Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a 383-acre theme park located in James City County, Virginia, about 60.40 miles northwest of Virginia Beach, originally developed by Anheuser-Busch and currently owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, a division of Blackstone Group. The park opened on May 16, 1975, adjacent to Anheuser-Busch's brewery and near its other developments including the Kingsmill Resort complex. The park is themed around various European countries. In addition to its landscaping and European theme, Busch Gardens is widely known for its roller coasters, including Griffon, Alpengeist, and Apollo's Chariot, which won No. 4 best steel coaster in 2012 from the Golden Ticket Awards.

The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. William Kelso says Jamestown "is where the British Empire began ... this was the first colony in the British Empire." Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607, and considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610, it followed several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jamestown served as the capital of the colony for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699. The settlement was located within the country of Tsenacommacah, which was administered by the Powhatan Confederacy, and specifically in that of the Paspahegh tribe. The natives initially welcomed and provided crucial provisions and support for the colonists, who were not agriculturally inclined. Relations with the newcomers soured fairly early on, leading to the total annihilation of the Paspahegh in warfare within 3 years. Mortality at Jamestown itself was very high due to disease and starvation, with over 80% of the colonists perishing in 1609-1610 in what became known as the "Starving Time".

Water Country USA is a water theme park in York County, Virginia, about 3 miles southeast of Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the Mid-Atlantic's largest water park, and it offers live entertainment, shops and restaurants, water rides, and other attractions, all of which have a 1950s or 1960s surf theme. It is owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, a division of Blackstone Group. The park is just a few miles away from Busch Gardens Williamsburg, with which it shares clientele. Multi-park passes are available, and a parking pass at Water Country USA is valid for same-day entry to Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Arlington National Cemetery is a United States military cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., in whose 624 acres have been buried the dead of the nation's conflicts beginning with the American Civil War, as well as reinterred dead from earlier wars. The cemetery was established during the Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, which had been the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna (Custis) Lee (a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington). The cemetery, along with Arlington House, Memorial Drive, the Hemicycle, and the Arlington Memorial Bridge, form the Arlington National Cemetery Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2014.

Ford's Theatre is a historic theatre in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After being shot, the fatally wounded president was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning.

The Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery is located at 14^th and Quincy Streets in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast Washington, D.C. It includes gardens, replicas of various shrines throughout Israel, a replica of the catacombs in Rome, an archive, a library, as well as bones of Saint Benignus of Armagh, brought from the Roman Catacombs and originally in the Cathedral of Narni, Italy.

We had a wonderful weekend camping in Rock Hall MD, just 3 hours from home on the Chesapeake Bay; good friends, good weather, good times.