Category Archives: Destination from DC

November 29, 2023 · 9:32 am

5 Festive, Kid-Friendly Destinations for the Holiday Season — Within 3 Hours!

[Note: This post was written by KFDC Contributor Emily Moise, a local writer and mom of three young children, who just visited Koziar’s Christmas Village with her family. She always has excellent recommendations for kids’ activities around the DC area as well as products for little ones and more — see all of them here.]

Mix it up this holiday season with a quick getaway to a festive destination! When you feel like you’ve seen and done it all around DC, or just want to add a little extra magic to the season, road-trip-it to one of these locations less than three hours away from the DC metro area — and maybe make some fun stops on the way. Your kids will love the thrill of it all (and, for overnighters, your heavily-tinseled hotel)!

Koziar’s Christmas Village – Bernville, PA
Experience an old-timey Christmas Village unlike anything in the DC area. The self-guided tour features a 75-year-old collection of lights and decor, housed displays of memorabilia, a garage of vintage sleighs, gift barns for your holiday shopping, and snack shops with candy cane straws for your hot cocoa. Arrive early to avoid long lines into the winter wonder-farm-land.

Festive stops along the way: Dutch Winter Wonderland, Strasburg Rail Road Christmas Train Experiences

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Photo: Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens Christmas Town – Williamsburg, VA
Go for the big thrills with a holiday celebration at this popular amusement park. Enjoy spectacular light displays, over 25 rides and coasters (many with a 48” height requirement), live entertainment and shows, the Mistletoe Marketplace, a holiday scavenger hunt, visits with Santa and Rudolph, and much more.

Festive stops along the way: Christmas in Williamsburg, Christmas at Mount Vernon

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Photo: Experience Harpers Ferry

Old Tyme Christmas – Harpers Ferry, WV
This two-weekend-only Christmas celebration offers seasonal activities for the whole family. Featuring historic tours, wagon rides, caroling, a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, shopping at the Handmade Holiday Market, and much more. View the full schedule of activities for December 1-3 and December 9-10 here.

Festive stops along the way: The Old Lucketts Store, Christmas in Middleburg

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Sesame Place “A Very Furry Christmas” – Langhorne, PA
Bring the littles to a holiday celebration with their favorite Sesame Street friends. This amusement park is transformed with millions of twinkling lights and festive decorations. In addition to fun rides, you can sing and dance along at music and light shows, and enjoy the Sesame Street Christmas Parade with festive floats.

Festive stops along the way: Baltimore’s B&O Polar Express & Christmas Village, Longwood Gardens, Philadelphia’s Christmas Village & Macy’s Christmas Light Show

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Photo: Schellville

Schellville Enchanted Winter Celebration – Rehoboth Beach, DE
Head to the beach for this family-friendly event with endless activities—most included with your free admission. Featuring live music, train rides, sledding, roller skating, maze of lights, play house village, holiday shopping, beer garden, and visits with Mr. and Mrs. Claus. You can even splurge on a heated Alpenglobe.

Festive stops along the way: Berlin’s Christmas Parade & Hanukkah Celebration, Chocolate Binge Festival

What is your favorite festive destination? Let us know in the comments!

Our Favorite Easy Beach Getaway from DC

I’ve been hesitant to post about Lewes, Delaware. And not because we don’t like it — quite the opposite, in fact. We like it so much that we completely understood why our friends who introduced us to the beach town a few years ago wanted to keep it on the DL. So, other than a mention here and there, I waited until now to do a full write-up.

It seems that most families in the DC area head to Rehoboth, Bethany, and Ocean City for under-three-hour-drive beach getaways — and those were the towns we had previously visited (though more often opted for North Carolina beaches). But a few summers ago, friends invited us to join them in Lewes, the beach town they had been visiting annually for years. From our first trip there, we totally got why they didn’t want word to get out to the masses.

Smaller than the aforementioned towns, Lewes is much more low-key with a lot less people. It doesn’t have the big boardwalk, busy strip of beach stores and eateries, or large amusements that many families seek out for their beach getaways. But for some of us, the lack of all that is actually the draw. Instead of all the bustle, there’s more nature. And rather than a bevy of places to eat and play, there’s a charming little town with less but still enough options for off-the-beach food and fun. It’s easy and relaxing and only about a two and half hour drive from our house on Capitol Hill. Since that first trip, we’ve been several times, from a multi-day getaway to weekend and overnight stays to day trips.

