summer vacations in northern VA, MD, NC area?

[Day]

VA Beach isn't as horrible as you guys make it out to be. Or are you specifically talking about the tourist area. I guess with a fam vaca you want that kind of thing. I'm more partial to secluded areas personally... still VA Beach is MILES better than it used to be in the 90's. You think it's shitty now... haha... should have went back in the day. Of course anywhere with sand and water is cool with my country ass. I have a lot friends that go to Ocracoke Island for getaways.

[Nephlite]

If you come to DC, bring extremely comfortable shoes. The monuments are far apart, and our founding fathers weren't so fat they couldn't walk a half a mile between them. But every summer it's a fucking show watching modern superamericans have heart attacks dragging their fat asses across the Mall.

Ah, a fellow DCer. The monuments and sights in D.C. are awesome, but very non-tourist friendly in a "it's all scattered all over the fucking place" kind of way. If you spend a week or so there, you can attempt to do things in clusters. Memorials such as the WWII, Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln, and the reflecting pool are all next to each other and can be done in one day if you're motivated. Next day head down Independence and check out the Smithsonian Castle and get a good idea of what museums you want to see. There's a ton of private museums such as the National Spy Museum that you have to pay for but everything in the Smithsonian is free and they're all great exhibits.

There's a lot to do in D.C., you just have to plan accordingly and do some research to get it so you don't have to walk far and save your legs. I know when I took my family out to tour the city (lived here for over 25 years and never went out to see the sights lol), we hit up the monuments, hopped the metro to the Air and Space Museum, took the Metro to Ben's Chili Bowl for lunch, headed to the American History Museum and viewed the Smithsonian Gardens, backtracked to the White House for a tour, and finished off the night with a walk down M Street heading towards Georgetown and ate at Filomena (amazing Italian). The mass transit system (Metro) isn't very confusing and is fairly cheap to get around. People say it's a pain to navigate but D.C. works on a grid system that, once you get your bearings, is quite easy to figure out and if you have a map that isn't garbage (grab one from 7-Eleven, not the crap that comes in Barnes and Noble), it should be a breeze to get around. Like I said just plan accordingly and it'll go smooth.

As for M.D. and Virginia, VA Beach is crap so that's about it for Virginia. If your children are older, a tour through Arlington, specifically the Rosslyn, Clarendon, Court House district near the Memorial Bridge connecting DC and VA is pretty nice. Lot's of sights, museums, a great night life, some pretty good restaurants, and low crime index (a plus). Not very sure about what else is in VA to explore but i'm sure there's something.

Depending on where you wanna go in MD (and what you plan to do), I would have to recommend the fishing near Solomons Island and the Point Lookout region near the Chesapeake Bay. Grab yourself some camping gear and your fishing rods and head there to some of the nearby campgrounds (or a dirt cheap but very nice hotel), and get ready for some great fishing. There's some history stuff down there to explore in the city and you can check out the crabbing boats and fishing boats to get some good history and sights. The food is AMAZING if you like seafood and there's options for people on a budget. Me and some of the buddies at the precinct grab our rods and sleeping bags and head down to the Indian Head Campgrounds down near the bay and pitch out for a few days of drinking and fishing. One of my buddies has a boat and the campgrounds has a dock you can deploy in right near the main road, just park anywhere and have at it.

Ocean City is more geared for the young adult in mind. The night life is incredible and the boardwalk is among the best in the world (they're opening casino's there this year). There's some things to do for the kiddies (arcades, face painting, balloons, etc.) and the food isn't too expensive. It's just more of a party are than anything and that's about it.

Annapolis is pretty awesome and in my opinion probably the most expensive Maryland attraction. The food is awesome, the sights are awesome (kind of a rustic colonial feeling to the houses and buildings), and the hotels are decently priced to downright outrageous. The community thrives on the tourist season; when you get there, near the court house area there's a kind of outdoor pavilion where a farmers market hosts a huge surplus of homemade goods that's not there during the regular season. My wife and I stayed in an old-school colonial hotel that was pretty authentic right down to the stone basin that had to be filled with water you heated on the woodburning stove to take a bath in. I loved every second of it but it ran us about $120 a night (and we stayed for 3). Check out Aqua Terra for the most delicious sea food you'll ever find on the East Coast.

[Mathematics]

if youre going to virginia beach, dont be a dumb tourist staying at the damn oceanfront. the oceanfront at night isnt a nice place to stay at all. virginia beach isnt a bad place to vacation, just know where to do it. rent a big beach house in Sandbridge. theres a market there, and a restaurant/bar there at the end of the road thats pretty fun at night. its secluded from all the other tourist bullshit that they have here. If you really wanna just go for a nice dinner, go to the oceanfront to eat and listen to the multiple bands that play every night. They had the beachboys here last saturday right on the beach.

