One week with kids..advice please

We are planning a weeklong trip to Virginia the second week in April with three boys. (11, 8, and 4) I have put together a tentative itinerary, but am wondering if I am missing something obvious, or am planning too little or too much time in one place. We%26#39;ve decided to save the D.C. area for a later visit.

A couple of things before I begin... I have an eight year old that is obsessed with the Presidents, and has begged to see as many presidential historical sites as possible. My other son has asked that we spend a day at the ocean.

Day 1 we are flying into Raleigh NC, and spending the night with friends in Winston Salem. The next day we are headed to Roanoke to visit other friends for the night. We have that day open, and are thinking about Appomattox?

Day 3 I am looking at driving to Staunton to see Woodrow Wilson%26#39;s home, and then on to Charlottesville. I thought that afternoon we would visit the Monticello Visitors%26#39; Center. I was planning on spending the next morning at Monticello, and after lunch possibly seeing Ash Lawn or Montpelier. I was hoping to get to Richmond by midafternoon to visit the Confederate White House. I am not sure if we could then drive to Williamsburg that night.

Days 5 and 6 we are planning to see CW and Jamestown/Yorktown.

Day 7 I am looking at driving to Virginia Beach and spending our last day and night there, before driving back to Raleigh and flying home the next day. Is mid April a good time to see Virginia Beach?

When I type all of this out it does seem very rushed. My kids do very well on vacation though, and love seeing new places. I might also add that we%26#39;ve decided to leave out the amusement parks in Williamsburg and the kids are fine with that. (They really do love history!)

Any help, comments, or advice would be appreciated!

One week with kids..advice please

Montpelier is very nice, BUT, they have been renovating the house undoing all the pink stucco that the DuPonts slapped on it and removing the additions to put it back to its original condition. Go online and check the status of the house. http://montpelierrestoration.wordpress.com/

A lot of the furniture has been moved out, and while I think the house is still open, you won%26#39;t get the feel for what it was like.

BTW, There is a VERY nice Holiday Inn in Orange Virginia which is just up the road from Montpelier.

Doing Monticello, then Montpelier, and then making it to Richmond by mid-afternoon and then to Williamsburg that night is FAR too ambitious. Your children will be begging you to stop! It will be like the Griswolds%26#39; trip to the Louvre in European Vacation!

One week with kids..advice please

April is still too cold for the beach. You might consider touring the Naval Base, or head to Norfolk to see the Battleship Wisconsin.

Day 3 sounds too ambitious, but maybe you%26#39;ve included Day 4 in those plans since you didn%26#39;t list a separate 4. Despite the previous poster%26#39;s comments, Montepelier is still worth the visit. And since you%26#39;d be in Orange, you might also consider slipping over to Fredericksburg - lots of Monroe information and more Civil War.

While in Williamsburg, be sure to see Washington and Jefferson. The interpreters are fantastic!

Your boys may enjoy visiting Presidents Park in Williamsburg. There are huge busts of the presidents along with some history and information about each one. Here%26#39;s the website: http://www.presidentspark.org/

In the Williamsburg area, the plantations along the James River (along Route 5) include the homes of John Tyler and William Henry Harrison.

I agree that day 4 (Monticello, Ash Lawn-Highland or Montpelier, Confederate White House, and on to Williamsburg is too ambitious. If I were to skip anything, it would be the Confederate White House, but that%26#39;s me.

Go to Virginia.org and request a free Va map, it%26#39;s much better than the ones from AAA etc. Since you%26#39;ll be driving quite a bit a good map might be helpful plus it contains info about historical sites. If one of the kids wants to see the ocean by all means spend some time at Va Beach. Consider spending the night at the oceanfront, (cheap rooms in April), but spend the day in Norfolk. You probably won%26#39;t be able to get beautiful tans but the oceanfront has a great 44 block boardwalk, take a surfing lesson, put your toes in the ocean, walk in the sand. But spend most of the day in Norfolk, 20-30 minutes from oceanfront, take a water tour of the naval base, www.navalbasecruises.com, visit General Douglas MacArthur Memorial (lots of history), USS Wisconsin (free) and Nauticus (fee). All these places are in downtown Norfolk, park and walk few steps to them, and enjoy many great restaurants. April can be quite nice, sunny, cool, windy, but also unpredictable. Hope these ideas help. Enjoy your Virginia trip.

I too would agree that Day 4 (Monticello/Montpelier/Ash Lawn/Richmond) is too much. If I had to choose, I would stick with Monticello for the better part of Day 3 (Woodrow wilson%26#39;s not being that big) and then finish off Monticello on Day 4 before heading to Montpelier.

I visited Montpelier in November with my own kids (12 and 9) and they enjoyed it very much. Yes, the house is in renovation, but that makes it even more interesting. You can see the bare bones, the ';ghosts'; of walls and doorways, archeological digs in progress, etc. There is also a museum and visitors center and a place to grab a bite for lunch.

