By Blair Koster Are you trying to keep up with the Joneses by planning a big vacation? Better not. They are squabbling and have ice packs on their heads. Try something different. Why not take day trips, even night trips?

Here are some suggestions: Pack a picnic lunch and go to Maymont. It has more than 600 rehabilitated animals representing 140 species residing there. The Robins Nature and Visitor Center features a 20-foot waterfall flowing into 13 huge linked aquariums. Little ones will enjoy the river otters, turtles, and fish. Skip down the hill to the 40-acre wildlife park with bison, elk, foxes, bears and more in designed habitats. Don?t forget the Children?s Farm!

Tip: The grounds have different hours from the exhibits, so check www.maymont.org for hours. Bring comfortable shoes for lots of walking, diapers and strollers and quarters for the petting farm.

Three Lakes Nature Center and Aquarium in Henrico makes a great family outing. There are air, water, and land exhibits. The 90-acre park has a 50,000 gallon aquarium! Participate in hands-on activities and tour the wetlands and woodlands. The park has three lakes, hiking trails?paved and gravel, and a spacious playground and grassy area.

Who says all the fun is during the day? Comedy Sportz, an improvisational comedy team, is a great kids? attraction. Two teams compete for points, and actors weave kids? ideas into crazy skits. Hold onto your chair!

Tip: The 7:30 p.m. show is for children, and make reservations early.

Don?t leave out Dogwood Dell! During the summer festival of arts, the Ha? Penny stage is open on Sundays with children?s music, theatre, juggling, and storytelling. Watch The Richmond Ballet, bands and theater groups perform at the amphitheater. Entertainment includes drama, comedy, musical theater, and musical varieties. Check the schedule online.

Tip: bring a blanket, Frisbee and delicious picnic. The 4th of July fireworks show is spectacular with fireworks lighting the entire sky.

Gather the family and head to Kings Dominion. Experience the wildest, wettest water park with a 650,000 gallon wave pool, waterslide, and a splash house filled with water attractions for the whole family. Take in Sponge Bob Square Pants? in 3D, ride wild roller coasters, and much more. Web site: www.kingsdominion.com. Buy a 2008 Season Pass now and get free 2008 parking! Do your kids like money? Go to the Federal Reserve Bank Money Museum in Shockoe Bottom straight away! The museum has gleaming gold and silver, money used through the ages, and items used for trade all over the world. The collection includes paper money of Virginia from 1755 through today?Confederate currency, too. Web site: www.richmondfed.org. Click on ?Richmond? to sign up for a tour.

Visit Pocahontas State Park. Just 20 minutes from downtown Richmond, this well-loved park has short and long trails, fishing, swimming, boat rental, even horseback riding. Kids will love The Aqua Center with water slides, a leisure pool and activity pool. Go hiking, attend a nature interpretation, and listen to a concert after dark. Web site: www.stateparks.com/pocahontas_chesterfield.html How about the Richmond Metropolitan Zoo? Your kids will revel in the Safari Sky Ride that takes visitors across the whole zoo. The zoo has more than 200 monkeys, ostriches, gazelles, camels, and zebras. Feed the penguins. Web site: www.metrorichmondzoo.com

Bring the family to Meadow Farm Museum in Henrico County. Admission is free. Costumed interpreters guide visitors through the 1860s farmhouse, blacksmith?s forge, and outbuildings, all showcasing life in the 1800s. Outside, there are animals? including turkeys? and games for children. The adjacent Crump Park has a spacious playground and duck pond.

Tip: Go to their Web site, www.co.henrico.va.us/rec/meadowfarmmuseum. Look under the history section for a list of hours, ongoing events, and classes. Highly recommended: the Old- Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration. What about the Children?s Museum of Richmond (CMOR)? Little CMOR has a room for children six months to 4 years old. The rest of the building has interactive exhibits, such as a giant mouth tunnel. Other activities include rock painting, art classes, story time, and a big backyard full of special surprises! Web site: www.c-mor.org

Tip: It?s next door to the Science Museum!

Spend the day at the Science Museum of Virginia. It has hands-on physics, computer, electricity, and aerospace activities. The science museum has a giant planetarium, the Aluminaut submarine display, the largest crystallography collection in the world, and the largest sundial in the world. Wow! The museum shows IMAX films too.

Tip: The museum offers group discounts and spectacular birthday parties in Chessie, the yellow caboose. Go to www.smv.org to look for updated events.

Love aviation? Tour the Virginia Aviation Museum, part of the Science Museum . Exhibits include vintage aircraft, flight films, lectures, a World War II exhibit, and an exhibit dedicated to aviator Richard E. Byrd.

Like trains? Visit the Old Dominion Railway museum in Richmond. The museum is open only on weekends, so plan ahead. Step into a restored Railway Express agency car and delve into the railroad history of Richmond.

Visit Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Features include a new children?s garden, tree house, sandbox and water play: a young child?s delight!

Tip: Visit in summer when everything is in season.

For spooky delight, go on the Richmond Ghost Walk. This light-hearted, guided walk approaches local sites of reported ghostly activity. The walk covers 1 ½ miles and lasts 90 minutes. Tours are offered May through October on the first and third Friday of each month. Reservations required. Web site: www.wcities.com.

How about a visit to The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia? It depicts African American life in Virginia from 1619 until today. The museum has 5,000 artifacts, textiles, fine art and photography. The current exhibit, The Gift of Black Inventors displays over 125 items and features little known black inventors. The current exhibit is from February 1, 2008 through July 31, 2008. Go to the Web site, www.blackhistorymuseum.org, for museum hours and details.

Children will delight in the Citie of Henricus in Henricus Historical Park. View a reconstruction of Virginia?s second permanent English settlement in the New World. Visitors will see a partial reconstruction, and interpreters wearing 17th century clothing reenact daily life in the 1600s. Special events take place on the weekends. See their Web site, www.henricus.org for a listing of monthly events.

