Amid the hubbub and general crush of humanity that is Northern Virginia, a large number of parks provide a nice, peaceful break from urban life. The falls of the Potomac River happen to sit fewer than 20 miles upriver from Washington and are about 8 miles from Falls Church in Great Falls Park (get it,…
A few years ago, the National Park Service began offering military families their annual park pass for free. For non-military folks, this pass costs $80. The annual pass allows you access to over 2,000 national parks and recreation areas. It covers the admission cost for one vehicle or four adults, depending on the park. I…
I also really wanted to visit Antietam National Battlefield. It’s on the way from Falls Church to my parents’ house, and I’ve never been. We originally planned to stop at Antietam on the way back from Leslie’s wedding, but we stayed longer in PA. Since it’s over an hour each way, we then decided to…
One of the places on my deployment must-visit list was Manassas National Battlefield Park. Being a big history buff, I love a good battlefield. And who wouldn’t want to see the location of not one, but two Civil War battles? As I mentioned yesterday, our visit to Manassas preceded the afternoon wine tour. In order…
I was looking for fun things to do while Mac was home, so I wandered over to Groupon to see what deals were available. After some browsing, I found a wine tour, tasting, and picnic package at Philip Carter Winery. I bought the Groupon and scheduled our tour for a Thursday afternoon. Because the winery…
The Lion King has been playing at the Kennedy Center, so Mac’s parents got tickets for a show a few nights after he came home. We wound up with box seats near the middle of the theater. Thanks for the seats we never would’ve paid for ourselves. If y’all ever have the opportunity to see…