Travel Destinations - United States

Discovering Northern Virginia: 14 Days in the DC Metro Area

Spending two weeks in Northern Virginia while exploring the DC metro area was such a fun and busy adventure! We packed in so much during our stay—history, museums, parks, and even a few surprises along the way. It’s one of those places where there’s always something to do, and we tried to make the most of every moment. In this post, we’re sharing all the activities we tackled, our favorite spots, and a few tips for anyone planning their own visit. If you’re into history, nature, or just soaking up city vibes, this one’s for you!

Where We Camped in Northern Virginia

Our home for our two weeks in NOVA was Lake Fairfax Park, a county park run by Fairfax County. The park itself was great, it’s a large park with tons of different activities- a waterpark, a skatepark, trails, an orienteering course, a roller hockey rink, and more. It wasn’t the most scenic or private campsite, since we were in the middle of the loop, but it was overall a nice experience.

Lake Fairfax Park is in Reston, VA and a 10 minute drive from Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, which is on the silver line.

Days 1 & 2: Fall Fest and Moving

Our first day of this leg of the trip actually started with one last Maryland activity. We joined Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay chapter at Fall Fest in Rosaryville State Park. The event was put on by Chesapeake Natives, a native nursery that rents out space in the park. The park is home to the Mount Airy mansion and the nursery uses the old greenhouse- we love seeing reuse of historic buildings like this!

photo of rosaryville state park

After Fall Fest, we headed back to Cosca Park to hitch up and then we had a really short drive to Lake Fairfax. Our second day was nothing exciting- just setting up and getting groceries in town.

Day 2 was spent just working, getting set up more, and running errands- nothing exciting to report, but that’s how full-time RV life really is sometimes!

Day 3: National Air and Space Museums’ Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Our first Virginia adventure was visiting the National Air and Space Museums’ Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. This off-shoot of the museum is solidly in Virginia, near Dulles Airport. Even though it’s not as well known as the main museum in downtown DC, it’s huge and has some really exciting stuff. The building itself looks like an airport, and most of the items are in 3 huge hangers. There’s also an observation tower styled after an air traffic control tower, and if you go up at the right time you can watch planes coming and going from Dulles.

Some of the most notable aircraft we saw was:

  1. Space Shuttle Discovery- Isn’t it crazy that this thing has been on 39 space missions? It doesn’t feel like they should be able to go into space that many times!
  2. Enola Gay- I was not expecting to see such a famous and historic aircraft. This Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
  3.  Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II Spirit of Texas– honestly I just love it for the retro graphic design, but it was also used for the first around the world helicopter flight in 1982.

We also really enjoyed getting a peek into the restoration hangar to see what all they’re currently working on.

photo of air and space museum restoration hangar

I shared more about the Udvar-Hazy Center in a video on TikTok if you want to see more too:

@roamingnelsons

Did you know the Smithsonian also has an air and space museum in Virginia? #virginia #airplane #space #museums #washingtondc

♬ original sound – Jen | Full-time RVer

How to Visit the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway, Chantilly, VA
https://www.si.edu/museums/air-and-space-museum-udvar-hazy-center
Open daily 10am-5:30pm
Free admission, but there is a $15 parking fee if you drive

Day 5: Halloween

(Day 4 was another work day with no fun activities)

It took us a while to finally decide what to do for Halloween itself. A lot of people told us DC is great for Halloween, but it seemed like mostly bar party-type stuff, which isn’t our thing. We ended up deciding to do a Halloween adventure instead. We went back into Maryland to visit a spot on my MD bucket list, Seneca Creek State Park, aka the Blair Witch Woods. 

Burkittsville, MD is the town that the movie is set in, and some scenes like the cemetery were filmed in actual Burkittsville, which we never made it to. The woods scenes, though, were filmed in Seneca Creek- about an hour away. We found the spot where Heather interviews the local fishermen, Coffin Rock, the red shed they drove by, and where they parked to go into the woods.

This was such a fun adventure, we were alone in the woods and since we didn’t know exactly where we were going or how long it would take to get there, and with the movie in mind, it definitely had a creepy feeling. I like the video I took even more than the photos- I couldn’t resist doing making an homage.

