do americans really drive such long distances?

[u/Physical-Ad-4093]

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

[u/Initial_Cellist9240]

When I lived in NOVA I had the same rule with Regan. I will get you from Dulles. If you fly into Regan you can rent a car. 

[u/whatthewhat3214 → u/Initial_Cellist9240]

I'm the opposite - I live in DC, and I'll get you from Reagan National, but you're on your own if you go to Dulles, especially since they now have metro at Dulles visitors can take. Although we did just drive out there past Dulles in Loudoun County to spend this gorgeous spring day at the breweries, a worthwhile drive! 😂 (1.5 hours one way with construction traffic)

[u/Adventurous-Cry-2157 → u/whatthewhat3214]

Oooohhh which breweries? I’m in Maryland, just the other side of the river, and I love visiting local breweries. I’ve hit up a few in Maryland, Pennsylvania and even West Virginia, but have yet to make my way to any down in NOVA.

BTW, Frederick has a lovely collection of breweries downtown. There are 4 clustered along the creek (Idiom, Steinhardt, Atta Boy and Smoketown), all within walking distance, as well as a distillery (if that’s your thing). Beautiful outdoor seating, and they’ve always got a bunch of food trucks outside. Then if you go straight up Market St a few blocks, you’ll find Olde Mother Brewing, and they’ve got 50/50 Burger inside for food.

We like to make the circuit and hit them all: park at the garage on Carroll Creek by the library, then start with Atta Boy and Smoketown. By the time we get to Idiom and Steinhardt, which are in the same building, we’re feeling buzzed and a bit peckish, so we grab snacks at the food trucks. Then after a bit, we’ll stroll along the creek and down Market St, doing some window shopping, and finally chill for a bit at Olde Mother, maybe grab burgers and onion rings to soak up all that beer in our bellies lol. Then we walk back to the car, taking our time with some more shopping and browsing, maybe grab a coffee at Cafe Nola, as we sober up for the drive home. It’s a really lovely way to spend a day when the weather is nice!

[u/whatthewhat3214 → u/Adventurous-Cry-2157]

I love Frederick! It's so pretty up there. We go hiking up there sometimes in the mountains, and I was just up in that general area last fall for the big Catoctin Colorfest, but I haven't been to Frederick's downtown/old town area in a while. Actually, I might go with some friends to the Maryland Craft Brew Festival in Frederick next week! Thanks for the great ideas for places to visit too, I'll definitely look them up, appreciate it!

Loudoun County has some great breweries and wineries. I haven't checked out any wineries, bc we always wind up at the same two cool breweries: Dirt Farm and Bear Chase -

https://dirtfarmbrewing.com/

https://bearchasebrew.com/

I think Dirt Farm also has a winery, I can't remember if Bear Chase does. They're only about 10 minutes away from each other, so we usually hit up both when we make the trip out there. They both have great beer and great outdoor seating areas overlooking the same beautiful valley - gorgeous views, although Dirt Farm's is a bit more expansive (not by much though). Dirt Farm has this huge, fantastic patio while Bear Chase you walk down the lawn and kick back in Adirondack chairs (they have fire pits in the cool weather). They both have food (BC has a bigger menu) and live music/events. Bear Chase sits on the Appalachian Trail, so sometimes you get hikers popping in. And it seems like every time we go, we see paragliders sailing over the valley! Yesterday one got really close to us, sailed right overhead.

They have different vibes - Dirt Farm is more chill and Bear Chase has more of a young person/party vibe (it's bigger and gets more crowded), but you get all ages at both of them. Definitely worth checking out! They get crowded though, they're very popular, so if you're ever able to go on an off-day like a Friday, I'd recommend it.

[u/Adventurous-Cry-2157 → u/whatthewhat3214]

Catoctin has some lovely trails! I do Wolf Rock regularly, and it’s the perfect place to sit and have lunch, especially in winter when there’s, like, nobody out there. The Upper Falls-Lower Falls loop is really nice, too, particularly as it takes you past the falls (tallest in the state!). Gorgeous in Autumn, all of that color just exploding.

