[Rooster Cogburn]

OK. Here's the deal. Kids on spring break next week and I have a day or 2 off too.

I'm looking at 2 options:
#1 - I'm looking for cool family ideas for daytrips from the Lynchburg area that will not break the bank.
#2 - We might go to DC overnight to do the whole monuments and museums thing. Looking for hotel recommendations that are not to pricy but clean in one of the suburbs where we can ride the metro in.

HELP!

[vastrightwinger]

Name your own price on Priceline. You can get a great deal on a nice hotel. That is what i do everytime I go to DC and I usually only pay $50ish a night for a 4 star hotel. You can pick the area you want to stay in so you can avoid the not so great parts of town.

[flamesfan30]

for a daytrip a hike up the peaks of otter is always a good option. me and my friends have done it 4 times this year and every trip is awesome. although be warned if you go this week that the trail is completley covered in snow still, or at least was on saturday.

[ATrain]

Busch Gardens opens next Saturday.

[Rooster Cogburn]

Why not Friday?? BOO!

[Rooster Cogburn]

Name your own price on Priceline. You can get a great deal on a nice hotel. That is what i do everytime I go to DC and I usually only pay $50ish a night for a 4 star hotel. You can pick the area you want to stay in so you can avoid the not so great parts of town.

Splain this to me. I went on there and I was not finding any prices like yours. How do you "name you price"?

[vastrightwinger]

When you are the main page of priceline, right under the ridiculous picture of William Shatner are 3 boxes that say, bid now. Click on the middle one that says save up to 50% on hotels. A new box will appear and fill in the information and click bid now. Then it is self explanatory from there.

[TDDance234]

If the Zoo in DC is open yet, it's worth visiting if you're going to be in the area.

[blwall1416]

[Rooster Cogburn]

Been searching for days!

[LUconn]

priceline is actually somewhat complicated if you want the great deals they advertise. I mean, if you don't know what you're doing, you're still not going to be paying full price, but the guys who know the strategies are getting the deals priceline wants to tell you about. You obviously want to bid low, but you don't want somebody else to get your room. There's a few messageboards that can give you tips, but that might be a lot of work for you

http://www.bidontravel.com/
http://www.betterbidding.com/
http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/

As for day trips, after seeing Foamhenge up at natural bridge, I've discovered that the artist has some weird studio full of his odd artwork. I've been wanting to take a trip back up there to check it out

http://www.enchantedcastlestudios.com/

[Rooster Cogburn]

OK, we may do the Asheboro NC Zoo thing. Anyone been there?

[ALUmnus]

I think my parents took my daughters there last year, and didn't think it was very good. But don't take my word for it, I wasn't there and it could be a completely different zoo. It will all depend on how old your kids are.

[Sly Fox]

As a Houston Zoo member, I can tell you that if you enjoy your visit it is generally a good idea to upgrade your ticket to a season membership (usually about 1.5x one-day ticket) and then go back several times on trips in a year. Granted we live 45 minutes from our zoo, but we go about once every two months even if its only for a couple of hours.

And the cool thing about zoo memberships is that they usually allow you to get either free or heavily discounted entrance into most other zoos across the nation. We stop at zoos when traveling many times as a cheap break on roadies capitalizing on our existing memberships. They usually work at major aquariums as well. I plan on using ours for discounted entrance to an aquarium next week on a spring break family getaway.

[Hold My Own]

Homestead hands down. You will get some of the greatest photos of your life (with a great waterfall on the way) and its REALLY historic but has a bowling ally (prob made in the early 1900's!) hot springs and other great things that the kids will enjoy while being cheap and very fun.

[Sly Fox]

It is funny you mention Homestead. We have pondered it among our options on our next Virginia road trip. Do they give tours of the bunker these days?

[Hold My Own]

Are you thinking of Greenbrier? Same thing different spot (although I like Homestead better, but the bunker is sweet at GB)

By the way I'm not saying stay there, just go for the day and enjoy everything they have.

[Sly Fox]

I was confusing the two ... I haven't exactly lived in that region in awhile.

[Cider Jim]

Mrs. Cider LOVES the Asheboro Zoological Park; but if you want some place a little closer, go to the Virginia Safari Park at Natural Bridge that you get to drive through in your own vehicle and feed the animals. Kids (and wives) love that kind of thing.

[Hold My Own]

(and wives)

How are you able to pull this off without them finding out about each other?