@roamingnelsons

For Halloween we visited the real life Blair Witch Woods- Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland where some of the most iconic scenes were filmed. We also had a bonus adventure of an abandoned mill in another part of the park #rvlife #halloween #theblairwitchproject #blairwitch

♬ original sound – Jen | Full-time RVer

After visiting the movie sites, we stopped off in another part of the state park to see the abandoned mill ruins. We figured ruins still fit the Halloween vibes.

How to Visit the Blair Witch Filming Locations in Seneca Creek State Park

https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/pages/central/seneca.aspx
Park at Black Rock Mill, Seneca Ridge Trail, Darnestown, MD 20874

  • Location 1: Across the street from the mill is a small parking area along the creek, next to the bridge, this is where Heather interviewed local fishermen about the Blair Witch legend
  • Location 2, Coffin Rock: From the mill parking lot, cross the street and start onto Seneca Ridge Trail, find an unofficial trail down to the creek and follow the fisherman’s trail along the creek the edge until you find Coffin Rock about a third of a mile in
  • Locations 3 & 4: On Black Rock Rd, just a little north of the bridge is the red shed that the crew drives by. Just down and across the road is the pull-off area where they parked their car before going into the woods

Our final stop of the night was an impromptu stop on the drive home. So impromptu that since I was on the phone I didn’t realize Josh had pulled in until we were at the gate. We ended up doing a quick stop at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. We just missed the Great Falls Tavern visitor center being open, but we did a short walk to see Great Falls and decided we’d come back another time to explore more. It has been a super dry year, so the falls weren’t very strong, but it was definitely interesting to see the river so low.

How to Visit Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

142 W. Potomac St., Williamsport, MD 21795
https://www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm
Grounds open daily sunrise-sunset
Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center open 9am-4pm Wednesday-Sunday
America the Beautiful pass accepted

Day 6: Reston Museum

Lake Fairfax Park is in the community of Reston- and I say community because it’s not actually incorporated as a town. Reston is pretty interesting if you’re a planning nerd, since it was a completely designed/planned community. To learn more about the history of it, we headed to the Reston Museum. The museum is small and has mostly info panels, so it’s not really worth a visit on its own. It’s in one of the town squares, though, so if you visit some other shops (there’s a good used bookstore!) or restaurants, it’s more worth the visit.

Reston was designed with a few things in mind: walkability, access to nature, and community. Housing was purposely designed to be dense to force you to encounter neighbors. There are also walking paths all throughout the community and lots of green space. The community was designed around several community centers, almost like there’s a few different small towns in one. The museum website has more information and some of their webinars are online if this is something you’re interested in.

How to Visit Reston Museum

1639 Washington Plaza N, Reston, VA 20190
For parking: GPS to Lake Anne Plaza Parking Lot, 1609 Washington Plaza N, Reston, VA 20190
https://www.restonmuseum.org
Tues-Fri and Sun 11am-4pm
Sat 10am-4pm
Free admission

Day 7: Washington DC Museums

It was time for another Washington DC day. This time our main goals were the National Postal Museum and the International Spy Museum, but of course we ended up seeing plenty more while there.

Our metro line this time was about twice as long as from our Maryland campground, but it was still better than driving. We got off early and walked through Chinatown on the way to the Postal Museum. Right by the Chinatown gate is an interesting intersection called the Barnes Dances. Traffic engineer Henry Barnes designed the traffic pattern to include extra intervals for walkers to cross diagonally. The pattern is also sometimes called the pedestrian scramble, since there is time built into the signals for pedestrian free-for-alls.  Also in Chinatown, Mary Surratt’s DC boarding house is now a restaurant (we visited Surratt’s tavern in this post). 

Our first order of business at the postal museum was actually stopping in the attached post office first. We had very important mail and wanted to send it off from somewhere special- our election ballots! 

I’m a big mail fan- I love letters, postcards, mail art, and just mail in general, so the National Postal Museum has been a bucket list museum for years for me. The museum has two floors. The lower level has exhibits on Moving the Mail, Binding the Nation, Customers and Communities, Systems at Work, Behind the Badge, Mail Call, and a special exhibition gallery. The current special exhibit is all about baseball. The upper level (where the entrance is) has World of Stamps, Gems of Philately, Mail Marks History, Connect with US Stamps, National Stamp Salon, Stamps Around the Globe, and the Postmaster’s Gallery. 