Why have I decided to share now? A few reasons: 1) I’ve been learning that more people know about Lewes than I realized 2) I recently saw an article about it in a much larger publication 3) A friend is taking a trip there and just asked me for tips, so I felt inspired to expand on the text I sent her 4) I highly doubt a KFDC post could change the vibe of a place.

So, to the good stuff. Here’s what we love about Lewes and what we’ve done pretty much every time we’ve been there…

Beach

We go to the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park, about a four-mile drive from Lewes. It’s gorgeous, with dunes, trees, and marsh areas and bike trails that wind through it (more on that below). There’s six miles of coastline along the Atlantic, the sand is nice and soft, and there is always plenty of space (great for beach games). Dogs are also permitted, which is a big plus for us. We always go to an area near a jetty where the kids can surf and boogie board. While there are concessions in part of the park, we always bring a cooler of food and drinks or pop out to grab sandwiches from Taste of Italy, a great Italian deli in town. The park is open 8am – sunset, and it’s not a bad idea to go on the early side in case they limit capacity. There is a daily entrance fee — $10 for out of state vehicles, and $5 for in state. An annual pass is $70.

Lewes Beach is on the Bay and also accessible (and free). We’ve taken morning walks along the shore, but have never spent a beach day there. Dogs are not permitted.

Recreation

A great activity from Lewes is a bike ride through Cape Henlopen State Park to Rehobeth. There are several trails to ride, all of them easy to pedal and very scenic. Wind through wooded areas, cruise along boardwalks over wetlands, and be on the lookout for historic sites like Fort Miles and nearby towers and canons — the area was a coastal defense in WWII. We usually bring bikes or rent them from Lewes Cycle Sports, but free bikes to borrow apparently are available at the park’s Seaside Nature Center on a first-come, first-served basis (we have never used them, so I don’t know how easy it is to get them).

As mentioned above, the kids and friends always surf and boogie board when we go. We rent boards from East of Maui and BYO boogie boards, but those are available to rent, too.

Cape Henlopen State Park is full of even more recreation. It’s free to walk through, and as mentioned, there are both historic and scenic sights, plus a Nature Center.

Dining

The town is small, but has several good restaurants and other places to get bites and drinks. The subs at Taste of Italy are yummy. Agave is great for Mexican for dinner. Wheelhouse is right on the water and has a large menu with something for everyone. Nectar Cafe has the best juices as well as breakfast and lunch. Notting Hill Coffee also has delicious breakfast sandwiches and pastries and, of course, coffee. And ice cream at 2 Dips is the best way to end the evening. (Update: Just heard 2 Dips recently closed, but other nearby ice cream options are Kings Homemade Ice Cream in town and Dairy Queen on Savannah Road near the beach.)

Where to Stay

Since Lewes is small, rental house inventory always seems limited, so booking far in advance is a good idea. For longer stays in larger houses, Airbnb or VRBO are good to check. I’ve seen lots of Lewes Realty and Jack Lingo signs around advertising rentals, too.

For shorter stays, we always opt for the Beacon Inn. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean, the service is great, there is a pool, and it’s a very easy walk to town. We love it. Friends have stayed at and recommend Hotel Blue, and I’ve heard the Dogfish Inn is great, too.

Have you been to Lewes? What are your favorite things about it?

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Filed under Destination from DC, Weekdays, Weekend

Tagged as Beach Destinations from DC, Beach Vacations from DC, Cape Henlopen State Park, DC Family Getaway, Delaware Beaches, Family Beach Towns, Lewes Delaware

May 12, 2022 · 7:32 pm

Spring Break in South Carolina: Folly Beach & Charleston

Like most people, when I go on vacation with my family, I like to take a break from work. Hence, why there aren’t in-depth posts here on the blog about most of our travels. When we’re away, I don’t want the pressure of recording all the details or feeling like I need to check out certain things to report back; on vacation, I generally like to go with the flow and relax. I’ve written about some of our shorter closer-to-home trips, but the bigger ones I usually just share through Instagram posts (if interested, check out Idaho, Asheville, Mexico, Croatia, Barcelona, Maine, Vermont, California, Nicaragua).

