Tag: Virginia

DMV Landing Page

Posted in Free Kids Fun, Read Them All, United StatesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Let it be easy! That’s what I want for whomever comes across my page, whether it’s from my Instagram, through my newsletter or some other way. As the family trip planner – whether it’s for an afternoon outing or a full blow vacation, I appreciate when I come across places that put it all together and make my life easier to create the best trip for my family.

Blog Posts

  • Airport Play Areas in the DMV – BWI, DCA, and IAD all have play areas and are accessible by public transit!
  • Free Mall Play Areas in the DMV – This article has much more than malls. I lay out other ideas for what to do near each mall.
  • Free Fun for Kids at Big Box Retailers – We are huge fans of free and affordable fun! There are so many companies that have weekly or monthly offerings.
    • Merry Pin is a new local store that has free story time and art each Saturday!
  • Keep Your Green at Great Wolf Lodge – We visited the one in Perryville, Maryland that’s north of Baltimore and had the best time! Definitely a core memory for my daughter (and me).
  • Maryland Ice Cream Trail Adventure – My daughter and I had the best time trying ice cream at cow to cone locations! We visited libraries, towns, playgrounds, etc. as part of our adventure.
  • Sligo Creek Parkway Playgrounds and Nearby Ones – There are so many incredible parks in Silver Spring, along the creek, as well as parks in the surrounding areas like Wheaton and Takoma Park.
  • Splish Splash in Maryland – Beat the summer heat and head to one of the outdoor pools! Also includes some splash pads to get you started.
  • Top Tips for New Silver Spring Parents – This is chock-full of suggestions and will benefit you whether you moved to Silver Spring ,are new to parenting in Silver Spring or you’re located in a surrounding area!
  • Your Family Needs the ASTC Passport – If you have a kid, you have to get an annual membership to an ASTC Passport covered museum, especially if you like to travel. If you’re in the DMV, I recommend joining the Maryland Science Center when its on Groupon.

Affordable Adventures

Newsletters

I created a Substack newsletter. It covers near and far travel, books, random learnings and more! I would love for you to subscribe for free. The content highlighted below are DMV places (or very close) but some posts may cover other areas like Edition 1 touches on Salt Lake City.

About the Author

Lydia Garry and her family, TeamTravelsBaby, live in Silver Spring, Maryland, and are working to achieve “vagabond status”. Much of their affordable family travel experiences include U.S. travel, national parks and Europe. Adventure with them here, subscribe to their newsletter and follow along on Instagram!

Rich(mond) in History

Posted in Read Them All, State CapitolTagged , , , , , 1 Comment
View from Belle Isle Bridge | TeamTravelsBlog

Richmond is Virginia’s capitol and full of U.S. historical sites. It also boasts cool street art and some delicious treats! Spending a holiday weekend during the cold months meant no crowds, easy to find parking and the sites were still open!

Richmond Highlights over New Years’ Eve Weekend 2017

  • Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge
  • Maymont
  • Hollywood Cemetery
  • Carytown – Street Art, Carytown Cupcakes, Lamplighter Coffee
  • Virginia State Capitol
  • Shockoe Bottom and Main Street Station

After sipping our free hotel coffee, we headed into Richmond. It was a cool morning and we parked near 300 Tredegar Street in order to take the Belle Isle Pedestrian Bridge. The bridge is really unique and gives you some great views of Richmond.

Belle Isle Bridge View | TeamTravelsBlog
Belle Isle Bridge View | TeamTravelsBlog

After a little exploring, we got back in our car and drove to Maymont. We parked outside the gate and walked onto the property, which is beautiful! The mansion itself is gorgeous, but we didn’t take the tour (I’m 99% sure I did as a kid though, because the whole place felt nostalgic to me). There appears to be a lot to do, like a nature center, the mansion tour, etc. if you have time and are interested.

Maymont Mansion | TeamTravelsBlog
Maymont Mansion | TeamTravelsBlog

 

 

The Hollywood Cemetery was a must see for us. Before you drive into the cemetery, there’s a map you can get or take a picture of, which we found to be really helpful as we didn’t want to miss any of the historical figures like James Monroe and John Tyler. I think because we were here on a holiday weekend during a cold month, this is why it wasn’t busy at all and even enjoyable to drive around and park where we wanted to take pictures.

Who is buried here? | TeamTravelsBlog
Who is buried here? | TeamTravelsBlog

We drove to Carytown next and found a free parking spot on a side street. This street is a must see with its cool street art, the delicious cupcakes at Carytown Cupcakes (you really can’t get just one) and the yummy coffee at Lamplight Roasting Company.

Yummy cupcake | TeamTravelsBlog
Caffeine | TeamTravelsBlog

As it was approaching 1 pm, we made our way to the Virginia State Capitol which has pretty short hours on Sundays and is closed on holidays, like New Year’s Day. Again, I think because it was a holiday weekend, we basically had the place to ourselves and one of the docents gave us an excellent tour.

Hello George! | TeamTravelsBlog
Hello George! | TeamTravelsBlog

The statue of George Washington in white marble under the rotunda is incredible and has a lot of details that you may not notice without a tour guide or doing some research ahead of time. We had a little bit of time afterwards, so we explored the Capitol grounds which included seeing the Governor’s Mansion on one end and St. Paul’s Church at the other.

Inside the Capitol | TeamTravelsBlog
Inside the Capitol | TeamTravelsBlog

Our last stop in Richmond before making the two hour drive home was Shockoe Bottom historic area. We found another side street parking spot and checked out the artwork along the street before making it to the train station. The train station is beautiful inside with an art exhibit, a mini visitor center and because it was NYE, they were setting up for a party upstairs. Don’t miss the opportunity to take a picture with the “Love” sign in the Main Street Station.