Put Pamplin Historical Park on your must-see list! This park engages children in exciting historical experiences. The staff has a Discovery program for children ages eight through 13. Other attractions include The BattleField Center, where kids can enter a tent and try on Civil War uniforms and clothing their size. That is not all. For details, go to www.pamplinpark.org.

For day trips out of town, here are a few favorite attractions:

How about Colonial Williamsburg? Kids can even prepare for their visit online. Type ?Williamsburg? into your search engine, and you?ll find a Kids Zone! Children can play historical games, dress ?paper? dolls in 18th century clothing, and learn about Colonial history. Plan your visit online.

Tip: You do not need a pass just to walk the streets, shop the market square, or dine in the taverns. Passes are for admission to trades shops, the Governor?s palace, museums, and historic sites and buildings. Purchase passes online or at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center. Purchase online and save ten percent!

Jamestown: Kids will love the hands-on activities and historical interpreters, demonstrating 17th century daily activities and technology. Grind corn, try on armor, play quoits and ninepins and more. Jamestown also has gallery exhibits with portraits, toys, furnishings, tools and artifacts.

Explore Powhatan Indian Village, board the Jamestown ships, and wander through James Fort. There are many activities and features. The Jamestown Web site is www.historyisfun.org.

Go to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. It has more than 400 animal species in a 163- acre park. You?ll see pandas, tigers, orangutans, black-footed ferrets and monkeys? See the giant pandas and their cub. Greet the orangutans! You can even view the animals from home via live web cam. The Web site: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/

Tips: Plan your trip ahead of time, so you will know about special events. Visit the zoo before 10 a.m., before crowds arrive or after 2:00 p.m. Dress for the weather and wear walking shoes.

Sails away! Mark Nauticus on your calendar. In Norfolk, this incredible maritime-themed science center has hands-on exhibits, a giant aquarium, interactive theatres, high-definition films, and numerous activities. Touch a shark and watch nurse sharks feed. Crawl inside a submersible. Web site: www.nauticus.org.

Escape the heat and head to Luray Caverns, a wonderland of natural magic. Luray Caverns is ?considered the oldest documented caverns in Virginia.? Kids will love Rainbow Lake with its colored drip formations and The Great Stalacpipe Organ.

Tip: Add to the fun and explore the on- site car and carriage museum.

Hats off to a fabulous summer!
by Blair Koster

Contact Information for All Attractions: Maymont Park
2201 Shields Lake Dr., Richmond
(804) 358-7166
www.maymont.org


Three Lakes Nature Center and Aquarium
400 Sausiluta Dr., Richmond
(804) 262-5055
www.co.henrico.va.us/rec/


Comedy Sportz Improv Theatre
7115 Staples Mill Rd., Richmond
(804) 266-9377
www.comedysportzrichmond.com

Dogwood Dell (In Byrd Park)
Boulevard and Idlewood Avenue,
Richmond
(804) 646-1437
Hotline: (804) 646-DELL
www.ci.richmond.va.us/parks/dogwood.aspx
*Season begins in June. Park Admission and performances are free.

Kings Dominion
Doswell, VA
(804) 876-5355
www.kingsdominion.com *Opening day is March 22, 2008. Buy a 2008 Season Pass now and get free 2008 parking.

Federal Reserve Bank Money Museum
701 East Byrd Street, Richmond
(804) 697-8110 www.richmondfed.org
Pocahontas State Park
10301 State Park Rd., Chesterfield
Ph: voice: (804) 796-4255
Reservations: (800) 933-PARK
www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/poc.shtml

Metro Richmond Zoo
8300 Beaver Bridge Rd.,Moseley
(804) 739-5666
www.metrorichmondzoo.com

Meadow Farm Museum
3400 Mountain Road, Glen Allen
(804) 501-5520
www.co.henrico.va.us/rec
Admission is free.

Children?s Museum of Richmond
2626 W. Broad St., Richmond
(804) 474-7000
www.c-mor.org

Science Museum of Virginia
2500 W. Broad St., Richmond
(804) 864-1400
Web site: www.smv.org

Old Dominion Railway Museum
102 Hull St., Richmond
1-804-233-6237
www.odcnrhs.org

Virginia Aviation Museum
(Located at Richmond International Airport near Sandston.)
5701 Huntsman Rd., Richmond
(804) 236-3622
www.vam.smv.org

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
1800 Lakeside Ave., Richmond
(804) 262-9887
www.lewisginter.org

Richmond Ghost Walk
901 Bank St., Richmond (Near 9th Street)
(804) 673-9255
www.wcities.com

The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia
00 Clay Street, Richmond
(804) 780-9093
www.blackhistorymuseum.org

The Citie of Henricus at Henricus Historical Park
251 Henricus Park Rd., Chester
(804) 706-1340
Web site: www.henricus.org
Pamplin Historical Park
6125 Boydton Plank Rd., Petersburg
(804) 861-2408 or 1 (877) PAM- PLIN
Web site: www.pamplinpark.org

Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center
101A Visitor Center Drive, Williamsburg
Phone: 1-800-HISTORY
www.williamsburg.com

Jamestown
APVA Jamestown Rediscovery
1367 Colonial Parkway, Jamestown
1 (757) 229-0412 or 1 (888) 593-4682
Web site: www.historyisfun.org

Smithsonian National Zoological Park
3001 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington, D.C.
24-hour information line: 202-633-4800
Web site: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/

Nauticus
One Waterside Drive, Norfolk
(757) 664-1000 or 1-800-664-1080

Luray Caverns
970 U.S. Hwy. 211, West Luray
(540) 743-6551
www.luraycaverns.com