This is my rambling way of explaining why this post about our Spring Break trip to South Carolina — specifically Folly Beach and Charleston — is mostly scenes and quick tips, less of a thorough guide. But sometimes, that’s all you need — inspo for a destination, a starting point for planning, and a few ideas for activities.

Hanging on a street corner in Charleston

So, the quick gist of our trip: We spent three nights in Folly Beach, three nights in Charleston (and one in NC on the way down to break up the eight-hour drive). At the last minute, my friend Margaret and her family decided to meet us there, so we spent a lot of time with them (though stayed in separate places since we’d already booked when they decided to join). Our crews always have a great time together and similar traveling sensibilities (very important when traveling with others). She also posted about the trip in her Designer’s Guide to Charleston SC (she’s an architect and interior design extraordinaire), which includes details that this post doesn’t, so be sure to check it out for even more travel inspiration!

FOLLY BEACH

Center Street, the main strip in Folly

This actually wasn’t our first Spring Break getaway to the area, though last time we stayed in Charleston and Isle of Palms. During that trip, we took a drive south to Folly and decided that next time we would stay there. Both are great in their own ways, but Folly has a more laid-back surf vibe and more of a town, plus there is excellent fossil hunting! We found a rental through Airbnb that was perfect — just the right size for our family, an easy walk to the beach, and surrounded by leafy trees.

We loved our Airbnb

Two-minute walk to the lovely beach

Just one of many Folly fossil finds

An evening (dog)walk on the beach

Part of the reason we went to SC for Spring Break was better chances for warmer temps than more northern beaches, and that was a good call, because the weather was fantastic. Sunny and high 70s made for very pleasant days on the beach, and the water wasn’t too cold for swimming.

Plenty of space for everyone

Kadima on the beach, always

Dogs can enjoy the sand & surf, too — if they’re leashed

We ate most of our meals out, but had breakfast and snacks at the house. There are a bunch of good restaurants and places to get a bite in town, most of them casual and fun. Our favorite easily Chico Feo, with delicious tacos, sandwiches, bowls, and drinks. For snacks and stuff at the house, Bert’s Market had everything we needed and then some. It’s not a huge grocery store, but they also have take out sandwiches and other freshly made fare, plus it’s open 24 hours. And non-food related, but I must mention the great massage I had at Folly Beach Medispa.

Yummy food and awesome outdoor seating area made Chico Feo our fave

A view of the town at sunset from the Snapper Jack’s rooftop

The garden area of the tucked away spa

Before we headed to Charleston after we left our digs in Folly, we went to see Morris Island Lighthouse. You can’t actually go in or even get up close to it, but we walked to a small beach to get a view. However, the path leading to the beach may have been the highlight, the stretch of asphalt covered with colorful graffiti. The walk should have been quick, but we kept stopping to check out the art beneath our feet.

It’s about a half-mile walk down the painted path to the beach

All kinds of drawing and scrawlings

A view of Morris Island Lighthouse from the beach

CHARLESTON

Taking in a Charleston street view

Okay, I’ll be straight up: This part of our trip was really a lot of eating and drinking and walking around. We’d been to the city before and had done a lot of touristy stuff — Fort Sumter and tours of historic places, etc. — and we didn’t feel the need to repeat them. So, besides the guys taking a water taxi to the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum (while Margaret, Sasha, and I shopped on King Street), we really mostly ate, drank, strolled, and just enjoyed hanging out with everyone. Here’s a recap of that in pictures. 🙂

Some of my very favorites in one pic – at 167 Raw Oyster Bar

The Charleston City Market is must-do

Strollin’ the cobblestone streets

Great sandwiches and a lovely outdoor patio at Circe’s Grotto

The French Huguenot Church was built in 1687

Charleston traffic

Charleston city scene

Love all the flower boxes along the sidewalks

Yorktown aircraft carrier from the guys’ visit to the museum

The Vendue Hotel has a fun, artsy lobby (and great rooftop for bites and drinks)

Had to take advantage of the photo ops 😉

Dinner at Church and Union + Fun tidbit: Margaret and I were friendly in college, but hadn’t seen each other for years until we randomly re-met at a playgroup on Capitol Hill when our now 16-year-olds were tiny babies! We’ve been hanging out on the regular since.