The DC Traveler

With the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as a back drop, enjoy a sampling of wines from one of 17 Virginia wineries along with enjoy festival foods while watching hot air balloons (and even a few lawnmower races).
In it’s 12 year, the Hot Air Balloon and Wine Festival at Historic Longbranch had lots of fun activities throughout the day, including:

Live entertainment
Mansion tours
Antique cars and the ld Dominion Fire Society antique fire engine display
Kids activities
Monster Truck rides
Crafts and area artisans
Radio-controlled planes
Lawnmower races

Hot Air Balloon and Wine Festival at Historic Longbranch 
Longbranch Historic House
1830 Longbranch Lane 
Millwood, Virginia 22646 (map it)
540-837-1856
Dates and Times – …read more

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During the fall season, there are dozens of corn mazes in the Washington, DC area where children and families can enjoy the thrill of navigating their way out of the purposely confusing paths and dead-ends of a well designed maze.
And there’s one corn maze about an hour southwest of Washington, DC, that celebrates not only Virginia tourism, but is designed for serious “mazers”.
 
The maze at Cows-N-Corn, a working 300 cow, 1800-acre dairy in Northern Virginia, boasts a 9-acre corn maze. And that’s about the size of nine football fields, plenty of space to get lost perhaps for days.
The …read more

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Join the famous Blue Angels along with stunt and acrobatic fliers, skywriters, barnstormers, dog-fighting jets and more as they perform at the annual Oceana Air Show, in Virginia Beach, VA.

The base is  just 3 hours from Washington, DC and the East Coast’s only Master Jet Base, the largest type of tactical fighter air base. It  manages a sophisticated array of attack and support aircraft of over 250 aircraft, including both F/A-18 Hornet and Navy F-14 Tomcat squadrons.
 
From vintage aviation to the latest in military firepower, the show includes demonstrations from the hottest fighters in the U.S. arsenal including the …read more

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During my last trip to Las Vegas, I had the opportunity (thanks to my brother-in-law, Mac) to drive the super-fast Dodger Viper, with its 510 cubic inch, 600 hp engine.  It was an experience that still makes me smile.

And during a couple weekends over the fall, you too can experience driving not one high-priced super car, but four, all in one day. At the Capital Dream Cars – Power Driving Tour, get behind the wheel of four hot cars, that are out of reach to most drivers, for 3 hours of driving excitement.

The tour puts drivers behind the wheel of …read more

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Sure, Washington, DC may be a bustling metropolis and the center of democracy, but just an hour or so north of town, in Timonium, Maryland,  you can enjoy all that local farmers and ranchers have to offer, at the Maryland State Fair.
There are so many things to do at the Fair, so here’s the short list:

Pig races
Rodeo complete with bull riding
Watch a chainsaw sculptor in action
Travis Tritt in concert (Aug. 29),
Walk around the animal pens and see thousands of animals from alpacas to dairy cattle, chickens to baby lambs
Decadent chocolate contest
Horse and dog …read more

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Shark tagging….No, it’s not the newest version of online “tagging”, this is real, hands-on tagging of live sharks on the open ocean.
Join Baltimore Aquarium staff and Captain Mark Sampson, a recognized shark lecturer and writer, for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a half-day on the water tagging live sharks off the coast of Ocean City.
Tagging sharks helps marine biologists and scientists, by providing valuable  on shark populations, habits, identity, migration and life span.

Shark Tagging in Ocean City, Maryland Ocean City, Maryland  (map it)
Dates and Times – a few weekends in late August (see below).

Saturday, August 23, …read more

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Now that the dog days of summer are here, kick back and enjoy a relaxing day rafting, canoeing or tubing down the Shenandoah River.
I recently took a short rafting with Front Royal Canoe Company and the entire experience was great.
FRCC rents canoes, one and two-person kayaks, inflatable rafts and tubes for rides down the Shenandoah River.  You start out at their facility, grab a life jacket, and they shuttle you and your choice of water craft to the drop off point.  After some directions and basic instruction, off you go. 
Trips range from under 2 hours, about 3 …read more

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Just 90 minutes from downtown Washington, DC is one of the areas most interesting, amazing and “coolest” (a constant mid-50s temperature) attractions – Luray Caverns in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley.  A quick road trip is the perfect family weekend activity.

Discovered in 1878, Luray Caverns are the largest underground caverns on the East Coast and a Registered Natural Landmark. 
The 1.25 mile walking tour (paved walkways), takes you about 16 stories deep into the earth and winds through pristine and natural underground caverns, including the massive, 10-story tall Giant’s Hall.
 
The path traverses through a few tight passageways with …read more

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The National Aquarium at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is one of the best aquariums I’ve ever visited.  It’s up there with some of the world’s best.
And as I mentioned couple days ago, I visited Baltimore with my niece and nephew recently and while there, we also toured the aquarium.
The 2 million gallon aquarium is home to over 600 species of fish, rays, sharks, and other marine life, including birds, penguins, amphibians and reptiles.
The aquarium is split into several major sections and levels. Some of the more interesting include:

Atlantic Coral Reef -  This area is most children’s favorite stop, as they get …read more

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I love taking day trips to Baltimore.  It’s less than 90 minutes from Washington, DC to downtown Baltimore and there’s always tons to do. 
Recently, my college-aged niece and nephew visited me from the West Coast and we took a day trip up to Baltimore.  We visited the National Aquarium, (which I’ll write about in a couple of days), and also the impressive Body Worlds 2 exhibit, at the Maryland Science Center at the Inner Harbor.

The exhibit is not for the squeamish, but a must for anyone interested in biology, physiology or how the human body works.  The exhibit displays …read more

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