[Gregorio]

Ocean City MD is great if you want to drink your face off. I love going to Seacrets during the day getting wasted while floatin around in the bay. It's great at night too. The beach itself isn't too bad.

Baltimore inner harbor is nice. But I'm only mentioning that because I'm moving there at the end of the month.

[Plow]

Skip the beach and check out the history?

You can go to DC, and check out the Baltimore Aquarium while you're in the area. Smithsonian stuff is pretty cheap, as well as the loads of free shit to look at.

If you don't like the big towns, you can head west or north and check out (old) York and the Gettysburg stuff, Monticello, Montpelier, etc.

[Not Kuno]

Carowinds like a boss. Everything else about NC kind of sucks. Real talk.

Edit: Wait are you talking about northern NC? I don't think anything is there except trees and shit.

[Day]

He said 2-3 posts ago he lives in NoVA and everything there has been done, including DC.....

[Absolutely Virtue]

He surely hasn't done /everything/ in DC. I can show him some good places to buy drugs, or pick up hookers, or get shot, or buy chinese/chicken/pizza/subs, or get checks cashed, or get your hair braided, or get a payday loan, or buy some scratchers and Heineken singles. And we won't even have to leave my neighborhood!

[Devolver]

Carowinds like a boss. Everything else about NC kind of sucks. Real talk.

Carowinds is good if you have never been before, for sure. Wet n Wild Emerald Point is pretty fucking sweet, also.

[Daruma]

He surely hasn't done /everything/ in DC. I can show him some good places to buy drugs, or pick up hookers, or get shot, or buy chinese/chicken/pizza/subs, or get checks cashed, or get your hair braided, or get a payday loan, or buy some scratchers and Heineken singles. And we won't even have to leave my neighborhood!

Heh...have had some food from a bunch of restaurants in china town. Favorite is Chinatown Express where they make the noodles in the window. And had some thai food one time from the restaurant next door...my ass hurt me for the entire weekend
Still want to check out the national cathedral sometime as well as be able to spend more than an hour in the fucking national portrait gallery and the national gallery. Pisses me off that you cant bring backpacks into there cause lugging my sketchbook, cd player (old skewl) and supplies around to draw shit drives me crazy. That and the fact that you cant even sneeze 14' from a piece of artwork without that guards being a pain in the ass.

There are tons of things to do in DC just no interested in doing the city tour yet again. During the summer going to probably hit up the city on weekends with the wife and kid assuming its not going to be ass hot. All day metro passes kick ass. Maybe peeps on here would like to hang out during that time.

So far annapolis looks pretty sweet for foods but not necessarily for beach type stuff...maybe a day in annapolis and then somewheres else. Dunno yet.

[Absolutely Virtue]

There are places on the eastern shore where you could be by the water and the kids could play in the bay, but you have those hurting non-beach kinda beaches. Still no huge waves and undertow might be good for you guys (can't remember if you said how old the kids are). That might serve your beach/city interest, since you'd be close to Annapolis. Some of the stuff in the town of Annapolis is great for kids, too, especially the famous ice cream.

PM me if you're ever interested in off the beaten path DC stuff. I've been here my whole life, and I'm old as balls. I live near the Rock Creek Park, and it's awesome. But I'm close enough to Georgia Avenue to still get the street cred.

[Yugl]

Seconding Ocean City as the best spot if you like being a wreck. That said, I'm sick of that place because of childhood experience. I wouldn't recommend museums unless you're into that stuff though.

[Cyn]

OP, it seems like food is rather important to you. If that's the case, definitely consider Asheville NC. Most of the restaurants there serve only locally grown organic food, and there's a few really good breweries there. The downtown is really nice as well, the locals fight rather aggressively to keep national chains away. For activities, Biltmore Estate and driving around checking out the mountains are both fun and relaxing.

But I may be biased, I loathe going to the beach in the summer time...

[Devolver]

few really good breweries there.

Fucking yes they are.

[Tagus]

Ocean City MD is great if you want to drink your face off. I love going to Seacrets during the day getting wasted while floatin around in the bay. It's great at night too. The beach itself isn't too bad.

LOL

Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeecrets. Those commercials are amazing. Whatever you do, don't stay at the Admiral. Our room had a hole in the ceiling that was filled with toilet paper.

[Cyn]

Hell, North Carolina just has great beer period. Big Boss, Lone Rider, Red Hook, Foothills, Highland....

I'm honestly mostly a whiskey drinker myself, but I will totally make exceptions for NC brews.

[Nephlite]

He surely hasn't done /everything/ in DC. I can show him some good places to buy drugs, or pick up hookers, or get shot, or buy chinese/chicken/pizza/subs, or get checks cashed, or get your hair braided, or get a payday loan, or buy some scratchers and Heineken singles. And we won't even have to leave my neighborhood!

Amen to this. Also don't forget the bars where you can pick all this up and still grab food after 2am up near the NW sector.