East Coast Wandering

[islandtrader]

After 3 years of wondering the west, we thought we would try the east coast.

Starting in FL.(most likely after july 4) I think I'm good until we get to Virginia Beach.

Some suggestions please. Is it worth going to Delaware and then over to Cape May and working my way around Philly. Or wander around Virginia and head through Pennsylvania, CT. RI. and Mass.

We want to end up in Maine, which we have done before in many car only trips.

On the way back we would like to do New Hampshire and Vermont. Upstate New York and get home at the end of October or November. Barring any Hurricanes that impacts us.

Any suggestions and stops are appreciated.

[AgBullet]

Besides the Outer Banks, you might enjoy Assateague Island National Seashore on the way up to Cape May, but that is one drop in a very large bucket. So much to do and see on the East Coast. Perhaps not the grand vistas you've seen out west, but sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean can be pretty spectacular. You'll have to adjust to a lot more traffic congestion than you've seen, but many of the places you'll stay are worth the driving hassle.

[Hans627]

As mentioned there is a lot to see on the east coast of the US. Do you have a particular interest? That may help provide ideas for your consideration.

We really enjoy the Hudson River valley. The coast of RI is beautiful. Gettysburg is historic, of course.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

[majorairhead]

If you want to avoid the metro Philly/NY area, go west on 64.

Monticello in Charlottesville.
Shenandoah Nat'l Park, Skyline Drive
Luray Caverns
Harpers Ferry
Lancaster County PA Amish Country
Bennington VT and the Green Mountain Boys
Definitely White Mountains in NH, Mount Washington
Bar Harbor ME, Acadia NP
Thousand Islands, NY, Boldt Castle
Letchworth State Park, Watkins Glen, Corning Glass Factory, all in NY
Grand Canyon near Wellsboro, PA

And from Virginia up to Gettysburg, along 81, and surrounding area, a whole host of Civil War battlefields, etc.

I could go on and on and on......

Central WV, Cass Railroad, Cranberry Glades, Seneca Rocks, Blackwater Falls...

Jersey Shore Haven Airstream Park is just North of Cape May.

Delaware, Trap Pond State Park campground, Cape Henlopen State Park

Man, there's a whole lotta stuff on the East Coast. I've been runnin' up and down from Maine to Florida for years

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by Hans627

As mentioned there is a lot to see on the east coast of the US. Do you have a particular interest? That may help provide ideas for your consideration.

We really enjoy the Hudson River valley. The coast of RI is beautiful. Gettysburg is historic, of course.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

Nice campgrounds to go explore the surrounding areas (some BD OK).

Our interests are broad...hiking, cool little towns, great places to eat, funky museums, nice museums, anything of interest. Heck last year on our way to Wyoming we spent 3 weeks in Ks. and we paraphrased ..."Toto are we in Kansas"

[rideair]

All kinds of hiking in Virginia, Rt.11 is great road up through VA, WV, MD, PA, NY, Rt 29, Rt.15 (as well), Crabtree Falls (hiking VA), Civil War stuff, etc.. Send me a PM, and we can chat on the phone, more stuff in my brain than I care to type.

[ricjones]

Originally Posted by majorairhead

If you want to avoid the metro Philly/NY area, go west on 64.

Monticello in Charlottesville.
Shenandoah Nat'l Park, Skyline Drive
Luray Caverns
Harpers Ferry
Lancaster County PA Amish Country
Bennington VT and the Green Mountain Boys
Definitely White Mountains in NH, Mount Washington
Bar Harbor ME, Acadia NP
Thousand Islands, NY, Boldt Castle
Letchworth State Park, Watkins Glen, Corning Glass Factory, all in NY
Grand Canyon near Wellsboro, PA

And from Virginia up to Gettysburg, along 81, and surrounding area, a whole host of Civil War battlefields, etc.

I could go on and on and on......

Central WV, Cass Railroad, Cranberry Glades, Seneca Rocks, Blackwater Falls...

Jersey Shore Haven Airstream Park is just North of Cape May.

Delaware, Trap Pond State Park campground, Cape Henlopen State Park

Man, there's a whole lotta stuff on the East Coast. I've been runnin' up and down from Maine to Florida for years

Great list. If you do go to Gettysburg, then route 15 takes you up the Susquehanna which is beautiful, onto Williamsport where the Little League Baseball Museum is. Also a good Wegmans for parking the Airstream. Then north of Williamport on the way to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon are a whole bunch of state parks that are excellent. Completely different than commercial campgrounds.

Hills Creek State Park is a good one on the way to both the Grand Canyon and then up to Corning and Ithaca, NY. Ithaca has some very nice easy hike waterfall parks.

Hudson River Valley also nice but much more developed.

I would avoid 95 as much as possible.

[n2916s]

The old Ocean Highway is US 17 to Norfolk which runs east of I95 through some really pretty country and includes Savannah and Charleston.

Just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel you find yourself on US 13 traveling through the DelMarVa peninsula. An inexpensive way to bypass Baltimore is to take the Lewes - Cape May ferry and continue north on the Garden State Parkway.

We have done this route twice. The roads are in good shape, it is an easy pace and there are lots of state and county park campgrounds along the way.

I’ll let more knowledgeable folks get you past NYC and headed to Maine.

