My DH & I are heading to Williamsburg for a 4-day weekend mid-Aug. We're mainly planning on visiting the historical sites, doing the ghost tour & driving to Virginia Beach. (We're not really into Busch Gardens or going to the waterpark.) We were also thinking of taking a day & driving up to D.C. to tour the White House (already called the congressman, awaiting a response). However I've heard traffic is horrible - but on google maps it only looks like a 2.5 hour drive - do you think this is possible?

Also any restaurant recs? Preferably local places that aren't too pricey & maybe some seafood recs. (I heard there was a good seafood buffet somewhere.) Thanks!

Having been to Williamsburg twice in August, just be aware that it will be EXTREMELY hot and humid.

It MIGHT be hot and humid or it could be cool and rainy. You never know in Virginia.

You can absolutely take a day trip to DC but I would plan on going on a weekend and arriving by 9:30 for easy parking.

Restaurants in Williamsburg: Sals by Victor on Richmond Rd., Emerald (thai) on Rt 60 near Busch Gardens, Giuseppes out by the outlet mall. You can find others by doing a search on this forum. For seafood you can try Berretts outdoor patio. DO NOT go to Capt. Georges buffet. Kingsmill has a buffet on Fri nights and Colonial Williamsburg might also have one.

Thanks for the tips Birdie. We know it might be hot - that's not stopping us. We need to get out of town & Williamsburg fits the bill. So I'm assuming Capt Georges is pretty bad..

Beyond horrid.

The drive from DC to Williamsburg is a nice drive and is about 2.5hours. I don't know if I would drive up for just one day. If that is all you have for a day trip, go visit Fredericksburg battle ground and Mount Vernon. If you do go in to DC a laid back but beautiful visit is the National Cathedral and it gardens.

It always took us three hours door-to-door from Newport News to DC, but we generally went on weekdays, timing it as best we could to avoid the worst of rush hour closer to the city.

The problem was coming back, with all the beach-bound traffic. That took us 6 hours one hellish time, crawling what seemed like all the way.

AngelaS, it's doable, but... how badly do you want to tour the WH?? ;-)

You might check out Norfolk, particularly the neighborhood called Ghent, instead. In VB, consider the Aquarium, or as my kid friends call it, the Fish Museum, it's pretty cool.

The Thanksgiving buffet at Kingsmill was not very large but it was very good. Personally, I would not go to DC for the day - the driving alone is pretty tiring even when there's no traffic - and then there's parking to consider.

I really appreciate all the tips. NewBe - I can't pass up the opportunity to meet W.

Unless you do the drive to DC on a weekend, there's no way you'll make it in 2.5 hours. Traffic on 95 is usually a mess on week days from about 5:30 am on. The run from Fredericksburg to DC can be a real mess. If I were you, I'd stay in the southern part of the state. Also, not sure that contacting your member of congress at such late notice will get you in the WH if you do come. The visitor's center near the White House is a nice alternative, but most folks find the White House tour underwhelming. I second the Mount Vernon idea---the new museum and education center are fantastic.

Randy - I'll look into those. My husband spoke to the representative today (he's very adamant about going) & he's going to see about the tour - we would drive very early Saturday morning. However we don't want to spend all day sitting in traffic, so we'll probably play it by ear.

Angela, I may have steered you wrong when I mentioned Kingsmill. I just received a new menu for the Bray room without any mention of the buffet. You might want to contact them www.kingsmillresort.com. I also no longer see a mention of CW's buffet. www.history.org

Try Blue Talon Bistro. I also like Barret's Seafood. Both are just outside the Historic area. I would definetly skip the DC visit. Even on weekends, the drive is not good.

The last time we stayed at Kingsmill (3 summers ago) we took a small highway up to DC and avoided 95. It was a pretty drive and wasn't much longer than going 95. We did this because in previous trips we had found traffic on 95 on Saturdays to be horrible. I can't recall the highway number - maybe Birdie can weigh in.

If you absolutely want to come to Washington one day you could avoid some traffic if you used an alternate route for parts of the way such as VA Rte 30 to Doswell vs. I-64 and I-295. or using US 60 which runs parallel to I-64.

Some might even recommend using US 17 for part of the way or even US 301

I-95 between Fredericksburg and the Beltway will probably be problematic on weekday mornings and afternoons.

Saturday and Sumday are house rental changeover days in the Virgina Beach area and on the Outer Banks and that means increased traffic during the season

I live in Wmburg and travel frequently to the DC area. I agree with the others that a DC day trip on a summer Saturday is not the optimal time. However it's doable if you're up for a really long day.

If you leave Wmburg by 7:30 am, you'll be in downtown DC in under three hours. (traffic accidents aside, obviously) Coming back is a real crapshoot. I will often stay in DC until 7:30 or 8:00 and then make the drive home. Have an early dinner. Usually by then the traffic has thinned out.

If you have A LOT of time to spare, Amtrak goes out of Williamsburg to DC. We've done this a couple of times, but were delayed once. You'd probably need to stay one night in DC and head back the next day.

Thanks for the tips on the alternate routes up to DC. We have GPS too so this will be helpful. If we go on Sat. we were planning on leaving super early - by 6am. And yes, we're aware it would be a long day - probably wouldn't leave until late at night but we're up to it.