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Top summer getaways Looking to plan a last-minute escape this Memorial Day weekend? These destinations are perfect for a weekend trip.
Surfers stay in a designated surfing area near 92nd Street at Rockaway Beach in New York. In recent years, Rockaway has gone from bedraggled to beloved by artists, surfers and Brooklyn and Manhattan hipsters. Rockaway Beach has had a certain cachet for natives of Queens, if only because it’s supposedly the largest urban beach in the United States.
Kirsten Luce
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For The Washington Post
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Sun umbrellas rise on the first day of summer at Seattle's Alki Beach Park. The park is one of many beaches nationwide that are close to urban centers, providing locals with gems of sand and surf. Visitors, take note.
Elaine Thompson
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AP
It's screams galore on the "Tornado" ride at Kings Dominion Amusement Park in Doswell, Va., about 20 miles north of Richmond. WaterWorks, 20-plus acres of aquatic attractions inside Kings Dominion, dripping like a golden retriever on Lake Winnipesaukee. The park boasts multiple rides, and the Roller-coaster, the Intimidator 305, the tallest and fastest roller coaster of its type on the East Coast and much more.
Linda Davidson
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The Washington Post
A double helix-like stairway spirals through the Dali Museum lobby to the floors above. The St. Petersburg, Fla., museum houses the largest collection of Dali’s work outside his native Spain with 2,140 pieces - including 96 oils, eight monumental canvases and, of course, the lobster telephone.
Judy Wells
Philadelphia is a tasty place for vegans to visit, with several animal and health concious food venders such as Vegan Treats. The Philly based shop Treats supplies desserts for restaurants and shops in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and more. The Phillies also claim the country’s top-ranked vegetarian ballpark.
Melanie D.G. Kaplan
A mural marks the hallway of Tone On Lex hostel on East 94th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Hostels in New York are a cheap way to stay in the city and can provide more fun and entertainment than humdrum hotels.
Helayne Seidman
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For The Washington Post
The Moonlite Theatre opened in 1949 and is one of a very few drive-in movie theaters that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Moonlite is one of several monuments to Hollywood and America’s car culture along U.S. Route 11 , which slips through the western part of Virginia, skirting mountains and shadowing rivers as it travels from the West Virginia state line just north of Winchester to the Tennessee line in Bristol.
Michael S. Williamson
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The Washington Post
The Seneca Rocks, in the Spruce Knob Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, are part of the Monongahela National Forest. There are several protected forests within driving distance from Washington, D.C., including the Monongahela, which is about a three hour drive. The closest to Washington are the George Washington and Jefferson national forests , which are also the largest.
Monongahela National Forest
The Falls Trail in Ricketts Glen State Park , may be one of the most spectacular hiking routes in the East. About 30 miles west of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., at the eastern edge of the Endless Mountains, the complete loop is a bit less than 8 miles long, with 21 waterfalls in the area.
Brian Yarvin
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For The Washington Post
Penn's Cave is a natural cavern ocated in central Pennsylvania about 14 miles east of the town of State College, and is one of a handful of caves that you can ride through in a boat. Penn's Cave has been offering boat tours since 1885.
Penn's Cave
The Appalachian Trail leads towards the top of Whitetop Mountain , in Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. Whitetop is the second-highest peak in the state of Virginia. The temperature can dip into the low 60s at night, providing a nice escape from the summer heat.
Norm Shafer
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For The Washington Post
People walk along a path on the second section of the High Line park that opened in June in New York City. The above ground park was a former railway line that is now populated by lush vegetation. The second section doubles the length of the park, which has drawn more than 4 million visitors since its opening in June 2009.
Spencer Platt
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Getty Images
The Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant offers outdoor dining and drinking, as well as dock space for the Manayunk Dragon Boat Racing Team in Manayunk, Pa . Manayunk is home to “the Wall,” a hill with a 17 percent grade that is a legend for cyclists, and is one of the most challenging legs of the Philadelphia International Championship.
Andrea Sachs
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The Washington Post
At 876 feet high and more than 3,000 feet long, the New River Gorge Bridge is an engineering marvel. A catwalk running below the roadway recently opened for guided one-way tours.
Becky Krystal
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The Washington Post
The Appalachian Trail Museum is near the mid-point of the legendary route that runs from Georgia to Maine. The country’s only official homage to hiking opened last June in an 18th-century grist mill in southern Pennsylvania’s Pine Grove Furnace State Park.
Christine Dell'Amore
Greensboro, N.C. , is part of the 1.5-million-inhabitant Piedmont Triad (along with the smaller Winston-Salem and High Point). The Triad grew first into a national textile and furniture-making hub and more recently added technology and biotechnology to the mix. In 2004, the Department of Energy awarded Greensboro entry to the Clean Cities Hall of Fame, and is busy constructing one of the country’s first urban greenway loops, complete with bike and walking trails, as well as a space for public art displays.
Andre Jenny
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Alamy
Heartwood
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Heartwood is an appropriate name for southwest Virginia’s newest attraction, which officially opened this July in Abingdon, Va. Its founders, a coalition of several local art and economic development groups, hope that it will become the heart of the region’s cultural, musical and artisan communities. Another important goal: showcasing the area’s natural beauty.
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Buddhist Wesak festival, prisoners-of-war reunion, bridge collapse, world’s largest Lego model and more.
Flexing their muscles
Dozens of bodybuilders came out to Silver Spring to compete in the 2013 Musclemania Capital Tournament of Champions.
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