[majorairhead]

Jim Thorpe, PA is a great little town with a real nice bike path along the Lehigh river...last I was there, they'd haul ya upstream for miles, and then you can ride back down to town Beautiful little town.

[ncrowe]

This is a nice little Airstream only park near Blacksburg.

https://vahighlandhaven.com/

[Dock Thoms]

Originally Posted by islandtrader

After 3 years of wondering the west, we thought we would try the east coast.

Starting in FL.(most likely after july 4) I think I'm good until we get to Virginia Beach.

Some suggestions please. Is it worth going to Delaware and then over to Cape May and working my way around Philly. Or wander around Virginia and head through Pennsylvania, CT. RI. and Mass.

We want to end up in Maine, which we have done before in many car only trips.

On the way back we would like to do New Hampshire and Vermont. Upstate New York and get home at the end of October or November. Barring any Hurricanes that impacts us.

Any suggestions and stops are appreciated.

We enjoyed the bike paths and dog friendly beaches at Cape Henlopen.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Ok, looking at the math:

You take off in mid July and get back end of October. More or less, about 14 weeks.

How much time gets spent south of Virgina Beach? There's certainly a lot to see getting to that point.

You have eleven "stop" states on your list. There's a few more that could be added.

Is it a straight shot from "somewhere north" back to Florida? Even done that way, it's going to take some time. Well up north, the further past end of October you get, the greater the risk of freezing at night and possibly some weird weather.

If you pull out a week on each end for this and that, you are down to "only" 12 weeks. That sounds like a lot, it isn't. You will have traffic, even on the "side roads" to deal with. Getting here or there *will* involve delays.

Getting here or getting there with the trailer still in tow .... ummm ..... errrrr ... maybe not so much. Certainly not as easily as you would do it in most of the midwest or west.

Once you hit fall, you get into "the leaves are turning" season. Things can get a bit crazy. No, it's not unique Rocky Mountain National Park gets crazy that way as well.

One vital piece of advice, Once you exit Gettysburg, you head north. You go through Carlisle. It is the *only* way to do it. (What, *ME* biassed .... ). You can still get to Wegmans very easily .

What to do?

I'd split things up. Stick to the southern chunk of the area on this trip. Do the northern chunk on the next trip (or vice versa).

Bob

[majorairhead]

Well.....if a guy's gonna be in the Carlisle area, might just as well book a night or two at Colonel Denning State Park and be sure to visit Pioneer Cemetery

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Ok, looking at the math:

You take off in mid July and get back end of October. More or less, about 14 weeks.

How much time gets spent south of Virgina Beach? There's certainly a lot to see getting to that point.


What to do?

I'd split things up. Stick to the southern chunk of the area on this trip. Do the northern chunk on the next trip (or vice versa).

Bob

A lot of sage advice...however we have done "most" things to Virginia Beach. So getting there will only eat up 2 weeks. Just concentrating on getting to Maine in a timely fashion and working our way back. We know we can't do everything...however our MO is stay minimum of 3 days and then decide where from there.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One way to do this:

Pick a theme. Maybe historical (Colonial / Revolution /Civil War). Maybe geographical (up the coast). Maybe thematic ( art museums ).

There's a lot of ways to organize things. The advantage of a theme is that you can "study up" a bit in advance.

Bob

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

One way to do this:

Pick a theme. Maybe historical (Colonial / Revolution /Civil War). Maybe geographical (up the coast). Maybe thematic ( art museums ).

There's a lot of ways to organize things. The advantage of a theme is that you can "study up" a bit in advance.

Bob

This not set in stone however here is the start of the trip...a little theme starting to show...We did most of the Civil War things so skipping any of that.

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/?lng=-...&a4=t!45134131

[BambiKat]

As a native Floridian I think you will be miserable in July here and the entire Southeast. Having AC is great but outside is very difficult. I would start North and end up in Florida in late October or November.

Happy Trails!

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by islandtrader

This not set in stone however here is the start of the trip...a little theme starting to show...We did most of the Civil War things so skipping any of that.

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/?lng=-...&a4=t!45134131

Hi

Looking at that map, rather than swinging west, you could swing east. Nova Scotia is "right there" once you are in Mane. There's easily a couple weeks worth of "stuff to see" there.

Bob

[islandtrader]

Originally Posted by BambiKat

As a native Floridian I think you will be miserable in July here and the entire Southeast. Having AC is great but outside is very difficult. I would start North and end up in Florida in late October or November.

Happy Trails!

Not quite a native...however after 25 years full time we have adjusted

[Steven62]

If you can go this far south the Keys are a special place Bahia Honda State Park has excellent snorkeling. It’s hot in the summer but maybe not as hot as main land FL.

If you’re going to Maine one of the two Bar Harbor KOA’s has you on the water with the ability to walk on the rocky shores. If you have time cross the boarder to Prince Edward Island where you camp next to the ocean with full hookups and walk to the sea side village. The old city of Quebec is like being in Europe. We go there for the bicycle races. If you can time it see the fall foliage in NH or VT it’s amazing. Cape Cod is wonderful park yourself near Nausett Beach from there you can go to day trips to the Vineyard, Nantucket and P-town.

It takes 3-4 hard days for us to get from NH to the Keys without the camper about 6 with it. In the past we’ve liked Savanah, the Smokeys, Gettysburg, Charlston.

Stay away from NY City with the camper when going up to New England!