There are lots of hands-on activities at the Postal Museum, including getting to choose some stamps to take home and start your own collection with!

How to Visit the National Postal Museum

https://postalmuseum.si.edu
2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.. Washington, D.C. 20002
Open daily 10am-5:30pm
Free admission
Be prepared for a security screening

After the museum, we decided to get lunch once again at Mitisam Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian. We decided to walk so that we could see stuff in between. We ended up walking through the Capitol grounds and seeing it closer (it never worked out with our schedule to do an actual tour), saw more monuments and memorials along the way, and then did an impromptu visit to the United States Botanic Garden. Since we were off-season we mostly spent time in the conservatories. They’re amazing and full of so many cool plants, but boy was it crowded in there!

How to visit the United States Botanic Garden

https://www.usbg.gov
100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20001
Conservatory open daily 10am-5pm
Gated outdoor gardens open daily 7:30am-5pm
Free admission

We finally made it to the National Museum of the American Indian, and after lunch decided to finally check out the exhibits here. Josh had been at a conference earlier in our trip that was hosted here, but never saw more than conference rooms and the cafe really. 

How to Visit the National Museum of the American Indian

https://americanindian.si.edu
Fourth Street & Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20560
Open daily 10am-5:30pm
Free admission

Next, it was time for our other big museum adventure- the International Spy Museum. This is another museum that has been on my list for a long time, since I’ve been watching their YouTube webinars for years. Apparently I didn’t do thorough research, though, because it cost way more than we were expecting! It was cool, but definitely overpriced. The museum is very interactive and they start you off in a large group to get your spy badge and for a briefing. We appreciated the interactiveness, but this meant that at the start of the actual exhibits there was a mass of people and it really messed up the flow. We definitely spent a lot of time just waiting to get close enough to read signs and see artifacts. The actual exhibits were really cool, though, but I would try to find an off-time to visit if you do go.

How to Visit the International Spy Museum

https://www.spymuseum.org
700 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC 20024
Open Fri/Sat 8:30am-8pm, Sun 9am-6pm, Mon 10am-6pm, Tues/Wed 9am-7pm
Adults $35.99, Kids up to age 12 $23.27, Kids under 6 Free
Plan ahead pricing is available- so if you buy in advance it’s cheaper
Special exhibits cost extra

Day 8: Billy Goat Trail and Turkey Run Park

After a busy city day on Saturday, we decided to use Sunday for a more relaxed nature day. We headed back to the C&O National Historical Park to hike the Billy Goat Trail. The Billy Goat trail ended up being one of my favorite trails I’ve ever done! It’s broken up into 3 sections, but when we visited Section B was closed because of trail damage and erosion. Section C is the easier part of the trail, and we skipped it. Section A is the fun part. You will want to check the NPS website before you go, because Sec. A gets closed for flooding regularly, but we were there when it was super dry. The trail is 1.75 miles one-way trail, and pets are not allowed. Most of the trail is large boulders that you’ll be walking and climbing over and about halfway through is the big famous part- the vertical traverse up a rock wall. It’s definitely a popular trail and there were quite a few people out hiking, and we can see why- it is just so FUN!

We also visited Turkey Run Park, part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, for another short hike to round out the day.

Day 9: Lunch at The Block and a Boat Ride with Wild Ones NOVA

For Day 9 we headed to Annandale to meet with a couple of local members of the Wild Ones NoVA chapter. We first had lunch at The Block– a food hall featuring different Asian food stalls. It was so hard to choose what to get to eat there- everything sounded so good! After lunch, we headed to one of the member’s house for a garden tour and a boat ride. She and her husband took us around their neighborhood’s lake to different community gardens they’ve been involved with planting native plants in. It was such an enjoyable day to get out and really feel like a local.

Day 10: Election Day

We debated for a long time on what to do for election day. We liked the idea of going into DC for a watch party, but weren’t sure if we wanted to be in the city if things took a turn- especially since we’d be taking the Metro. I did find a more local watch party option, but in the end we decided to stay home doom scrolling since we had a couple busy days coming up.

