Escape Plans: Quick Getaways Within Easy Reach of Washington

Escape Plans includes more than 75 great destinations to the north, east, south and west of Washington, D.C., generally reachable in one to four hours by car. It is an easy-to-use guide that includes information on lodgings, restaurants, directions and prices as well as 20 maps of escape destinations. This is a getaway guide for all seasons, all interests and for those determined to get more out of Washington, D.C.-area life. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Introduction: Getting Away From It All Chapter 1 - Heading South by Southwest: Charlottesville: My Clifton (Nelson County, Fredricksburg, Richmond); The Shenandoah Valley: A Letter from Luray (Front Royal/Strasburg, Shenandoah National Park, The Lee Ranger District: More Foliage, Less Traffic, Sperrysville/Rappahannock County, This Side of the Shenandoah); Near Warm Springs: The Real Hidden Valley (Monterey, Va., The Secrets of Ramsey's Draft, Around Staunton) Chapter 2 - Fleeing North by Northeast: Never Mind Paris-It's April in New York (Fells Point, Baltimore, The Wondrous Bargains of C-Mart, Philadelphia); Lancaster County: An English Lesson (The Brandywine Valley, Boiling Springs, Pa., Westminster, Md.); Cape May, N.J.: Victoria's Seashore (Higbee Beach: Bird-Watching Optional, Atlantic City, The New Jersey Pine Barrens); On the Road to Red Bank (Spring Lake, Point Pleasant Beach/Bayhead, Great Adventure: Safari Time in New Jersey, Seaside Heights/Island Beach State Park) Chapter 3 - Hightailing It West by Northwest: Catoctins: The Other Side of Camp David (W&OD and C&O, Loudoun County, Va., Gettysburg); Soaking It Up in Berkeley Springs (Martinsburg, W. Va., Antietam, Shepherdstown, W. Va., Harper's Ferry, W. Va.); Higher Learning Atop North Fork Mountain); Around Canaan Valley, Elkins and Beyond, Helvetia: The West Virginia Alps); Our Cabin at Herrington Manor State Park (Garrett County, Md., Around Cumberland, Md., Idlewild Park, Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands) Chapter 4 - Hotfooting It East by Southeast: Maryland's Western Shore: Calvert Cliff Notes (Annapolis, Chesapeake Beach, Solomons Island, St. Mary's City, Point Lookout State Park); Maryland's Eastern Shore: Tilghman Island Surprises (Chestertown, Rock Hall, Easton, St. Michael's, Oxford, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Cambridge/Taylor's Island, Crumpton's Antiques, Crisfield and Smith Island); The Delmarva Coast: Ocean City in the Off-Season )Lewes, Rehoboth/Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach/Fenwick Island, Berlin/Snow Hill, Assateague Island, Md., Chincoteague, Va.); Norfolk: Tugging at an Ex-Salt's Heart (The Northern Neck, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg/Colonial Virginia) Cross-Preferences Index Acknowledgments

Roger Piantadosi is the editor and periodic writer of The Washington Post's weekly ESCAPES page. In more than 20 years at the Post--including four as editor of its popular WEEKEND section--he has made a specialty of uncovering ways to enjoy life in the capital region. He also is the author of a Washington, D.C., guidebook published by Bantam.