeks there to even see most of it and still have a few rest days built in. I'm in Virginia Beach and just take weekend trips there to spread it out. It's awesome, but tiring.

    Colonial Williamsburg is standard reenactment as you can get at lots of other places. I like it but notice it's the same as most places and very expensive for a larger family. The battle fields and Civil War forts which are awesome to me are a complete bore to my daughter who says those too are all the same. Secretly I know she's right.

    If you visit Jamestown and/or Yorktown, know that there are competing parks at each one. The original Jamestown and Yorktown are part of the National Park System and are called Colonial National Historic Park. Both places can be toured in a couple of hours each and only have the smaller NPS fees. There is also Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center, and these are sponsored more by the state and are set up more as a living museum with the reenactments and activities and come with a much higher price tag, and since they put these two parks/museums right in front of the real NPS parks, I have seen many people think they are seeing the original places just to find they just spent a lot and didn't get what they were looking for. These places are very well done also so not trying to knock them but just making sure you know what to look for. Google them if you are interested. When at Jamestown be sure to see the Glass House. They do glass blowing there and it only takes about 15-20 minutes and it's right on the road into the park. Actually it's part of and on the NPS grounds but before you get to the main visitors center.

    I'm not real impressed by the Rover or the museums in down town Norfolk but I don't have too much to offer as a better alternative. The Rover rarely put it's sails up or if it does it may put up a few just for looks. Most of it's tour focuses on the ships at the Navy Base which can be interesting if you are into that. The KOA here is very nice, and is super close to the beach, which is the biggest draw in the area, filled with all sorts of tourist trap amenities, tons of shops (most owned by the same company and all sell the same thing), and some carnival type stuff and a boardwalk atmosphere. Another draw is the Virginia Marine Science Museum, and it's fairly good but will pale by comparison to the National Aquarium. If you want some just goofing around fun, Motor World is a very good go-kart park with lots of track and car options, and it too is right close to the KOA. When you get to the KOA they should have lots of the brochures with some discounts in them.

    Sounds like an awesome trip and I can't wait till I get to take my kids to those other things farther north that you're doing. I think you will tire much faster than your kids but keep with it. You don't get to do this often with them.
  • leggy's avatar
    leggy
    Explorer
    Jul 08, 2015
    Not sure of route home, but if taking I80 through Pa, maybe check out Pa elk heard in st. Mary's/benezette area.
  • michigansandzil's avatar
    michigansandzil
    Explorer
    Jul 08, 2015
    leggy wrote:
    Not sure of route home, but if taking I80 through Pa, maybe check out Pa elk heard in st. Mary's/benezette area.


    Great suggestion, thanks. Yes, we'll be heading home on I80.

    I was hoping to find something to do to break up the drive home, but so far, my search hadn't yielded anything of interest. Elk viewing sounds right up our alley. I'll keep it in mind.
    Looks like Parker Dam State Park is the closest campground? Do you know of anything closer?

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