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8 Road Trips You Must Make This Summer
Making This Summer Your Best Ever
By Ray McAllister & Erika Wells
Dog days of summer?
There’s no such thing, not in Virginia.
We know you know about the beach and the mountains, the amusement parks and the baseball parks. But we here at Boomer have selected eight unusual places and events – some old favorites and some off the beaten path – to let you have your best summer ever.
And maybe your most memorable.
So hit the road and have some fun.
1. CARL'S ICE CREAM (FREDERICKSBURG)
2200 Princess Anne Street, off U.S. 1. Open daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
mid February to mid November (11:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.)
simplyfredericksburg.com/offpath/carls.shtml
WHY IT’S FUN: People travel miles to visit the roadside ice cream stand that is not only retro but authentically retro. Think bobby soxers or maybe “The Andy Griffith Show.” (Younger boomers, think “Happy Days” or “American Graffiti.”) Here is the place to meet new people while standing in line for good old-fashioned, homemade ice cream – the way Grandma and Grandpa used to make it. That’s not surprising. Carl Sponseller opened his frozen custard stand in an abandoned gas station and restaurant way back in 1947, capitalizing on the federal government’s commitment to superhighways in the 1940s. Sponseller would put up what became an iconic neon sign to help flag down autos. His was but one of six custard stands to open that year in Fredericksburg, and a Dairy Queen followed three years later, but only Carl’s has survived. By 1953, the business had moved to its current building, which since has landed on the National Register of Historic Places. (How cool is that?) There have been few changes over the decades in this family business; Sponseller’s nieces and nephews now run it.
DON’T MISS: The 1940s-era, chrome Electro-Freeze machines turning out the frozen treat in 120-gallon batches while you watch. And don’t worry. There are usually lines, but they move quickly. Carl’s has been doing this awhile, you know.
2. LURAY CAVERNS (LURAY)
Daily tours every twenty minutes from 9 a.m. through 7 p.m. (after June 14); museum opens at 10 a.m.
$23 adults; $21 seniors 62-plus; $11.00 children 6-12; free for children 5 and under when accompanied by parent or guardian
luraycaverns.com
WHY IT’S FUN: Another worldwide favorite … but have you been? The largest and most popular caverns in eastern America are – are you ready for this? – more than 400 million years old. (OK. It’s only been an attraction for 130-some.) Luray features breathtaking rock formations and cathedral-size rooms that are 10 stories high, all well underground. Then there’s the world’s only Stalacpipe Organ – the largest instrument on the planet. It was created by a Pentagon mathematician and electronics scientist who, over 36 years, incorporated 3.5 acres of stalactites in neighboring caves into an instrument playing music comparable to a symphony.
DON’T MISS: Added attractions, including the famed garden maze, a golf course, the 47-bell Luray Singing Tower carillon, and The Car and Carriage Caravan Museum.
 3. CHINCOTEAGUE ANNUAL PONY SWIM (CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND)
Wednesday, July 27 TBD the week of the swim
Free
chincoteague.com/pony
WHY IT’S FUN: An old favorite – but we’re guessing you’ve never gone. Some 40,000 spectators from around the world do. Each year, this is the 86th, wild ponies are driven by the “Saltwater Cowboys” from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island for auction. The ponies have been on Assateague for three or four centuries now, the first ones most likely being brought by early settlers – or, more romantically, swimming ashore from a shipwreck on the coast. The sturdy, shaggy horses became famous in Marguerite Henry's 1947 book, Misty of Chincoteague, and a 1961 movie it inspired, Misty. A tip: consider reserving a spot – well in advance – on one of the charter boats that go out for the swim. The shoreline can be very crowded.
DON’T MISS: The events after the swim, when the Saltwater Cowboys parade the ponies down Main Street to the carnival grounds for the next morning’s auction. The evening of the swim, there are rides, games, food and fun.
 4. LAKEFEST (CLARKSVILLE)
Thursday-Saturday, July 14-16
Downtown, Virginia Avenue; 6 p.m. Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday
Free
clarksvilleva.com
WHY IT’S FUN: Quite possibly Virginia’s most varied festival. (For others, plus concerts, see pages 94.) The Southeast Tourism Society calls the Virginia Lake Festival – “LakeFest” to the locals – one of the “Top Twenty Festivals in the Southeast.” Nearly 100,000 people come for this one but don’t worry, there’s room to spread out. The event, which incorporates the 50,000-acre Buggs Island Lake (Kerr Reservoir), features food and family entertainment and different events on Thursday and Friday nights and all day Saturday, the main day of the actual festival. Look for sand sculptors, live bands, balloonists, more than 200 vendors, and an arts and crafts show. Oh, and did we mention helicopter rides for adults and even tethered hot air balloon rides for children?
