Things to do / Travel Guide
The eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland region is an excellent candidate for a family vacation spot. The region has an impressive array of fun attractions: water recreation to suit anyone and everyone, superbly-restored historical sites, pristine wildlife, lush gardens, and fantastic outdoor recreation opportunities. Take a look at the region's offerings and your inventory of “must-sees” will be as long as the coastline itself, even before you set foot on the soft, sandy, soil. Sparkling, sugar-white shorelines, fun and trendy seaside resort towns, many of the country's best boardwalks, and isolated primal beach getaways trace the coast from the Delmarva (DELaware, MARyland, VirginiA) Peninsula down to eastern Virginia's Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coast, further down to the North Carolina shore, and finally down to the popular Outer Banks resort communities.
It can be said that eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland is where American history began. On a drive along the winding, tree-lined route that is eastern Virginia's Colonial Parkway, you can visit three points of the Historic Triangle: Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown, Virginia; three towns that shaped the nation.
On your first stop along the Colonial Parkway, parade around Yorktown Battlefield in Yorktown, where George Washington and his Patriot army brought General Charles Cornwallis' British troops to their knees, sealing a revolutionary victory. Take a gander at George Washington's bona fide dining and sleeping tents, and drive through the exact sites where fighting gave way to freedom.
Continue down the Colonial Parkway and you just may have a pleasant impromptu chit-chat (or heated debate) with one of the colonial forefathers over a glass of ale in a rowdy, colonial tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia. Visited by 4 million tourists annually, and one of the world's largest living history museums, there is no better place to live and love U.S. history than on Colonial Williamsburg's restored 18th-century streets, brought to life by hundreds of well-versed, costumed interpreters. Thomas Jefferson delivers glib addresses on the notions of freedom, slaves denounce the injustices to which they are subjected, and roving balladeers and musicians pipe out patriotic tunes.
Veer off the Colonial Parkway and other historical riches will continue tailgating your tour of eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. In Richmond, for instance, you can visit the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Jefferson himself or St. Paul's Church where Patrick Henry made his “Give me liberty, or give me death,” speech.
Perhaps you would prefer a breezy meditation in the verdant Airie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina, or the Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia. Or climb to the top of one of the country's tallest scenic overlooks, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on Hatteras Island in North Carolina's Outer Banks.
You might just like to stick close to the sea, in which case you can park yourself on the edge of one of the many popular fishing piers on the Delmarva Peninsula, eastern Virginia, or the North Carolina shore, sink some bait, contemplate the surf, and reel in a big, juicy dinner. But if you'd rather sit back for a savory seafood feast served up hot and steaming on your plate, throughout the region you can get your fresh catch grilled or dolled up in just about any fashion you can conjure.
Climb, tumble, rip, roll, or sandboard down the tallest sand dune on the East Coast at Jockey Ridge State Park in Nags Head, in the Outer Banks, or tear through some of the country's best urban mountain biking trails at James River Park and Forest Hills Park in Richmond. If underwater exploits are more your style, take a wreck dive near Virginia Beach, Virginia, or Beaufort, North Carolina, to a submerged graveyard of maritime tragedy. Also available are steamboat or paddlewheel cruises up the James River, near Richmond, or the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, North Carolina.
A kayak trip to see eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland's noble wild horses and magnificent collection of shorebirds in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, on Assateague Island, on the Delmarva Peninsula, may be just up your alley. If you prefer an off-road ride, take a wild horse safari jeep tour to see untamed Corolla horses graze along Carova Beach, on the North Carolina Outer Banks' Bodie Island. To communicate with nature rather than just look at it, a day in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Roanoke Island's Manteo will get your vocal chords well-warmed; year-round you can take a unique “howling safari” to experience a thrilling call-and-response, wolf-human howling dialogue with the region's howling Red Wolves.
Military enthusiasts will head to Norfolk Naval Station for a tour of the world's largest naval base, in Norfolk, Virginia or they'll stop by POW/MIA Flame of Hope Memorial Park in Virginia Beach to watch Tomcat pilots dive and dance on air during one Naval Air Station Oceana's free mini air shows. Fans of less noble warriors, pirates to be exact, can visit Blackbeard's old stomping (and stealing) grounds along the North Carolina shore.
The eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland region is indeed a great place to take your family vacation, and with the full list of ingredients to whip up the most and the best fun, the only thing the eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland region is missing is you.
Time Zone
The eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland region is on Eastern Time, three hours ahead of Pacific Time.
Hurricane Safety
Throughout the eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland region, hurricanes can be a real concern. Hurricane season lasts from about June 1st-November 30th, and peak months are August-October. Because the area is always alert to the possibility of such violent storms, you will generally have plenty of advance notice to decide whether or not to leave the area. When planning a vacation to the region, keep in mind that your vacation plans may be altered by hurricane forecasts.
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