side trips from DC without a car
Jun 21st, 2001 | 12:51 PM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
HI Joe--
LIving in Baltimore without a car, I have tried to take advantage of as many opportunites as I can in the Mid-Atlantic.
There's much to explore within Washington, D.C. itself to begin with. Dupont Circle, the Smithsonian Mall, Hane's Point, Memorials, White House, etc... Old Town Alexandria is a great day trip; from King St. Metro you walk down King St. through a charming neighborhood until you reach the waterfront. Great restaurants abound. With bicycles you can bike along the Potomac all the way down to Mount Vernon.
Baltimore is a great option...only 40 minutes on Amtrak and 55 minutes of the MARC commuter train. You can catch a cab or take bus, light rail to The Inner Harbor , which has the Baltimore Aquarium, a delight in flora and fauna with dolphin shows and the Maryland Science Center should also be fun for your 9-year-old. Federal Hill and Fell's Point are charming historical neighborhoods with good restaurants...take a water taxi from the Inner Harbor to Fort McHenry (or Fell's Point). Walters Art Gallery and Baltimore Museum of Art are within easy reach by bus/cab from Penn Station.
Philadelphia is approx. 1 hour 45 minutes by train from Washington DC. From 30th St. station, catch a train or taxi anywhere downtown and you can walk to the Old City (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall), downtown (yummy Reading Terminal Market, Chinatown, excellent dining), South St. (funky crowd, cheesesteaks, great restaurants, cafés), Italian Market or to the Art Museum Area...some great art museums...I think the Please Touch Museum is popular with kids. A number of suburban Philly neighborhoods are really neat and fun with occasional festivals, such as Manayunk. I could go on and on about Philly.
New York City--3-4 hours by train depending how fast the train is that you catch. A dozen lifetimes would just get you started on all there is to do here.
All these cities have zoos which is quite enjoyable. These are city ideas, although there's natural beauty to be found in a number of them (Manayunk I find quite charming in an almost European kind of way and the Potomac in Alexandria can be simply gorgeous).
Have a ball!!
LIving in Baltimore without a car, I have tried to take advantage of as many opportunites as I can in the Mid-Atlantic.
There's much to explore within Washington, D.C. itself to begin with. Dupont Circle, the Smithsonian Mall, Hane's Point, Memorials, White House, etc... Old Town Alexandria is a great day trip; from King St. Metro you walk down King St. through a charming neighborhood until you reach the waterfront. Great restaurants abound. With bicycles you can bike along the Potomac all the way down to Mount Vernon.
Baltimore is a great option...only 40 minutes on Amtrak and 55 minutes of the MARC commuter train. You can catch a cab or take bus, light rail to The Inner Harbor , which has the Baltimore Aquarium, a delight in flora and fauna with dolphin shows and the Maryland Science Center should also be fun for your 9-year-old. Federal Hill and Fell's Point are charming historical neighborhoods with good restaurants...take a water taxi from the Inner Harbor to Fort McHenry (or Fell's Point). Walters Art Gallery and Baltimore Museum of Art are within easy reach by bus/cab from Penn Station.
Philadelphia is approx. 1 hour 45 minutes by train from Washington DC. From 30th St. station, catch a train or taxi anywhere downtown and you can walk to the Old City (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall), downtown (yummy Reading Terminal Market, Chinatown, excellent dining), South St. (funky crowd, cheesesteaks, great restaurants, cafés), Italian Market or to the Art Museum Area...some great art museums...I think the Please Touch Museum is popular with kids. A number of suburban Philly neighborhoods are really neat and fun with occasional festivals, such as Manayunk. I could go on and on about Philly.
New York City--3-4 hours by train depending how fast the train is that you catch. A dozen lifetimes would just get you started on all there is to do here.
All these cities have zoos which is quite enjoyable. These are city ideas, although there's natural beauty to be found in a number of them (Manayunk I find quite charming in an almost European kind of way and the Potomac in Alexandria can be simply gorgeous).
Have a ball!!
Jun 21st, 2001 | 01:46 PM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
As an addtl bike suggestion to Daniel's,you can ride up the C&O Canal Towpath out to the Great Falls of the Potomac/Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. I think it's about 10 miles out.
They had some mules that used to tow the barges up the canal and some other historic stuff.
May be a bit warm, tho.
Kal
They had some mules that used to tow the barges up the canal and some other historic stuff.
May be a bit warm, tho.
Kal
Jun 21st, 2001 | 07:37 PM
#5
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Posts: n/a
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia is a great place to visit. It has a rich Civil War History, with its blocks dotted with "mini-museums." It also does some of the historical re-creation stuff, though not to the point of, say, Colonial Williamsburg. And, there's the river and all it has to offer. And it has damn good frozen custard! It's about 2 1/2 hours away, and I'm pretty sure it's accessible by Greyhound.
