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I tried to plan a trip from here to Acadia once, but the wife vetoed driving up. In retrospect, I was very thankful. We'd have wasted so much of our trip getting to/from there. Instead we flew into Logan and rented a car to drive up to Maine. Even with that, we were still in the car driving for what seemed like hours so many days trying to see places along the Maine coast. We were childless at the time, but I really want to go back once our boy is older (just turned 7). I want him to be old enough to tackle the amazing carriage roads in Acadia on a bike and be able to handle his own sea kayak.
Since you mention Spain, we visited this spring and the lodging, food/drink and ground transportation prices were so cheap that it more than made up for the $800 each we spent getting to/from there. We were able to spend almost all of our time enjoying ourselves instead of traveling thanks to the redeye over and the high speed train network. Our previous trip to Europe was to Italy, which was at least 50% more across the board. Now just seems a great time to go to Spain.
Thanks for your input. I do need to do something in MD with the car anyway, so driving it is. Plus, we have more time than $ right now and Spain tickets for us 3 were about $3k and that doesn't include transportation or food or lodging once there. I know it's cheap now, but a driving trip around the NE will be a lot less money because we have only fuel, tolls, food, and lodging. I doubt fuel and tolls will be $3k for 2 weeks, even with using a not-so-fuel-efficient car. And we want our daughter to remember -- I mean really, truly remember with her own brain rather than from looking at photos -- a trip to Spain. So I think we'll wait off on that. We took her to Argentina last year for a month and she doesn't remember squat
I have heard that driving within Maine is lengthy so we'll try to use Google maps to make the most of our time and skip some areas that may be better explored with a flight/rental car later but our trip is definitely set for a road trip this time so we'll make the most of that too.
If you are into science/history and are in the NYC area, you may want to head out to Long Island and see the status of the Wardenclyffe restoration, one of Nikola Tesla's labs (the greatest scientist/inventor that most people haven't heard of).
If you are into science/history and are in the NYC area, you may want to head out to Long Island and see the status of the Wardenclyffe restoration, one of Nikola Tesla's labs (the greatest scientist/inventor that most people haven't heard of).
Here is my suggestion from someone who lived there for 20 years. Plan to spend more than a day in Boston. Loads to see, visit Harvard (red line), freedom trail, and all the tourist areas. Visit Marblehead, most beautiful town in America. Nantucket if you have time. The Cape. The North shore up to Rockport.
IMO, unless you are going to Bar Harbor, forget Maine. If you are going to drive 8+ hours to Niagara Falls, you can be in Quebec City in 7, and that is far more interesting.
Prime leaf peeping is Oct 15, in Northern NH and a ride up Mount Washington is in order. I would skip western MA and Niagara Falls.
Here is my suggestion from someone who lived there for 20 years. Plan to spend more than a day in Boston. Loads to see, visit Harvard (red line), freedom trail, and all the tourist areas. Visit Marblehead, most beautiful town in America. Nantucket if you have time. The Cape. The North shore up to Rockport.
IMO, unless you are going to Bar Harbor, forget Maine. If you are going to drive 8+ hours to Niagara Falls, you can be in Quebec City in 7, and that is far more interesting.
Prime leaf peeping is Oct 15, in Northern NH and a ride up Mount Washington is in order. I would skip western MA and Niagara Falls.
Hey,
A few must visits are missing here - Watkins Glen, Lime Rock Park, NJ Motorsports Park and Monticello Motor Club.
Surely they're already on the list?
Frank
Hey,
A few must visits are missing here - Watkins Glen, Lime Rock Park, NJ Motorsports Park and Monticello Motor Club.
Surely they're already on the list?
Frank
Wife would be up for that, but not sure what we'd do with the kiddo. Car would also be up for it.
You might want to post something on the Travel board, since your post really isn't so much about Raleigh as about "everything going up the East Coast", so people in those other states will be able to tell you things local to them that we might not know about here.
I grew up in MA, south of Boston, and spent my college summers on the Cape. My family is still there, in Boston and south, and my teenage daughter and I just got back from a road trip to visit them. We used to live in PA, about a 45 minute drive from Lancaster and my husband grew up in Silver Spring and Bethesda, so I'm pretty familiar with those areas, from years of visiting his family there. So, those are my "filters" when I share my recommendations.
I would not plan to do any additional sightseeing during the DC/MD or PA portions of your trip, beyond what you may already be doing with your hosts. There is a ton to see and do in those areas as you probably know, but they are pretty easily driveable from NC, so you could visit those places another time. I would concentrate on the New England portion.
In Boston, there is so much to see and do that you might want to do some homework on the Trip Advisor website. I always read reviews of popular attractions because I inevitably learn something about them that is really helpful. The forums are really useful as well, if you have specific questions.
Without knowing your interests, it's hard to say which things you should do in Boston, since there is so much there. However, given your daughter's age, I would highly recommend the Museum of Science. My oldest was fascinated by science as a child and we have visited science museums in a number of cities and Boston's is the best we've seen. Plan to spend the better part of a day. If you go, see the world's largest Van de Graaff (sp?) generator and the planetarium. It has a lot of hands on exhibits. Also, if you are a member of any of the local science museums or the zoo/aquarium, check whether your membership has a reciprocal arrangement with the Boston museum. You may be able to get in for free. If you aren't a member of the local zoo, this might be a good time to join.
The Freedom Trail is a classic (if it starts to feel too long for your daughter, you can stop at any time), the North End is great for a walk through and a meal, and Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Quincy Market are always fun. If you ever read Make Way for Ducklings when your daughter was younger, she might really enjoy a walk through the Public Garden to see the duckling statues and take a ride on the swan boats. The Duck Tours (amphibious vehicles) are also fun.
If you can fit it into your itinerary, I would recommend spending a couple of days on Cape Cod. One of the more unique things you can do is go on a whale watch cruise out of Provincetown, at the tip of the Cape. There are feeding grounds off the coast of MA and the closest boat departure point is in Provincetown (trips are about an hour out, an hour at the feeding grounds and an hour back.) I have always been in the summer when whales are definitely there, but you may want to do a bit of research on fall migration. Race Point beach and the National Seashore is beautiful and also worth a stop. We saw seals swimming close to shore at Race Point. You can also take a ferry to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. Of the two, I'd recommend Martha's Vineyard. It's much closer so you can make a day trip out of it from the Cape and there is more to do there. You can ride bikes all over the island (maybe rent a tandem for your daughter.) If you go, make sure you ride the oldest carousel in the nation and try to grab a brass ring! Hotels on the Cape will be pricey, but we found a nice one in Hyannis, right across the street from one of the island ferries, and their prices were much more reasonable than other hotels.
If you want to feel like you've seen a NYC landmark without going into the city, stop at Liberty State Park in NJ. You can see the Statue of Liberty from land (side/back view) or take the ferry from there and see her up close.
If at all possible, go past NYC/southern CT on a Saturday or Sunday, for the least amount of traffic. Traveling at odd hours helps, too. Parkways are more scenic than the interstates, but will get very backed up if there is an accident, so check Google maps frequently and be willing to change course.
Francois, good idea, maybe the mods can move the post.
keeval - great post, thanks!
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