What to do besides CW, Jamestown in Feb w/12 yr old boy?

We%26#39;ll be in CW President%26#39;s Day week on a family get-together and are looking for things to do -- especially with our 12 year old active boy. We%26#39;ve all been to CW, Jamestown %26amp; Yorktown several times during summers and are not looking to go again this time. Any thoughts on things to do within a 1 hour drive? How far is Monticello? How far is Mt. Vernon? Are any tours offered at the Norfolk Naval Base? We already know about the Mariner%26#39;s museum in Newport News.

When visiting during the summer we always went to Bush Gardens %26amp; Water Country but they aren%26#39;t open now (BG opens in March)

What to do besides CW, Jamestown in Feb w/12 yr old boy?

Try heading east to Norfolk, you can tour Nauticus museun %26amp; next to that is the USS Wisconsin. You can also tour the MacArthur Museum which is nearby. You can also do some shopping at the MacArthur Mall.

What to do besides CW, Jamestown in Feb w/12 yr old boy?

Charlottesville %26amp; Monticello are less than 2 hrs from W%26#39;burg. Skyline Dr and Shenandoah National Park are only about 30 min more if you are interested in beautiful scenery or hiking. Info for Norfolk Naval Base bus tours (check schedule) at www.navstanorva.navy.mil/tours/ or call 757 4447955, also check out www.norfolkvisitor.com.norfolknavy/

The Victory Rover boat tour does not begin until March according to their schedule.

Downtown Norfolk has the USS Wisconsin Battleship (free), Nauticus, MacArthur Memorial and a great waterfront for walking, watching river traffic, take a ferry ride to Portsmouth. Va Beach has a 2 1/2 mi boardwalk at the oceanfront, great for walking, biking (rentals avail) and this past week we%26#39;ve had a heat wave...it%26#39;s 80 today! First Landing State Park has wonderful hiking trails and only located 10 min from the oceanfront. Hope this helps. Enjoy the area.

Mt. Vernon is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away. There are a lot of historic sites up that way, including Manassas (Civil War Battle of Bull Run), and several things in Fredericksburg.

Another idea is the Museum of the Civil War Soldier (Pamplin) near Petersburg, south of Richmond.

Great Wolf Lodge just outside Williamsburg has a fabulous indoor waterpark. Not sure, you may have to be staying there to use it.

Thanks for all your suggetions, everyone.

York River State Park has good hiking a lot closer than VA Beach. The VA Living Museum is great for kids and is just down the road from the Mariners Museum. Also cool is the Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis.

There is an Air and Space Museum in Newport News (?) and also

The Virginia Marine Science Museum in Va Beach

The Va Aquarium has whale watching boat tours, wwwvirginiaaquarium.com or 757 385fish, from Va Beach. Enjoy.

Also in Newport News, you may consider the VA Living Museum %26amp; the Peninsula Fine Arts Center. From the places you mentioned, it sounds like you really enjoy history, so you may also consider Endview Plantation, Lee Hall Mansion, James A. Fields House, Newsome House Cultural Center, %26amp; the VA War Museum, also all in Newport News. If you visit the Newport News Tourism site, they also have a calendar of events so you can see what will be going on during the time of your visit - www.newportnews-org.

Since you are flexible as to where in VA you may go, You also may consider going to VA%26#39;s tourism site - www.virginia.org , where you can search for events %26amp; for activities by category or by area. Hope that helps!

This is great information, thanks

Thank you all for your great suggestions. I will be traveling with my father in law, a WWII navy vet who spent time at the naval station. With all these suggestions we will be able to plan without spinning our wheels. Now....any dining suggestions?