· Girl World. American Girl Place is the toy line become a destination. Since opening in late 2003, the Fifth Avenue outlet of the popular line of historical dolls has become a New York must-see for tens of thousands of families. They spend long hours -- and big money -- eating brunch or dinner in the cafe, watching the Broadway-style "American Girls Revue" in the theater, pampering their little plastic wards in a veritable spa for dolls and trying on look-alike clothes for both toy girls and real girls at eight in-store boutiques. 877-247-5223, http://www.americangirlplace.com./
· Where Muppets Drip. In Langhorne, Pa., about 30 minutes north of Philadelphia, Sesame Place is about small people getting wet, getting thrilled and getting to see, live, the characters that have captivated them on television. It reveals, at heart, their secret 5-year-old lives: Maybe they've moved on to Mary-Kate and Ashley and declared Dora the Explorer a "baby show," but deep down, they still harbor that early love of Elmo. Elmo plus water slides? Call it bliss. 215-752-7070, http://www.sesameplace.com/ .
For People Who Love Sports
· Love at the Beach. The Sea Colony Resort at Bethany Beach, Del., is a sort of Wimbledon of the waves. Its tennis center, a few blocks from the ocean, is open year-round. There are four indoor courts and 30 outdoor -- 12 are clay. During the summer there are weekly clinics, junior clinics, round-robin tournaments, a junior academy and other tennis-oriented goings-on. In the winter, longtime teaching pro Dave Marshall runs weekend mini-camps in which his team of aces roam the courts dispensing point-winning tips. 302-539-4488, http://www.tennisadvantage.com/
· Canaan Valley. Driving up the curlicue roads and looking down on on a broad valley tucked 3,200 feet in the sky and rimmed by snowy hilltops, you can just imagine a hidden Tibetan enclave -- Shangri-La with Nascar prayer flags. Canaan Valley, W. Va., makes Washingtonians feel as if they've gotten somewhere remote, especially skiers. You won't confuse Canaan Valley, four hours from D.C., with Aspen. But with two downhill resorts, hundreds of miles of excellent cross-country trails and some of the region's heaviest snows, at least you can ski till it hurts. 800-782-2775, http://www.canaanvalley.org/ .
· Baseball Sleepover. All summer long, baseball fans of the more obsessive sort come to Doubleday Country Inn and Farm in Landisburg, Pa., about 2 1/2 hours from D.C., to don 1930s-style uniforms and play ball the way it was before gloves had webbing, and long before steroids and nine-figure contracts. The hot dogs and rustic setting are small-town. But some of the players are big league. Every summer week, a former pro joins the amateurs for up to three games a day. 717-789-2456, http://www.doubledayfarm.com/ .
· Golf Shores. In the past decade, Ocean City, Md., better known for tacky T-shirts and boardwalk fries, has matured into a burgeoning golf destination in the round-a-day mold of Myrtle Beach, S.C. We found a week's worth of compelling courses within 20 minutes of the boardwalk, including Lighthouse Sound (888-554-4557, http://www.lighthousesound.com/ ), Rum Pointe Seaside Golf Links (888-809-4653, http://www.rumpointe.com/ ), River Run (800-733-7786, http://www.riverrungolf.com/ ) and the Beach Club (800-435-9223, http://www.beachclubgolflinks.com/ ).
For People Who Love Americana
· Jersey Rodeo. Guess where the longest-running Saturday-night rodeo in the country takes place every summer weekend? Why, just 117 miles from D.C. outside of Woodstown, N.J., under a 30-foot roadside cowboy. Jersey's Cowtown is more Toby Keith than Bon Jovi, a gen-u-wine buckin' and kickin' hootenanny where men in hats battle bulls and wrestle steers, and spectators munch on fried Oreos and cheese fries. 856-769-3200, http://www.cowtownrodeo.com/ .
· Patsy's Town. Little Winchester, Va., didn't always love Patsy Cline when she was growing up (too brash, wore pants), but they now love that homegirl enough to have a named a few miles of highway for her, throw a festival every Labor Day weekend and devote much of the visitors center to her memory. They'll tell Patsy Pilgrims how to find her grave, her little white house, Lynette's Triangle Diner (where she might have worked) and Gaunt's Drug Store (where she definitely did). 877-871-1326, http://www.visitwinchesterva.com/ .
· Righting Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, straddling a Pennsylvania creek and waterfall, was declared "the building of the century" by the American Institute of Architects. Still, rotting concrete almost turned Fallingwater into Fellinwater. But after a 2 1/2 -year, $11.5 million restoration, visitors are again touring, and relishing, one of America's most famous houses. 724-329-8501, http://www.fallingwater.org/ .
· Planks for the Memories. The boardwalk was born in Atlantic City to keep people from dragging sand into the hotels. Now they are a coastal institution around the country. But nobody does boardwalks like New Jersey, where they range from wholesome to honky-tonk. In addition to the A.C. original, the 127-mile Jersey shore features the doo-wop of Wildwood , the taffy temperance of Ocean City , hard partying Seaside and the Boss's Asbury Park . 800-847-4865, http://www.visitnj.org/ .
For People Who Love the Outdoors
· Deep Freeze Lake. You don't have to fly to Minneapolis to chop a hole in the ice and drop a hook. Maryland's western panhandle, rising into the highlands, is a virtual corridor to another climate, and Deep Creek Lake hosts an ice fishing scene that can last into March. Around the lake, about four hours from D.C., local outfitters offer cold-weather anglers guides, gear and lots of hot coffee. 301-387-4386, http://www.garrettchamber.com/ .
· Pennsylvania Turn-bike. All cyclists have ever wanted was a superhighway to call their own. Now they have one, a genuine stretch of what used to be the Pennsylvania Turnpike. After the turnpike was rerouted through bigger, four-lane tunnels, a local conservancy turned the decommissioned eight miles into the Pike to Bike Trail, a stretch of car-free riding complete with dark and spooky two-lane tunnels. Even better, it's in Bedford County, about two hours from D.C. and known for its rich countryside cycling. 814-623-7900, http://www.saconservancy.org/ .
· Trailtown USA. Damascus, in Southwest Virginia, resembles other small southern Appalachian towns with Victorian houses, brick storefronts and green looming mountains. But it has a surprising Lycra side as the crossroads of several major hiking and biking trails. With the Virginia Creeper Trail , the Appalachian Trail , the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail and the Iron Mountain (mountain biking) Trail all converging here, quite a collection of outfitters, cafes and ice cream stops have sprung up to serve the weary wanderers. 276-475-3831, http://www.damascus.org/ .
· The East's Big Water. Rafting aficionados know that in the spring, the most rambunctious river in the East is West Virginia's New River. For a few weeks in April and May, the New becomes nearly as rowdy at the thundering rapids of the West. About four hours from D.C., the river cuts for 53 miles through massive rock cliffs, creating the New River Gorge National River. This is rafting central, with dozens of outfitters offering day trips on Mother Nature's roller coaster. 800-927-0263, http://www.newrivercvb.com/ .
For People Who Might Be Crazy
· Sky Diving. Until 20 years ago, new jumpers were required to attend six hours of classes for a risky solo jump. These days, anyone can sky dive without much planning beyond booking a reservation. It's called tandem jumping: A novice hooks up to an instructor who actually controls the ripcord. Virginia's Skydive Orange is one of several tandem outfitters. 877-348-3759, http://www.skydiveorange.com/ .
· Trapezing. Ever since Carrie Bradshaw went a-swinging in a "Sex and the City" episode, the New York Trapeze School has become a bona fide Thing to Do. Two-hour classes typically include up to 10 students, mostly novices. Now the school has branched out to Boston and Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The Boston school is open year-round; the New York and Baltimore rigs will come down in the fall and return next spring. 212-678-0728, http://www.trapezeschool.com/ .
· Surfing. Hey, it's not Waikiki, but the humbler waves of the Atlantic may actually be better for beginning surfers. At least, that's what the folks at Rehoboth's Boarding School say. Using the three- to six-foot swells, they can teach the basics and usually get even first-timers up during a two-hour lesson on Rehoboth Beach. Half-day workshops are taught on Assateague Island and run through mid-October. 302-270-8103, http://www.boardingschoolrb.com/.
