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Not strictly Marc/VRE, but day/overnight trip to Richmond on Amtrak is always fun. Riverfront area is very walkable with lots of good food. Nice trails and pedestrian bridges to the islands in the James River. Tickets are as cheap a $15 each way and the trains run on Holidays.

If you're a Civil War (or general history) buff, you can take VRE down to Fredericksburg and explore/visit the battlefield for the, aptly named, Battle of Fredericksburg. It was fairly pivotal in the larger scheme of the war given how close it is to DC. It's been a while since I was there as part of a class, so I may be off base. But it's still easy to do without a car. Plus the historic part of F'burg is cool for the old homes/businesses and boutique shops, if that's your thing.

Good call on Richmond, definitely was on my Radar but with Amtrak’s dynamic pricing no $15 trips next week! I’ll need to plan more ahead for that one.

That would be cool and a top contender, but looking at the schedule you can’t really do a Southbound in the AM and Northbound in the PM! Looks like some limited options to do a reverse commune on the Manassas line. Looks like MARC has bidirectional options too, at least on the Penn line.

Shoot! I don’t even think about that. I’m sorry. But…Amtrak works in both directions and isn’t toooo much more costly. I mean, they use the same tracks and station so that may be a good alternative. Less frequencies, though, so you’ll have to plan more carefully.

Can confirm, did this (VRE down, Amtrak back) during VRE’s Fare Free September. Amtrak back in the evening was $35 day-of but I’m sure in advance would be cheaper. Also might be worth considering if there’s an affordable AirBnB or something for an overnight.