From falls to dolls to balls to y'alls, there's a getaway for just about any interest within a few hours of the Beltway. We've pulled a few of the juiciest from recent Escapes columns, the regional travel feature that runs each Wednesday in the Style section.
-- Steve Hendrix
For People Who Love Animals
· Trek With a Llama. But not on a llama. The llamas of the Applewood Inn and Llama treks near Lexington, Va., don't carry people on their long treks into the Blue Ridge. It's more like taking llama on a walk, a chance to bond with one of nature's more curmudgeonly creatures, not to mention woolier. 800-463-1902, http://www.applewoodbb.com/ .
· Hawk Watching. Each year, during the September and October migration, a whole bunch of raptors get a bird's-eye view of a whole bunch of birders at Pennsylvania's Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, a vast patch of mountain trails and viewspots an hour northeast of Harrisburg. 610-756-6000, http://www.hawkmountain.org/ .
· Horse Camping. Put a little giddyap in your getaway with a day-and-a-half trail ride and overnight campout in rural West Virginia. Starting out in Hico, about 300 miles from D.C., Horseshoe Creek Riding Stable offers overnight trips with a campfire-cooking, tent-pitching guide year-round, weather permitting. 888-658-7433. http://www.horseshoecreek.com/.
· Critters of the Old Dominion. Virginia is ahead of other states in promoting statewide wildlife viewing oportunities with a series of free guides. The "Discover Our Wild Side: Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail Guides" series details hiking and driving loops in the coastal, mountain and central Piedmont regions. 866-822-4737, http://www.virginia.org/ .
For People Who Love History
· The Johnstown Flood. On May 31, 1889, a dam collapsed and loosed 20 million tons of water on Johnstown, Pa., a steel boom town between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Today, the story of one of America's most devastating catastrophes is grippingly told in a moving museum and national memorial. 800-237-8590, http://www.visitjohnstownpa.com/ .
· It's a Twang Thang. The roots of mountain music go deep in the hollows of southwest Virginia. Starting in Ferrum, a 250-mile route called the Crooked Road is a driving tour of bluegrass venues, weekly jams, public dances and music museums, not to mention hearty cooking and Appalachian scenery. 866-686-6874, http://www.thecrookedroad.org/ .
· Weekend Warriors. Get off the reenactment sidelines and into the genuine fake battle at Civil War Adventure Camps in Pamplin Historical Park south of Petersburg, Va. On selected weekends from July to October, sign up for a fake musket, your choice of blue or gray duds and 18 hours of period living. 877-726-7546, http://www.civilwaradventurecamp.org/ .
· One Night in the Navy. The Battleship New Jersey was launched one year to the day after Pearl Harbor. Now, after being decommissioned in 1991 as the second most decorated ship in Navy history, it's back in Camden, N.J., doing duty as a pierside museum. But why just tour the ship when you can sleep on it? Families and groups with at least one minor over the age of 7 can sign on for a berth, dinner and breakfast in the mess and a night aboard the longest battleship ever built. 856-966-1652, http://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/ .
For People Who Love Small Towns
· Carlisle, Pa. Less touristy than neighboring Gettysburg and more textured than Harrisburg to the north, Carlisle is comfortable in a history that runs much deeper than its one-time role as host of the Redskins training camp. The Civil War cannonball dents in the courthouse are unrepaired, the Colonial street plan is largely untouched, and its spacious historical society complete with library, gift shop and walking tours is impressive. 717-243-5627, http://www.visitccpa.com/ .
· Reedville, Va. It seems that everyone in this Chesapeake fishing outpost has a backyard dock with a killer view. Three hours from Washington, Reedville and the Northern Neck is a place of great natural beauty and rich Colonial past, where hard-working watermen get up early to haul in the day's catch, and restored plantations and presidential birthplaces keep company with fishing charter outfits and farmers markets. 800-393-6180, http://www.northernneck.org/ .
