About 2:30 hours drives from Northern Virginia is Colonial Willamsburg that used to be the Capital of Virginia before it was moved to Richmond.
Just so I don’t make a joke out of myself with my lack of American history knowledge, I suggest you read the wiki page to get the historical importance of the town.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Williamsburg
Unless you want to include Busch Gardens visit as a part of the trip, a day-trip to Willamsburg is just right.
Busch Gardens would take up a good full-day.
This living-history museum indeed takes you back in time. The street full of old yet restored houses, men and women dressed in colonial time outfits and short stints to exhibit the issues/lives of people during 1700s are really cool.
There are houses on the street that demonstrate certain activities such as lives of black-smiths. To enter the houses one needs to get entrance ticket priced at approximately $40 (in Spring 2013).
However, you don’t need ticket to just walk around the streets and take pictures from outside. I didn’t get the ticket. Not that I am cheap, but I have seen similar arrangements before.
In the afternoon they perform enactment of one of the incidents from back in the days. And it is done in open-air, on the street. So, no ticket is required to watch the show.
And then of course there are plenty of restaurants, taverns (set-up with colonial ambiance) and enough souvenir shopping to keep one entertained.
For some weird reason if you don’t believe women can make fine beer, you must watch the video below: