Sunday my husband and I have to drive from Southern Maine to Andrews Air Force Base just east of Washington DC. Google directs me to drive directly through every major city on the Eastern seaboard. This strikes me as foolish, but I’m also not sure there is a better route without adding hundreds of miles to the trip.
Any suggestions?
The only real alternative I see is to cut over to 81 south at some point, probably on 84. You would avoid New York, Philly, and Baltimore, but you will go pretty far out of your way to do it. You’ll go through Scranton and Harrisburg instead, both of which have significantly less traffic than what you’ll see on 95, and otherwise 84 and 81 are very light most of the time. When you get to Harrisburg, cut down 15 which will run straight into 270 in DC.
If you can time your trip so that you’ll go through the major cities on 95 at off-peak times I think going the straight route will be a lot faster.
ETA: According to google, taking the 81 route will add an hour to your trip.
I’ve done variations of that trip many times, mostly VT-DC, but have done Maine as well. 95S straight through NYC to the Delaware Memorial Bridge is your best option. I time it so that I miss everyone’s rush hours. Sunday evenings are a bitch heading in to NYC during the summer, so don’t think driving on a Sunday will magically make it all better 
Every time I’ve tried to avoid 95 for that trip it is hell and takes 2 hours longer.
You could go to NYC, then catch the Garden State Parkway to Cape May, NJ, then take the ferry to Lewes, DE. Then, head west toward US 50, and take that to the Capital Beltway (I-495), and follow the Inner Loop. You should hit the base soon after that.
Hmmmm…intriguing. It would never have occurred to me, thank you!
Googling Garden State Parkway says its the busiest tollway in the US, though, which worries me. Has anyone tried this route?
I hadn’t really thought about the NYC vacationers traffic, but at least hopefully we won’t be hitting the usual rush hours through the rest of the cities.
Why not just 95 S. to 287 S. [around NYC] to 95 S. to DC?
You pay one toll going over the Tapanzee Bridge.
From a very frequent driver of the route: The northern part of the GSP is no heavier than the NJTP, and the southern part is no problem at all. I’ll second the ferry if you have time and a little extra cash - no res needed, they can fit you on.
NYC is only stall-and-crawl from the bridge approaches in, really. If I’m missing rush hour going south, I’ll go down 95 the whole way, but otherwise I’ve found it fastest to peel off at White Plains and take the Tappan Zee Bridge over to 287, then the GSP connector etc. You definitely want to go around NYC on the northbound trip, due to the tolls on any bridge or tunnel going into Manhattan and the Bronx. Going further out than that is just a waste of time and gas.
Either the Turnpike or 295 (which saves a couple of bucks in tolls) goes past Philly instead of through it, and won’t be backed up at all. The Del Mem Bridge goes south of Wilmington, not through it. I’ve actually never even had to slow down for Baltimore at any time of day, even at the Harbor Tunnel tolls. And get an EZPass if you don’t have one - the elimination of aggravation pays for itself the very first time. There are tolls aplenty on the route - you’ll see why Delaware has no sales tax.
Apologies for the sketchy details, I’m not the one who does the driving.
We’ve done the Boston - Baltimore trip a gazillion times. Following 95 through MA, RI and CT is a big unnecessary detour.
Here is our basic route:
Mass Pike (90) from Boston to I-84, to 684 (?), 287, Tappan Zee Br, hook up with the Garden State Parkway, then NJ Turnpike then 95 the rest of the way.
We do have an EZpass, thank og.
I’m liking the ferry idea. It would be at the point of the trip where we’re getting sick of the whole thing, and we could get out and walk around on the boat and feel all refreshed. Too bad there isn’t one from boston to Baltimore.
We’re coming back the following Monday, and I think we’ll be leaving sometime in the afternoon…not sure how that’s going to work out, traffic-wise.
We would LOVE a ferry for part of that trip!
We’ve done the ferry a few times, and it’s a lot of fun. No casino or entertainers, just a snack bar and gift shop, otherwise it feels like a cruise. Just give yourselves some extra time.
Downeaster to Boston, change to South Station, Acela to DC??? Probably not practical, but thought I’d ask…
Flying to DCA or BWI is much faster and actually cheaper, if you don’t need to bring your car.
We don’t absolutely have to have the car, but it would be a pain not to have it. Flying would mean driving to boston-logan (1.5 hours from our house), parking the car for a zillion dollars a night, hoping the flight isn’t late, finding transportation to the hotel on base for the first night, getting transport to my husband’s appointments, etc. We have a car that’s great on gas; for the two of us it should be less than $150 round trip. We just found out we have to take this trip a few hours ago, so it’s a last minute flight. Anyway, we’re driving (and sailing!) there. 
I have a friend who makes the ME-DC trip fairly regularly; this is exactly what she does.