Traveling to VA: Looking for historic suggesitons. Wide age range of kids!

Hi! I live about half an hour from Gordonsville, near Charlottesville, and have a wide age range of kids (3-18). Virginia is beautiful and has so many great historic spots to visit! We love Williamsburg and Jamestown Settlement, two great living history/reenactment-type places (that is where you would want to visit as opposed to Historic Jamestown, which is basically just a park with a statue).

Mt. Vernon is my favorite president’s estate (love the property overlooking the water, the indoor museum and education center; actual home not that impressive), but don’t overlook the other three (Monticello, Montpelier, Ashlawn-Highland) that are 20-30 minutes from where you will be staying. I don’t know how much time (or money!) you have to spend around here. James Madison’s Montpelier is the closest to you, and you can walk around the grounds, trails, and garden for no charge. You just have to pay to tour the house, which I don’t think is all that great. If you do go there, stop by Grelen Nursery, which is just a few miles away, for some lovely views. You can look in the gift shop (cute fairy garden stuff), while your little kids play in the sandbox! Okay, back to presidents’ homes… By far the best actual house (IMHO) is Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. He was a brilliant man! They have a wonderful visitor’s center with a movie and a children’s education center downstairs. It is a hands-on room with replicas of some of the cool stuff you’ll see in the house. I would play in there first, and then the kids have something to look for during the tour. You must purchase tickets to tour the house and grounds, which are at the top. I regularly take my kids for a hike up the Saunders-Monticello Trail, and we hang out at the visitor’s center/children’s area because there is no charge. Can you tell we are a large family? 😉 All those ticket prices sure do add up, so we do a lot of free stuff! Lastly, you could go to James Monroe’s Ashlawn-Highland, which is just a few miles away from Monticello.  If it were up to me, I’d skip that and drive up to Carter Mountain Orchard and spend time at the Michie Tavern (restaurant and general store) which are right beside Monticello.

By the way, there is a very popular, casual little restaurant in Gordonsville called The Barbecue Exchange that has delicious food that you might want to check out.

I am excited for you guys! I love family vacations!

Please feel free to contact me with more questions.  laura dot b dot parr at gmail dotcom

Blessings and happy planning!