National Harbor, MD.

I always enjoy the patriotism of this country. I went to lunch with a military buddy at the National Harbor and he got us great seats on the balcony of the restaurant Bond 45. 

Since I was by the sea, I just had to have some seafood on my plate. We had the best view of the U.S Navy Band Sea Chanters show. They wowed the crowd with their incredible voices, first the National anthem and then some great songs from back in the day. 

Tip: The screen behind the performers usually plays an outdoor movie on some evenings. Another fun activity for the family. Check National Harbor website for details of movie days on their calendar.

The show started at 7pm and ended an hour later. After the entertainment and great food we walked around a little bit.

There are lots of activities for family by the Harbor. You can go shopping in the stores or at the farmers market. You could take your kids to the beach, I'm not a fan of heights but the Ferris wheel is great for those who are. 

We strolled down to the beach to enjoy the lights of the Ferris wheel over by the dock. 

We didn't have too much time to get on a boat but if you like to cruise you can rent a boat to enjoy the sea. I had only visited one time before this and there was a carousel for the kids not too far from the beach. There is loads of restaurants around here and a bar right by the stage where the Navy Band performed. You don't have to worry about parking because there is a parking lot that's just a short walk away from the dock. We were there for about 4 hours and paid about $10 for parking. 

So take your family down there this summer. The fun there is contagious and its definitely a visit you won't regret. 

Chesapeake Bay Fishing Piers, MD.

If you like fishing, you can drive down to the Chesapeake Bay Fishing Piers down in Maryland. It took me about an hour to get there but believe it or not I don’t do fishing. I was heading to North Beach when I stumbled across the Pepper Langley’s Fishing Pier. 

For those who do fish and prefer smaller crowds, this is the place for you. It seemed very private and serene in comparison to fishing at North Beach. If you don’t have your fishing rod, you can rent one from the small fishing kiosk nearby. There’s also a picnic area for you to catch your breath after all the hard work and luckily there's a place for refreshments. 

Like a lot of places in Maryland, you can catch up on your history as well. 

For me, I decided to enjoy the view then move on to North Beach because it also has other family activities. The North Beach is also one of the Chesapeake Bay Fishing Piers but here you can catch your fish and take a swim. During the summer, there is always buzzing activity and Fridays are especially fun here. Literally there’s something for the guys, for the gals and the kids. You can check out the exhibition of vintage cars lined up in front of the beach.

 You can walk down to the Farmers market to get some fresh fruits, vegetables, home made popcorn and all sorts of snacks. (Only on Fridays). There is a long line of indoor stores and restaurants right by the beach as well if you want to walk around a little more.

After walking around, I cooled off by the sand with my daughter. While she made her sand castles, I watched the birds and just enjoyed the colorful sky.

West Virginia here we come.

I was minding my business when my sister asked me to go with her to Morgantown in West Virginia. She needed help moving apartments for the school year so she literally bribed me with a pic of a scenic view I couldn’t resist. I hit the road with my buddy and the kids as we always do. It was a perfect weekend for this because the sun was out all through and the road down was well worth it. There were several scenic sites we stopped to see, the first stop was the Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick, MD. 

Not spending too much time there we jumped back in the car and drove off to the next scenic site which was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located on Maryland's Interstate 68. Its location was between great mountains and a view that took our breath away.

We finally approached West Virginia and as I always do, I took a picture of the welcome sign which the beautiful sunny day decided to outshine.

Not too long after this we got to my sisters apartment and did a little packing then decided to call it a night. The next morning we U-hauled her stuff to the new apartment near West Virginia University. We literally got back on the road a few hours after all this, was a bit hectic but as I said the views were worth it. Just before leaving we stopped over to get the famous Sonic milkshakes, was unbelievably delicious, all I could think of in my head was gymmmmmm. Well worth it though :).

The first scenic view on our way back was Cheat Lake. We saw this view from the road, we didn't stop here but it was spectacular even from a distance.

So the scenic view my sister promised to take me to earlier was Coopers Rock State Forest. I was on a mission to get there while the sun was still out that evening. 

There was a narrow road leading up to the site, the trees on both sides of the road gave such a grand effect to our approach.

We finally got there. I was blown away at the view. No view I had ever seen before this could top this. It was breath taking. 

The great part about Coopers Rock is it has hiking trails, camp grounds and as we saw, open buildings for celebrations. When we arrived, the West Virginia University wrestling team were celebrating with family at the top of this mountain, there was just a great atmosphere all around.

So back on the road once more, it was getting really late so we stopped over at Frostburg, Maryland to call it a night. A favorite cousin of mine had checked us in at the Hampton Inn so we were early to bed for the drive for the next day. The view in the morning from our window was superb, another beautiful view added to this impromtu road trip.

After breakfast with the kids we got back on the road and mistakenly went off our route to come across this resort outside Cumberland, hopefully we will be visiting it again soon.

Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Calvert County, Southern Maryland.

The Calvert Marine Museum is the perfect museum to give your kids hands on experience of aquatic life. It's open from 10am - 5pm daily with an entrance fee of $9 for adults, free for kids, you know I like my freebies. At the museum, I went over with my daughter to explore the discovery room, here she got to play with turtles and other unique sea creatures. 

In this room, the kids got to play in a mini lighthouse and got to pretend they were sailing on a mini boat. 

There is a play area above here where the kids can play with puzzles and learn a bit more about sea animals.

Adults don't get left out of the fun here, there's a real lighthouse right by the entrance, they actually let you tour the inside of this cool building with great history behind it’s existence. 

Over at the museum you can also find different areas your kids would enjoy, areas like the biology gallery where you get to see exotic wild life in a mimic of their habitats. If you want to learn more about their fossils, the museum has a room for that as well. There is also a display of boats at the workshop outside by the lighthouse.

The highlight for the kids I think was getting to see the Otter in his outdoor aquarium. It seemed to enjoy showing the kids its diving tricks. The museum had a great atmosphere all round, definitely on the to do list for any family wanting to enjoy and learn about aquatic sea life. If you just want to enjoy the view of nature, the view from the top of the lighthouse is one you will never forget.

Location:

The Calvert Marine Museum is located on State Route 2 in Solomons, Calvert County, Southern Maryland, twenty miles south of Prince Frederick, and about an hour and fifteen minutes from Washington D.C.