2013 vacation/weekend trip ideas...

[acroyear]

bookmarking for now.  She's finally getting old enough to enjoy some of these, even if not to remember them later.

Charlotte/Asheville

• GSM NP (there are shorter hikes on the Carolina side off of the main Klingman's Dome road that we didn't hit)
• Biltmore Estate
• Chimney Rock
• Discovery Place (this can happen in November if we have time free around CRF)

Atlanta (should we do GARF)

• ...

Close To Home Weekend Trips

• Luray Caverns
• Shenandoah NP (I still want to hit it in the fall colors, but we'll see - anyways, we totally missed Big Meadows last year)
• Inner Harbor (Port Discovery, National Aquarium, Science Center) - we might stay in Glen Burnie overnight
• Mt Vernon - lets see if she recognizes "the hermit" in a different costume/character :)
• Great Falls / C&O Canal (I totally didn't visit Great Falls in 2012)

North (should we do Marlboro instead of GARF)

• Acadia and Bar Harbor
• Mystic Seaport
• Watch Hill, RI (my family settled there in the 1630s)

Comments

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

If you go through Durham at some point (which you would if you drive down to Charlotte), I can recommend the Museum Of Life And Science. We've made it a regular stop after ProgDay for the Bear, and he really likes it.

For Atlanta, the Aquarium is a good stop. We did that a couple years back, and it's really nice.

[stori-lundi.livejournal.com]

Yes the aquarium! I haven't been but I have friends who have and they say it's wonderful. And they have a whale shark. A WHALE SHARK!! I so want to see a whale shark!!

World of Coca-Cola is fun too, and I'm not just saying that because I worked for the exhibit company which designed it. But definitely see the aquarium.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

My brother lives in Cary which gives us some options in the area. We actually dodge Durham/Raleigh generally because, well, I-95 sucks. Our usual routes up and down are 81/77 or 85/29 (which is what we took this time because of the snow threat on the mountains).

Been to the Georgia Aquarium twice now (Wiggles loved it on our second trip - she wasn't around on our first in '09). Hence why I didn't list it.

[shalandara.livejournal.com]

In the Asheville area:

-- Look into the town of Old Fort. There is a cute little museum there in an old log cabin. It is right on a riverfront park so it makes a nice half-day type visit w/ a picnic. Also, there is a train museum there -- not as good but can round out the day.

-- Chimney rock is neat, but there is A LOT of walking there. We went in 2010 with our kids (then 11 and 9) and they complained about the amount of walking (and a lot fo it is vertical-ish!) That being said, the views are neat. The waterfall path (i.e. of the last of the Mohicans movie fame) was closed when we went there.

-- There is an old car collection in Asheville (north) on the grounds of a private club. You can go there to see the cars. Some pretty neat old vehicles there. It rounded out a day trip for us one year.

(James' parents have a house in Montreat, NC so we have been to a lot of the things in a radius from Black Mountain/Montreat).