Thanks so much for all of the helpful advice. I think I will rethink my ambitious plan to see Monticello, Montpilier and Richmond all on one day. I don%26#39;t want to ';Griswald'; this trip either!

All of your helpful advice does raise a few more questions:

Do most of you think that it would be worth skipping the Confederate White House/Museum in favor of spending time in Norfolk?

Touring the Wisconson sounds interesting, but do you think this is something a 4 year old can do?

I also hadn%26#39;t thought of the MacArthur Memorial, but this might be worthwhile, especially since my Dad frequently saw MacArthur in Japan during the occupation.

What can I expect Virginia Beach to be like in mid April? Will three boys with limited experience with the ocean be able to stick their feet in, build sandcastles etc.?

How do the James River Plantations compare to Ash Lawn or Montpilier? I visited Berkely as a kid, but don%26#39;t remember much except the garden.

Finally, do any of you know about a ghost walk the kids can take at night in CW? I am confused if there is an official ghost tour given by CW, or if there is a tour put on by an outside company. Someone once told me the took a nightime tour with an outside company that was overpriced and the kids were bored. I looked on the CW webiste, but couldn%26#39;t find anything.

Thanks again for all of your help!

You%26#39;ll be a week or two before Historic Garden Week In Virginia (http://www.vagardenweek.org/). The site will give you an idea of how we love our old stuff here. You%26#39;ll even note that ladies are referred to by their first name AND their husband%26#39;s name...Mrs. John Soandso. Not long ago it was Mrs. John Soandso and no mention of their own first names. Well, we must move into modern times I suppose:)

The following site might be of interest to you and your history loving son. I%26#39;ve known many young boys about 7 to 11 or so who absolutely love history. It%26#39;s amazing and to be encouraged. Several I%26#39;ve known really enjoyed the Civil War Trails of Virignia noted here:

www.virginia.org/site/main.asp…

About the mansions. I think the presidents%26#39; mansions will kill two birds with one stone for the boys...president and historic mansion. I don%26#39;t know but I think more mansions will irritate them...although adults into architecture and interior and landscape design and the old southern places plan an entire week around the plantations alone, they%26#39;re so beautiful.

I%26#39;ll try to answer your questions regarding Va Beach/Norfolk. The USS Wisconsin battleship is fun %26amp; interesting for all ages, the 4 yr old will probably like it. The decks below are not open at this time so the tour consists of mostly the main deck with the big guns. Access to the battleship is accomphished by entering the free portion of Nauticus, a maritime museum, which you can fully visit for a fee; again all ages usually like Nauticus, it%26#39;s not the best place you%26#39;ve ever been but pretty good. W/in 2-3 blks is MacArthur Memorial, w/in 2 blks is the downtown Norfolk waterfront where you can catch a 10 min ride on a paddlewheel ferry to Portsmouth and walk to a great Children%26#39;s Museum, www.childrens-museum.org, fun for 8 %26amp; 4 yr olds. Naval base tours are also offered by bus if you don%26#39;t like boats. Another museum I would highly reccommend is in Newport News, between Williamsburg and Norfolk/Va Beach, The Mariners Museum, www.mariner.org, is wonderful but now they also has an exhibit of the USS Monitor. The wreckage recovered from the Monitor and Merrimac battle is at Mariners Museum, great history! April on the oceanfront is usually sunny, cool, sometimes quite windy, sometimes rainy. If you don%26#39;t plan to stay on the beach all day, just build sand castles, skim boards, toes wet, walk the boardwalk, you have a good chance of success, just remember, it%26#39;s not Florida. Come and enjoy. Good luck

%26gt;What can I expect Virginia Beach to be like in mid April? Will three boys with limited experience with the ocean be able to stick their feet in, build sandcastles etc.?

Like someone said above, the weather is unpredictable in April. It could be 80; it could be 50. Even if you luck out and have a warm day, the water will still be far too cold for swimming. The boys can stick their toes in the water, but they won%26#39;t want to linger. Building sandcastles will be fun as long as it%26#39;s not too windy or rainy.

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Finally, do any of you know about a ghost walk the kids can take at night in CW? I am confused if there is an official ghost tour given by CW, or if there is a tour put on by an outside company.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

There are several ghosts tours, both by CW and by outside companies. I recommend most highly the two by CW. One is a night walking tour; 18th century ghost stories or tales of the supernatural are told at the three stops. The stops are in historic buildings, and the storytellers are quite engaging. The Tavern Ghost Tour is conducted by members of the CW Hospitality/Tavern staff, and is mainly contemporary tales, many of which happened in the taverns and/or to tavern employees. For either one, if the 4-year old is easily scared (or either of the other two, for that matter), watch his reactions and be prepared to take him away. He may be fine or he may be scared; you know him best. I don%26#39;t think they are that scary, but a child may think differently.