Day 11: White House Tour

We headed to the Metro station bright and early to head into DC for a White House tour. We were definitely curious to see how the town and the tour would feel after the election- it was a total coincidence that we had a tour booked the day after election day, it was just the only day we were able to get a tour.

We had a stressful ride, though. Besides just being unsure about what the vibes in DC would be, halfway through our train ride we had an alert from our security camera back at the RV. Josh checked the footage and all you could see was a hand reach around the back of the rig and cover the camera up. First he tried calling the park to check on stuff, but their office wasn’t open yet. So next he called the police. They said it might be awhile until they got out there, so when the park office opened he tried them again. The police did actually get out there pretty quick, and then park staff also checked later. It turned out that someone in the neighboring campsite didn’t like that their site was visible to our security camera so they covered it with a trash bag. The police said they gave them a good talking to about not messing with other people’s stuff and that it’s a public area and we weren’t doing anything wrong. We’re glad it wasn’t actually anyone breaking in, but it definitely made for a stressful time trying to deal with that and get to the White House.

We got that whole issue dealt with just in time to enter security for the White House, though. Obviously we couldn’t take pictures of the security process, but I figured I’d try to describe it so you know what to expect. First a National Park ranger checks your tour confirmation (bring a printed copy) at the first gate. Then you’ll go through a security tent where they check your ID and match it up in their system. Then you’ll walk a little ways to another security tent for another quick check. Then once inside there are metal detectors and anything in your pockets will get sent through an x-ray machine. After all that, you’ll be inside for the self-guided tour.

White House tours are self-guided and there are Secret Service agents stationed in the different rooms, partly for security, but also to answer any questions you have about the space. There are informational signs in each room, and just earlier this year new multimedia displays were added too.

How to Visit the White House

  • You can request White House Tours through your congressperson- this used to be the only way to take a tour, but you can now also request your own tour on https://www.whitehouse.gov/visit/
  • When requesting your tour, make sure you have the full legal name for everyone in your group
  • Each person in the group will be sent an email to fill out with their personal information, this must be tone for the tour request to be reviewed
  • US citizens 18+ and all foreign nationals (incl. children) need govt issued ID (citizens can use drivers license)
  • Arrive at least 15 minutes early to go through security
  • No bags of any kind are allowed- including purses
  • Tours are self-guided
  • There are no restrooms on the tour, so be sure to visit the White House Visitor Center first for a restroom and NPS passport stamp

How to Visit the White House Visitor Center

https://www.nps.gov/whho/planyourvisit/white-house-visitor-center.htm
1450 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Open daily 7:30am-4pm

Day 12: Pentagon Tour, DEA Museum, and Arlington National Cemetery

Day 12 was another big tour in the morning- this time we were headed to the Pentagon. We had a longer Metro ride today, with our first time changing lines, to get to here. Luckily the Pentagon itself has its own station. We again had a lengthy security process, which I’m going to try to remember enough to let you all know what to expect: We started with a set of outdoor guards checking our confirmation and IDs before sending us to the first lobby. There was a separate line for tour guests, since all Pentagon visitors go through the same security. The woman working this desk checked our IDs in the system and then sent us on to the next area. The next security area was a lot like an airport- bags and stuff from pockets went through x-ray machines and people went through body scanners. After security there’s a waiting area that also looks like an airport terminal (like literally the same seats) where you’ll wait until your tour is called. There’s a small gift shop and restrooms here. 

Secretary Mattis visits the Pentagon Memorial (32367570791)
Pentagon chapel

Once our tour was called, we went into a side room to meet our guides and go over rules. This is also when we had to lock our phones up. They have a cart of small see-through lock boxes your phones go in and then at the end of the tour they meet you with the cart again. 

The tour is a pretty good length, and a lot of walking. We saw a bunch of the main corridors- but, of course, the Pentagon is huge and we couldn’t see it all. A lot of the corridors have displays, artwork, artifacts, memorials, and other interesting things that we got to see. We also visited the 9/11 memorial chapel and the hallway that was struck by the plane.