Let me know what we have to see next time we make it to Richmond! Did you guess right? The cemetery grave site pictured above was for James Monroe.

Carytown Street Art | TeamTravelsBlog
Carytown Street Art | TeamTravelsBlog
Carytown Street Art | TeamTravelsBlog

Hooray for Luray Caverns

Posted in Read Them AllTagged , , , 3 Comments
Reflecting Pond at Luray Caverns | TeamTravelsBlog

They say Virginia is for lovers, so we spent our New Years’ Eve weekend exploring its offerings. Luray Caverns and Monticello were highlights for day one. Read our next post about day two in Richmond, which impressed us more than we expected!

Virginia Weekend Highlights over New Years’ Eve Weekend 2017

  • Luray Caverns (near Shenandoah National Park)
  • Staunton (5 Historic Districts, Reunion Bakery & Espresso)
  • Charlottesville (Monticello, The Pie Chest, Pedestrian Mall)
  • Richmond (GardenFest Illumination at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden)

We left our place early on Saturday (December 30, 2017) in the morning to drive out toward Shenandoah National Park. We had our National Park pass ready, so we thought after seeing Luray Caverns, it would be nice to enjoy the drive south along Skyline Drive.

Fried Eggs at Luray Caverns | TeamTravelsBlog
Fried Eggs at Luray Caverns | TeamTravelsBlog

Unfortunately, due to snow, we learned that many parts of Shenandoah were closed. We went ahead and drove directly to Luray Caverns and bought our ticket for the next tour. At this point in time, we had been to a few other caves (Cave of the Winds in Colorado, Wind Cave in South Dakota and Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota) and had enjoyed each experience as every cave seems to have something unique about them.

Reflecting Pond at Luray Caverns | TeamTravelsBlog
Reflecting Pond | TeamTravelsBlog

Make sure to read the rules online about your boots before heading out to a cave (hint: it has to do with bats and the spread of white-nose syndrome). Luray Cavern has many “must sees” including the reflecting pond, the stalacpipe organ and fried eggs. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you know how to use your phone camera or regular camera in lower light settings.

Stalacpipe Organ | TeamTravelsBlog
Stalacpipe Organ | TeamTravelsBlog

Your ticket also gets you admission into a few of the nearby buildings, so if you’re into old cars it’s worth taking a walk through the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum or if you’re into old toys you may want to pop through Toy Town Junction which are both in the same parking lot.

We headed south from Luray to a small historic town called Staunton. Staunton is made up of five historic districts (Newtown; Wharf Area; Beverley; Gospel Hill; Stuart Addition). Staunton is home to Mary Baldwin University, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and the American Shakespeare Center. We parked near both between the Beverly District and Gospel Hill and enjoyed a walk downtown along S New St. This street has a historic store front called Cranberry’s Grocery and Eatery and a nice coffee shop called Reunion Bakery & Espresso. | TeamTravelsBlogIt’s also a short walk to the train tracks and the Wharf District, which has a cool bridge and the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church is worth a peek. Staunton also hosts a Harry Potter-esque world of wizardry weekend every September.

View from Wharf District Bridge | TeamTravelsBlog
View from Wharf District Bridge | TeamTravelsBlog

For 2018, it’s called “Queen City Mischief and Magic”. While we haven’t been, I have read the city is transformed for this particular weekend. Plus, you’d be close enough to Shenandoah to potentially see the leaves change color! If you love Instagram like me (I hope you’ll follow me @TeamTravelsBlog), tag your Staunton pics with #LOVEStaunton #QueenCity and @visitstaunton .

From here, we continued eastward about 40 minutes to Charlottesville and specifically to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. We made it in time for the last regular tour of the day. This home should not be missed. We took the free shuttle to the house, then walked by the grave site and took a trail back to where the museums, gift shop and ticket counter were located. The tour guides are passionate about his life and sharing information about the house. The views also happen to be incredible!

From here, we went to downtown Charlottesville, where the University of Virginia is located. There’s a “pedestrian mall” which is essentially a car free street with a variety of stores, restaurants and bars. Similar concept to the 16th Street Mall you’d find in Denver, Colorado, just on a smaller scale. On one of the side streets, I saw a pie place called “The Pie Chest”.

Peppermint Crunch at The Pie Chest | TeamTravelsBlog
Peppermint Crunch at The Pie Chest | TeamTravelsBlog

O.m.g. this place is amazing!! I could literally make a trip here just for the pie.

As if we hadn’t fit enough into our day, we drove about another hour to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden outside of Richmond. We wanted to see the beautiful winter lights display here called GardenFest Illumination. For many years we’ve gone to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to take in the free display of holiday lights, which are definitely a must see. But as we were looking for something different to do, this was great! There were a variety of indoor and outdoor displays, animals, storybook characters in lights (see the Giving Tree below), moving lights and changing colors.

Yep, we were exhausted by this point. I found a cheap, last minute deal using Booking.com (use my code and we each get $20) for a place under $60. We crashed and knew we’d have a chance to sleep in and then explore Richmond in the morning. If we took a similar trip, any must-see places you would recommend? Read all about our day in Richmond here!

Other nearby ideas if you’re planning a similar trip:

  • Shenandoah National Park
  • Staunton (Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, American Shakespeare Center)
  • Charlottesville (Ash-Highland Estate)
  • Orange (Montpellier)