Joining us from out of town? You’re in good company: many of the rest of our guests are, too! That’s why we’ve put this page together with some suggestions on things you can do while you’re in town (aside from attending “that wedding thing”). There’s also a discussion section at the bottom of this page where you can discuss your plans with fellow guests, if you’re so inclined to plan some group outings during the holiday weekend. We hope you enjoy your time in the fabulous Northern Virginia (NoVA)/DC area!
Food Stuffs
Silver Diner12251 Fair Lakes Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22033
Corner of Fair Lakes Parkway & West Ox Road
Silver Diner is a local diner chain with a ’50s feel but a modern menu: fresh and local ingredients, grass-fed and cage free meat options, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, and of course, the most important part: breakfast served all day!
Sino’s Inn Chinese Restaurant14245H Centreville Square
Centreville, VA 20121
Our favorite Chinese option in the area, Sino’s offers all the classics. Try the fried crab meat wontons!
Willard’s BBQ4300 Chantilly Shopping Center #1a
Chantilly, VA 20151
Arguably the best BBQ in NoVA, Willard’s is also conveniently located within a 1-minute walk of the hotel! Grab some brisket to go and enjoy it in one of the hotel lounge rooms with your fellow guests!
Dogfish Head Alehouse13041 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy
Fairfax, VA 22033-2001
“Delaware brews and comfort food!” Enjoy some of the best pub food and beer selection around, and you’ll quickly find out why Dogfish Head is Stephanie and Grant’s “local bar” – and you’ll be in walking distance of our apartment!
Wegmans Fairfax11620 Monument Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
OR
Wegmans Dulles
45131 Columbia Place
Sterling, VA 20166
Have no fear, Rochesterians: Wegmans is here! There are several locations in NoVA, but the Dulles location is closest to the hotel and wedding site, while the Fairfax location is our regular store. Both locations have the “Market Cafe” for you to dine in, and the full Wegmans selection for anything you might want to pick up for your hotel room or the potluck! You can even get your hands on some Zweigles white hots if you’re feeling homesick!
Activities and Places
Geocaching
There are lots of caches here in NoVA! But if you’re not used to the area, please watch out for the following: snakes, ticks, black widow spiders, and lots of poison ivy. Also, be extra careful about not looking suspicious – the muggles around the nation’s capital are extra jumpy about “suspicious packages.”
The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
Little known fact – there are 2 Smithsonian Air & Space museums in the DC area, and the better one is in Virginia! Located just down the road from the Dulles airport (and the hotel!), the Udvar-Hazy Center is the hangar where all the Smithsonian’s air and space goodies are kept – including the Concord, the Enola Gay, and the greatest space-faring vessel ever created: the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery! There’s also a full-sized IMAX theater inside with air and space themed shows and new release blockbusters. If you only visit one thing while you’re in town, make it the Udvar-Hazy Center! (Stephanie says so!) Admission is free, parking costs $15 per vehicle, but there may be a free shuttle from your hotel – ask at the desk!
Civil War sites in NoVA
Check out the link above for a guide to the many historic American Civil War sites that can be found in the region. We recommend a trip to Manassas National Battlefield Park if you’re looking for a good (free!) place to start.
Great Falls National Park in McLean, VA
Gorgeous views and fun hiking! There is a $5 parking fee per vehicle, and Great Falls is a “carry-in, carry-out” park, so bring a trash bag if you plan to picnic and take your trash out with you.
Frying Pan Farm Park
Sound familiar? It should – it’s where the wedding will be! But the wedding will only take place at the Visitor Center, and there’s a whole big working-farm park to explore beyond that!
Claude Moore Park in Sterling, VA
Eleven miles of hiking trails, two fishing ponds, picnic pavilions, a National-Register-listed Historic District, and an outstanding Sportsplex provide opportunities for passive and active recreation. Woodlands, wildflower meadows, wetlands, and ponds provide peaceful surroundings for hikes, picnics, bird watching, and photography. Vestal’s Gap Road and the Lanesville Historic District take you back in time as you walk the Native American trail and visit the 1779 Lanesville Ordinary & Post Office. But let’s face it… you just want to see where Grant works!
Shopping
Looking for upscale? Visit Tysons and its even-more-upscale neighbor Tysons II, twin shopping malls right next to each other in McLean, Virginia. (Tip: Though it’s spelled “McLean,” pronounce it like the last name of the iconic main character from the Die Hard series, John McClane.) Inside Tysons I you’ll find one of our very favorite eateries: Wasabi, a conveyer belt sushi restaurant right in open air of the mall!
Looking for a deal? Head west to Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets. Stephanie can’t manage to visit there without leaving with a new pair of shoes from her favorite brand, which has a whole store at the outlets: Merrell!
Getting into DC
Seems like an obvious option while you’re in town, right? Though we encourage you to explore the vast options in NoVA, we certainly understand the siren call of visiting our nation’s capital while you’re so close! If you’d like to visit “the nation’s front yard” or some of the downtown Smithsonian museums [sidenote: the best Smithsonian Air & Space location is actually in NoVA! see above], we’ll help you get there:
Is there a Metro train from near the hotel to downtown DC? – Maybe! Sorry for the cryptic answer, but the truth is that there’s a new train line opening up this summer (the Silver Line) which would take you from right near the wedding site straight to downtown DC! The problem is that it has suffered several setbacks and we still do not yet know if it will be open in time. If it is, we’ll update this page with info on how to use it!
Using the Orange Line: It’s highly recommended that you use the WMATA Trip Planner to plan your back-and-forth trip before you depart. This will give you fare prices and train departure times. The Trip Planner also includes bus info for several bus lines, in case you decide to use a bus to get to the Metro station or to your destination. (Buses in NoVA are clean and air conditioned, in Stephanie’s experience commuting on them every day!) Check the websites of the places you’d like to visit in DC, and they will tell you which Metro or bus stop is nearby.
If you’re driving to the Metro station, you can drive to the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU station (referred to on the WMATA site as just “Vienna Metro”). There’s free parking at this station on weekends and holidays, including Labor Day (other stations have free parking at these times as well – if they have parking, which not all do!). Once at the station, we recommend you purchase a refillable SmarTrip card from the special SmarTrip machines – they cost $10 for $8 worth of fare (which you can add more value to), but the $2 cost is made up for in discount fares when you use the card, even if you only use it for one round-trip, you will break even!