How to Visit the Pentagon on a Tour

  • Request a tour on https://www.defense.gov/Pentagon-Tours/ at least 14 days in advance
  • All adults must be either US citizens alien admitted for permanent residence in the United States under 22 U.S.C. 6010
  • All adults will need a vaild government photo ID- and they must be REAL ID act compliant (we used our passports because our drivers licenses aren’t REAL IDs)
  • After requesting a tour, each member will be emailed a form to fill out to be approved
  • There is no parking at the Pentagon. You can either take the Metro to Pentagon station or park at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City and take the pedestrian tunnel

After the Pentagon, we hopped on the Metro to Pentagon City to walk over to DEA headquarters. They have a small museum that I wanted to check out. The museum focused more on drugs & drug prevention than the agency itself, which was a little disappointing, but as someone with a criminal justice degree it was still exciting to visit DEA headquarters at all.

photo of dea sign

The first spot to visit, between security and the museum proper, is the Faces of Fentanyl memorial. The walls are covered in photos of people who lost their lives to Fentanyl, and it is one of the saddest memorials I’ve ever seen- some of the people represented were so young.

Then we went into the museum itself. It was a very well-designed museum overall and had some pretty interesting artifacts, and even hands-on activities.

How to Visit the DEA Museum

700 Army Navy Dr, Arlington, VA 22202
https://museum.dea.gov/
Tues-Sat 10am-4pm
Free admission
Visitors must go through security and show ID to get visitor badge

After the DEA, it was time for our last adventure in the area- Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery also has its own Metro stop, and then we again had to go through security to enter, but this time it was simpler. We didn’t have tons of time, and had already walked a lot, so we definitely didn’t see the whole cemetery. We picked out our priorities, though, and made sure to hit some of the big highlights.

Seeing Arlington National Cemetery on TV is one thing, but seeing it in person is jaw dropping. The way the solid white stones seem to go on forever is absolutely surreal.

We stopped by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We didn’t  time it out right with a changing of the guard, but just seeing the regular pacing was really special. Across the way from the Tomb of the Unknown were memorials for the crews of the Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia.

We saw the two presidential burials here- John F. Kennedy Jr and William Howard Taft.

We visited Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial. We think the National Park Service does a good job of interpreting Arlington House- it doesn’t honor Lee or the Confederacy, but tells the story of Lee and his wife’s family (whom they inherited the house from). The former slave quarters are also used as exhibit space to tell the story of the enslaved people who lived here.

photo of arlington house

We stopped by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s grave too, of course.

photo of ruth bader ginsburg grave

How to Visit Arlington National Cemetery

https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil
Open daily 8am-5pm
Typically only people visiting graves or attending funerals are issues vehicle passes, so expect to walk or schedule a tram tour
Accessible by Metro or there is a paid parking garage
All visitors must go through security screening: visitors age 18+ will need to show valid government photo ID

Day 13: Fairfax County Nike Missile Sites

For our final NOVA adventures, we decided to visit a couple of local county sites. Great Falls Nike Park and Turner Farm are both owned by Fairfax County Parks (same as Lake Fairfax Park where we were camping) and were both part of the Cold War Nike missile program. These missiles were once found all across the country, and the ones in Fairfax County were part of a ring set up around DC. 

Our first stop was Great Falls Nike Park, which shares an entrance with an elementary school- so was a little tricky to get in and out of because it was school pick up. All that’s left here from the Cold War era is an Air Force radar dome, which would have been used to detect enemy aircraft. It probably wasn’t from the original Nike site, but might have come from the Integrated Fire Control Site at Turner Park.

photo of great falls nike park

Our next stop was Turner Park, which was the Integrated Fire Control Site for Great Falls Nike missile. The first site would have had the missile itself, and this site would have had radar towers for missile tracking. The park itself is now home to an observatory. We knew the observatory wouldn’t be open when programs weren’t going on, but we were disappointed that the whole area around it is fenced off and locked, so we couldn’t even get up close to see it. We did walk across the street and down the road, though, to see the historic marker for the Nike project. This site was also really important to the development of GPS.

How to Visit Fairfax County Nike Missile Sites

Great Falls Nike Park- 1149 Utterback Store Road, Great Falls, VA 22066
Turner Farm– 925 Springvale Road, Great Falls, VA, 22066
Great Falls Historic Marker- 38° 59.86′ N, 77° 18.866′ W

Day 14: Moving Day

Our last day was a super short one in Reston. We got up early, got packed up and headed down to Roanoke, VA. Check back for that leg of our journey soon!

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