My long-anticipated vacation is coming up in October, and hubby and I are thinking about going from Atlanta to Boston by car, making some stops along the way. Where are some interesting places to visit along the way, and what should we do in Boston? We are big fans of natural wonders, history and museums, but I’d also like to take in a roller coaster ride, maybe. Suggestions for good eats would be helpful too. 
Williamsburg Virginia is a great historical destination, even if a bit more theme parky than it used to be. There are also some nice historical destinations along te coast - Yorktown and Jamestown.
Not super exciting, but cheap, is Washington’s Crossing, on both the NJ and Penn sides, where Washington crossed the Delaware. There are numerous battlefields in NJ, including Princeton, and Nassau Hall on the Princeton campus is an original building. There is tons of Revolutionary War stuff. I used to live across the street from the place in Pennington the Hessians fled to after the Battle of Trenton. The church there burned down, (several times) but the wall is original, and there is a graveyard with some very old graves there and in Princeton.
Williamsburg is definitely a contender. Washington’s Crossing does sound interesting, but it might not make the cut. We are going to spend at least one day in Philadelphia, seeing the Constitution Center and Independence Hall.
Which way are you planning to go?
Always lots to see in D.C. and October (cooler weather, less crowds) would be a great time to visit. From there, you could detour to travel down the Blue Ridge Parkway, which would afford a change of pace from more urban tourist destinations. Or you could travel down 95 and hit a Civil War battlefield or two and Williamsburg. Busch Gardens has some great coasters.
My lay of the land gets murkier south of Virginia.
If you’ve never been there, Biltmore Estate near Asheville NC is impressive. For a touristy taste, stop by Luray Caverns in Virginia. If you travel the Western Virigina route (I-81, I think), you can travel parts of skyline drive and other scenic drives.
We are thinking of going to Williamsburg at the end of October and learned that Busch Gardens costs $59.95! :eek: We live two hours from Cedar Point . . . we’re no fools.
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor would be a nice stop. There you’ll find the National Aquarium, Maryland Science Center, Maritime Museum, and USS Constellation.
In Rhode Island, you could go to Newport, although that’s a bit of a side trip off the interstate. For history, there’s the Newport mansions; for natural wonders, the Cliff Walk and Ocean Drive.
Just as a warning about I-81, it is always under construction.
If you go to Williamsburg you should also go across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
If you like scenic drives, you may want to look in to the Blue Ridge Parkway and/or Skyline Drive. It’s slow…think the speed limit was 35 mph when I was there in the late 70s, but it’s a pretty drive. October might be a little late for the Fall colors to be going on, and I dunno if that road closes in the off season…
If you go up I-85 through Charlotte and Petersburg, Va:
Paramount Carowinds in Charlotte is an amusement park with lots of coasters. Similiar to Busch Gardens.
King’s Dominion is north of Richmond on 95 as well. Either one would be a good day excursion.
Historical Interest:
Winston-Salem, NC has several museums and historical sites. Old Salem is a recreation of a Moravian settlement from colonial times, with costumed re-enactors. Reynolda Village near Wake Forest University has art galleries and shopping as well.
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park - Greensboro, NC. - Here Gen. Nathaniel Greene (for whom Greensboro is named - ehh, we weren’t too gud with spelling back in those days) “lost” The Battle of Guilford Courthouse to Lord Cornwallis. As Lord North allegedly said in London on hearing the news of the battle - “Another such victory will ruin us!” Cornwallis abandoned his pursuit of Greene after the fight and started his retreat which lead to Washington’s victory at Yorktown about 6 months later. There’s a very nice visitor center, and an associated colonial farm center (The Hoskins House - site of Cornwallis’ HQ). You could probably do this stop in 2-3 hours.
Sports-related: The University of North Carolina Basketball Museum - Chapel Hill, NC. See exhibits on UNC’s 100 years of hoops history, including exhibits of famous alumni such as Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Tyler Hansbrough. Also has exhibits relating to HoF coach Dean Smith. Chapel Hill is a prototypical college town, and the campus at UNC is lovely to walk around. If you feel you must, you could even wander 8 miles to the east and see the campus of Duke University, which I hear is lovely, but refuse to visit for religious reasons.
(Why yes, I did graduate from UNC. Why do you ask?)
Raleigh, NC - There are quite a few museums of renown in the state capital, but I would recommend the Museum of Fine Art (or whatever the General Assembly is calling it nowadays). Never visited there personally, but I hear that its collection is outstanding. I can’t really vouch one way or the other.
If Civil War battlefields interest you, then obviously Virginia will have a number of stops. Petersburg, Va. was the scene for a 9 month siege of Lee’s Army of Northern Virgina by US Grant’s Army of the Potomac. The fighting included the Battle of the Crater, and trench warfare that pre-saged WW One by 50 years. Between Richmond and DC lie the battlefields of Frederickburg and Chancellorsville. You can also head west off the interstate to see the Bull Run/Manassas battlefield as well.
I hope that gives you a few ideas.
Make sure you check out Franklin Court, which is only a couple of blocks away (Market Street between 3rd and 4th).
Thanks for all the great info. I’m making notes. The route we take will depend on what we decide we want to visit, but we may take a different route home, perhaps down the coast, through Delaware, maybe… Baltimore looks like a good stop.
We are probably going to drive straight through the Carolinas, since we’re familiar with them, and we did D.C. a few years back.
Providence. I wish you’d visit Mr. Lovecraft’s homes and graves for me.
New York City. Greatest city I’ve ever been to (except maybe Seattle).
The number of things to see and do there is unbelievable.
I used to live there for years and never got tired of it.
You* must* spend some time there.
We were in NYC, for a week, on business, twelve years ago. We didn’t see nearly as much as we wanted(same with D.C.) but both cities seem to be destinations for longer trips, not stopovers! Also, I’d rather fly there, not take my car.