DON’T MISS: The concluding fireworks show Saturday night, when thousands
5. GOOCHLAND DRIVE-IN THEATER (HADENSVILLE)
4333 Old Fredericksburg Road (just south of I-64 at the Hadensville exit); Gates open at 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, double features start at dusk.
goochlanddriveintheater.com
WHY IT’S FUN: Yes, a drive-in! Experience the nostalgia of an old-time drive-in movie but with better sound, thanks to an FM broadcast you pick up through your car radio. John and Kristina Heidel opened the drive-in while parents of two young children – because it fit their own needs for an inexpensive night out. Other families and fans of drive-ins have arrived. The double features this summer include family-friendly fare like Cars 2, Green Lantern, Super 8, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter. Don’t forget visits to the snack bar and, if you have kids or grandkids, the playground. Just as fun: Each night starts with classic cartoon shorts and vintage movie trailers and cartoon shorts. You’ll feel like you’re back in the ’60s or ’70s. … Making out is optional.
DON’T MISS: The Gooch Dog – a hot dog dressed with macaroni and cheese plus a special sauce Kristina created – or anything else at the snack bar. Everything is just $3.50 or less.
6. PROFESSOR CLINE'S HAUNTED MONSTER MUSEUM & DINOSAUR KINGDOM (NATURAL BRIDGE)
4942 S. Lee Hwy; 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. starting June 12
$9.95 adults; $5.95 children 5-12
monstersanddinosaurs.com
WHY IT’S FUN: Two bizarre museums – for the price of one. The Haunted Monster Museum tour is like experiencing a 1950s Vincent Price movie, not surprising since owner Mark Cline had in mind Price’s film, The Tingler, when he opened it in 1982. (The original museum burned down in 2001; a replacement opened the next year in an 1890s hillside Victorian manor.) Cline’s renovations include squeaky floorboards, fake skulls, a crashed plane and the like. He calls the place “Scooby Doo meets The Twilight Zone.” (A non-scary tour for children is available on request.) Meanwhile, The Dinosaur Kingdom features life-size dinosaurs made of fiberglass – taking on Union soldiers in 1863. Truly. The bizarre plot was inspired by a ’60s movie, The Valley of Gwangi, in which cowboys battled dinosaurs.
DON’T MISS: Signs of the dinosaurs’ rage scattered about: A big snake has eaten one Yankee soldier and is about to eat another; an Allosaurus grabs a soldier off of his rearing horse, while a second soldier futilely tries to lasso the big lizard; another Yankee crawls up a tree with a stolen egg while the mom dinosaur batters it down, etc.
7. VIRGINIA SAFARI PARK (NATURAL BRIDGE)
229 Safari Lane; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily; last car admitted at 5 p.m.
$15 adults; $14 seniors 65-plus; $10 children 3-12
virginiasafaripark.com/
WHY IT’S FUN: Virginia’s only drive-thru zoo stretches three miles of the Shenandoah Valley near the Blue Ridge Mountains. The 180-acre park, originally a breeding farm, has more than 1,000 exotic animals from six continents, including llamas, camels, antelope, deer, bison and ostrich, kept in a more natural habitat than many zoos. Visitors drive through on a road from which they can feed the animals through car windows. The park also includes a 10-acre walk-through area – where you can see Bengal tigers, giraffes, kangaroos and colorful lorikeets – and a petting zoo.
DON’T MISS: The covered safari wagon ride (additional $5; includes bucket of feed per person), which allows you to feed the animals while you ride through
8. ROUTE 11 POTATO CHIP FACTORY (MOUNT JACKSON)
11 Edwards Way; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday,
1-800-294-SPUD.
rt11.com
WHY IT’S FUN: This small-town potato chip maker in the Shenandoah Valley has been cooking the same way since opening in an old feed store in 1992. The kettle-cooked chips are made from freshly harvested potatoes with all-natural seasonings – in an environmentally friendly new factory in Mount Jackson (moving from its location on Route 11 in Middletown). New factory or not, Route 11 has intentionally stayed small-town to keep the quality and the authenticity. Still, Route 11 is being noticed. The company’s chips inspired the Rhodes Tavern Troubadours of Washington, to record a country-tinged jingle: Man, oh, man, that’s one heck of a chip./Tastes so big/Yeah, I don’t need no dip./Riding down the road to potato chip heaven,/Me and a big ol’ bag of Route 11s.
DON’T MISS: The “fry-viewing.” Right there at the factory, you can watch the chips being cooked. One piece of advice: Call ahead to make sure they’re cooking when you want to go. There is no charge for the fry-view. The only requirement: you sample the chips.
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