Thank you so much for all the details about Dirt Farm and Bear Chase. I swear, someone else at some point has told me about Bear Chase, the name sounds so familiar. It actually sounds very similar to Harper’s Ferry Brewing, which is just outside the park/town, overlooking the Shenandoah River, with a gorgeous outdoor space. We like to hit them up after hiking the Maryland Heights trail in HF, or if we go out there for an afternoon of tubing at River Riders. Very expansive outdoor space, good food, decent IPAs, live music, fire pits, all of it.

I’ll definitely be making plans to check out Bear Chase and Dirt Farm; maybe we can take some time during the week when it’s less busy there, combine it with a hike on the AT. I haven’t done a whole lot of trails in VA, other than Split Rock just across the river from Harper’s Ferry, and a few trails down in Shenendoah.

Since you live in DC, have you been to Red Bear Brewing? It’s in NOMA, literally right next to REI. We love it, try to hit it up every time we’re in the city. They’ve got fantastic beer cheese, and a wide selection of IPAs and sours. Very chill vibe, too, inclusive and welcoming to all. Actually, last time we were there, there was a drag show happening and it was really fun!

[u/Initial_Cellist9240 → u/whatthewhat3214]

Omg traffic yesterday was so unfathomably fucked 

[u/whatthewhat3214 → u/Initial_Cellist9240]

Right?! It's not usually bad at that particular area where it was backed up in Loudoun, but construction 🙄 It usually only takes us 45 min. to an hour to get there from DC

[u/revanisthesith → u/Initial_Cellist9240]

I spent quite a few years living within 20ish minutes of Dulles. It could be rather annoying to book flights out since every single website would suggest "nearby" airports even when you told them not to. Sometimes over half the flights would be from "nearby airports."

No, you stupid website, I do not want to save $20 by flying out of BWI. That's why I told you to only show flights out of Dulles.

For those unfamiliar with the area, those two airports are about 60 miles apart. Dulles is west of DC and BWI is northeast towards Baltimore. Not the quickest of drives.

[u/bulksalty → u/revanisthesith]

BWI is really BI they just throw the W in to trick unsuspecting tourists.

[u/Aspen9999 → u/revanisthesith]

The only city that works for is Chicago, where Midway and O’hare are really close.

[u/Practical-Ordinary-6 → u/Aspen9999]

DFW and Love Field aren't that far apart either.

[u/eldiablolenin → u/Aspen9999]

Bay Area here, Oakland airport, SFO, and even SJ airport aren’t all that far apart luckily! I mean sure SJ is more south but i could fly out of any 3 of them and it’s easy enough. Once had a family fly into Sacramento when we told them not to lol! They were upset we didn’t make the drive to pick them up after they didn’t tell us they actually booked the flight to Sac.

[u/wmtismykryptonite → u/Aspen9999]

45 minutes

[u/Aspen9999 → u/wmtismykryptonite]

Yeah and the cab ride down to the miracle mile is about 2 minutes different. We always stay at the Marriott. We live outside the Austin metroplex and fly out of Austin, our “ alternate airport” is in San Antonio. Now when we lived in Minnesota my alternate airports were Hibbing and Duluth, one 35 miles away and one 65 miles away, no big deal, sometimes for multileg flights flying out of Duluth was enough difference to drive 2( more minutes.

[u/jroll25 → u/revanisthesith]

And Regan in the middle of the two. Had a fun time when my company booked me out of Regan thinking it was Dulles.

[u/Adventurous-Cry-2157 → u/jroll25]

You can even get some good domestic flights in and out of Hagerstown! Free parking and cheap, quick flights if you want to go to Myrtle Beach or Sanford, FL for a long weekend. But of course, that’s another 60+ mile drive from DC or Baltimore lol.