day trips

day trips

You Can Find Fossils on the Beaches of Calvert Cliffs State Park

This is well known in Southern Maryland, but I had no idea until recently: some of the beaches there have tons of fossils! The Calvert Cliffs, located south of Chesapeake Beach in Calvert County, Maryland, contain sedimentary deposits from the Miocene age (6 to 20 million years old), and those fossils wash up on the beaches. The…

September 12, 2016

The Ultimate Guide to Outdoor Things to Do in the Reston Area

This area is filled with great opportunities for outdoor recreation! One of our most popular articles of all time is our Ultimate Guide to Kids’ Indoor Fun in the Reston Area. The next logical step is a guide to outdoor fun, but this time we didn’t limit the excitement to kids’ activities. Here are our favorite ways for…

April 21, 2016

Weekend Getaway: Relax & Rejuvenate at the Historic Bedford Springs Resort In PA

Looking to steal away for a romantic tryst or just need a place for some R&R? Then you should definitely consider the historic Omni Bedford Springs Resort. Feeling the doldrums of winter, friends and I decided to treat ourselves to a weekend of spa treatments, cocktails and good food. So we packed up the car and…

March 18, 2016

Introducing Blue Valley Vineyard & Winery: Award-Winning Dry Whites and Luscious Reds in Delaplane

It’s no secret that we, at Modern Reston, love a beautiful glass of wine. We are always on the hunt for new local wineries. A place to hang out with friends away from the (sub)urban jungle we call home. Sadly, while most local wineries are scenic, we are usually disappointed with the actual wine — whites are sweet and cloying, reds…

September 15, 2015

Fields of Flowers You Can Pick at Burnside Farms in Haymarket

If you’ve ever wanted to surround yourself with spring colors, and then fill your home with them, too, we’ve got a quick day trip suggestion for you. Just about 30 minutes west of Reston is Burnside Farms, one of the world’s largest pick-your-own flower farms. They have five acres of flowers that are a springtime spectacle that…

April 28, 2015

Before Reston Was Reston: The Tale of A. Smith Bowman Distillery

In honor of Founders Day on April 11th we thought we’d dig a little deeper into Reston’s rich history and bring you something out of the ordinary. While we love the fact that our community was ground-breaking at the time and represented a new way of living in suburbia, we’ve often wondered what was here before…

April 7, 2015

Potomac Point Winery: A Winter Outing for the Whole Family

One of my favorite things about living in Northern Virginia is enjoying a bottle and the scenery at one of our many local wineries. Like many of us, though, I tend to associate a winery outing with a sunny summer afternoon and a picnic basket. Then February comes along. Winter really takes the fun out of a hillside game…

February 9, 2015

The Ultimate Guide to Kids’ Indoor Fun in the Reston Area

When the weather outside is frightful, it’s the perfect time to relax under a cozy blanket with a book. Unless you’re a kid, that is. For kids, it’s the perfect time to bounce off the walls. If you’re looking for ideas for indoor activities for your kids, we have lots of suggestions for you. Here is a…

January 27, 2015

Monk’s BBQ: Cater Your Superbowl Party with Some of the Best BBQ in NoVa

Maybe it’s nostalgia for my college days back in Texas, but I am always willing to travel the extra mile for good BBQ. Most of the time I’m on a quest to find the elusive Beef Rib that is rarely found outside of The Lone Star State, but I am just as happy with pulled pork and smoked brisket….

January 25, 2015

Indoor Fun: Tour the Open Art Studios at the Torpedo Factory

It’s cold outside and for some reason my brain thinks there’s nothing fun to do indoors on the weekends. Of course, my brain is always wrong. We live in a thriving metropolitan area with THE SMITHSONIAN, for pete’s sake. But what if I don’t feel like heading to The Mall (or leaving Virginia) for my art fix?…

January 20, 2015

Indoor, Free Fun for Children at the National Museum of the American Indian

Now that the holidays are over, we have little to distract us from the next two months of bitter cold. Yet the kids still expect to go out, even if that means their parents will be grumbling through chattering teeth. Fortunately we live in an area with lots of indoor amusements for children, many of which are free….

January 6, 2015

Start the New Year with a First Day Hike at Virginia’s State Parks

If you’re like lots of people, you start each year invigorated and committed to getting fit. It’s a fresh start! You are motivated! And then you discover an overcrowded gym packed with all the other resolution-makers, and the thrill is gone. Or maybe you spend the first day of January in your traditional spot on the sofa, recovering…

December 30, 2014