Virginia is known as a state for lovers, but it also features family-friendly activities. In Virginia's eastern region, families can spend time with each other in nature. Eastern Virginia, which includes cities such as Virginia Beach, Newport News, Richmond and Arlington, is filled with places, such as parks and forests, for engaging in outdoor adventure activities including hiking, biking, jogging or camping. On Virginia's eastern shore, in places such as Chincoteague Island and Cape Charles, you can venture to different areas to see birds and other forms of wildlife.
Beaches
Different cities and towns in eastern Virginia feature public beaches. Virginia Beach, which is one of the most popular vacation spots in eastern Virginia for families, sits on Chesapeake Bay. At Resort Beach in Virginia Beach, families can walk or take a bike ride along a boardwalk area. Many of the city's beaches, including Virginia Beach's Chesapeake Bay beaches, feature areas to go swimming, boating, kayaking, fishing or canoeing. At Assateague Island National Seashore, you and your children can see wild horses, go bird watching, swim on a public beach, go hiking or take a kayaking tour.
Parks
Throughout eastern Virginia, you can find parks that offer amenities and activities for families. Reston, a city near Arlington, is home to Lake Fairfax Park, where families can go fishing or boating on Lake Fairfax. The park also features an outdoor swimming pool with a lazy river, slides, tunnels and water mine shafts; a campground; nature trails; a children's playground and a marina. Newport News is home to Huntington Park, where guests can go boating or fishing on James River as well as play tennis. At Newport News Park, younger and older people can play disc golf or archery, enjoy a game of golf, go for a hike or bike ride or have a picnic.
Amusement Parks
Some cities in eastern Virginia offer amusement parks where children can either ride thrill rides or children's rides. In Williamsburg, families can go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, an amusement park that has a "floorless" roller coaster ride, carnival-style rides, theaters, an interactive children's area with a Sesame Street theme, a steel roller coaster and a twisting log ride. The park also allows guests to interact with certain animals, such as horses, or see other animals, such as eagles and lorikeet glen, close up.
Zoos
Eastern Virginia's zoos offer children and their families a chance to see animals from different parts of the world. The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk, a year-round facility, has wild animals such as giraffes, kangaroos, pythons, meerkats, tarantulas, scorpions, bongos, white rhinos and squirrel monkeys. For younger and older children, the zoo offers summer camps with arts and crafts sessions, up-close animal encounters and educational sessions on different forms of wildlife. Bear Path Acres, an animal nature center in Franklin, has a wide variety of farm and exotic animals such as sheep, peacocks, buffalo, tortoises, ring-tailed lemur, macaw and emus. Children can pet some of the animals, including a coatimundi, a horse and goats.
Historic Sites
In the northeastern part of Virginia, in cities such as Arlington, families interested in learning more about American history can visit historic sites. Arlington is home to Arlington National Cemetery where families can walk around and see the gravestones of war heroes. They can also view the monument at the Tomb of the Unknowns. In Alexandria, families have the opportunity to take a walking tour of the city, which is more than 250 years old, or visit buildings such as a manor house, a tavern or a church that have been around since the 1700s.
Member Comments