Virginia is fun for kids, too

By Mark Taylor

Traditionally, few OWAA members bring school-aged children along on their trips to OWAA annual conferences.

Granted, many members no longer have young kids. But those who do shouldn’t automatically plan to drop the young ones with Grandma and Grandpa before heading to Roanoke in June.

Both Roanoke and Virginia are very kid friendly.

Two popular attractions are within walking distance of the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, headquarters hotel for OWAA’s 2007 conference. The Science Museum of Western Virginia, located in the heart of downtown, offers a mix of permanent and rotating educational displays. A few blocks away, the Virginia Museum of Transportation is chock-full of displays featuring trucks, buses, planes and, of course, trains – things most kids love.

Barely 2 miles from downtown, Mill Mountain Zoo features a variety of critters, from the sublime (snow leopards) to the slithery (a king cobra and a pair of pythons). From its lofty perch on the peak of the mountain for which it is named, the zoo’s grounds offer amazing views of the Roanoke Valley.

About an hour up the road, just off Interstate 81, the Virginia Safari Park offers visitors an up-close view of native and non-native wildlife.

For unstructured fun, visitors can head to one of the dozens of parks in Roanoke and Roanoke County, where they’ll find great playgrounds, expansive fields for playing ball or flying kites, and ponds and rivers for fishing. One Roanoke park even features a Frisbee golf course!

Traveling outside the city opens up a wealth of opportunities for excitement, many of them with an educational flair.

The Booker T. Washington National Monument in nearby Hardy, Va., offers a glimpse back at the humble beginnings of one of the country’s most influential African Americans.

Smith Mountain Lake and Claytor Lake state parks are both just an hour’s drive from Roanoke and feature shore fishing and great swimming beaches. Smith Mountain Lake State Park also offers boat rentals.

One of Smith Mountain Lake’s unique attractions can be found at Bridgewater Plaza, where kids of all ages enjoy hand-feeding popcorn to the marina’s thousands of “pet” carp.

Keep in mind, too, that the 2007 OWAA conference falls on a year when the commonwealth will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown. Many special educational events and celebrations have been planned; for more information, visit www.jamestown2007.org.

Not far from Jamestown, historic Williamsburg offers a trio of attractions that are wildly popular with families – Colonial Williamsburg and the Busch Gardens Europe and Water Country USA theme parks.

For more information on family activities in Roanoke and beyond, contact the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (http://www.visitroanokeva.com or 800-635-5535) or the Virginia Tourism Corporation (www.virginia.org or 800-VISIT VA).

Mark Taylor is local co-chair of OWAA’s 2007 conference, which convenes in Roanoke June 16-19, 2007.