Weekend in the Life of a Vienna Resident

Friday Night

After an exhausting week of work and school for our family, we are looking forward to an amazing weekend in Vienna. We are all hungry and very excited to go to dinner to our favorite place to eat: YAMA Japanese Restaurant. YAMA is characterized by its small family-oriented environment and great sushi. One of the things that we love when we visit the restaurant is that the owner is always present greeting its customers with a smile on his face. The service is  fantastic and the food is even better. YAMA is located in Maple Ave, the central street in Vienna which is filled with fun things to do and restaurants that you will love.

 Saturday Morning

To start the weekend off in a healthy way, we decided that we wanted to go on a walk on Maple Avenue. As I mentioned before, Maple Avenue is the central street in Vienna where all the action happens. My husband can’t start his day off without coffee, so we started the walk by going to Starbucks (of course), which is located in a plaza in the corner of Maple Ave and Park St NE. After coffee we continued our walk by going into the Washington and Old Dominion Trail,  the trail is a 44-mile long path that is adapted for biking, walking, jogging and rollerblading. This is a very scenic place where you will see many people exercising and enjoying a nice day. 

On the way back from the trail we became pretty hungry, so we decided that we wanted to stop at our “local secret” to eat some acai bowls. The place is called “South Block”, which is a local juicery, smoothie, and acai bowl shop inside of Jammin Java. Jammin Java is a local concert venue, bar, and coffeehouse that hosts “South Block” inside of its premises everyday from 9am to 4pm. Our family is absolutely obsessed with their food which is packed with nutritious fruit in the form of a smoothie bowl. After a rejuvenating meal, we returned home to relax and spend time together.

Saturday Evening 

One of the most exciting things about Vienna is the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. This enormous indoor/outdoor venue for live entertainment is located just North of the Dulles Toll Road. Wolf Trap is known for hosting large-scale outdoor musical events over the warmer months, and indoor events over the winter. This place is truly a gem for people because it is a family-oriented venue with tons of security and events throughout the year. Today our family has decided to attend one of the many free events that Wolf-Trap offers during the year. We are bringing a cooler with refreshments and food for the evening. Truly an amazing family experience!

Sunday Morning 

One of the coolest things about Vienna is that it is close to everything! To start the day off, we have decided to go to the gym. The gym that we attend is Lifetime Fitness in Reston, which is only about 15 minutes away from Maple Avenue. Lifetime has a state-of-the-arts family-friendly facility that hosts many members of the community of Vienna. Whether is jogging, lifting weights, playing basketball, swimming, or joining one of the many classes that Lifetime has to offer, you will truly love the experience of attending this gym. Additionally, during the months of summer, Lifetime opens their outside pool which is great for families to attend over the weekend. We truly love going to Lifetime!

 Sunday Evening 

After a nice family workout session, we thought that it’d be a great idea to return home, shower (of course), and go to the Mall. The nearest mall (Tyson’s Corner) is located in Tysons, which is Fairfax County’s central business district and regional commercial center. Tysons is located only about 10 minutes (or less) from the center of Maple Avenue and it is known as an “edge city”, which is a term used to describe a concentration of business, shopping and entertainment outside of a “Downtown” area. This area is filled with high-rise residential buildings, shopping, and tons of restaurants to enjoy. Additionally, for those who need to commute to Washington DC, or any other area from Vienna, in Tysons there is an easily accessible metro station that will take you wherever you need to go. 

 My family weekend is over and I have to prepare my week of work, so I hope you’ve enjoyed this experience with me. As you can see, there are many things to do in this beautiful area. Whether is walking across Maple Avenue, working out as a family, going to restaurants, going to the mall, or attending a live concert, Vienna is a city where you will never be bored!

 Hope you enjoyed this experience with me.