A road trip. Northeast bound.

The Wife and I are meeting my parents in Southport, Maine. The original plan was fly up, spend a week, fly back. 

I'm considering making the drive instead. 3-4 days up, a week in Maine, 3-4 days back. There is a lot to miss when you are 40k feet up.

The question is, what to see.

Avoiding New York city wouldn't hurt my feelings. I will definately miss it on the way up, but might go through it on the way back if I can make it through town on I95 on Sunday. I'd be more interested in beautiful countrysides and small towns. We would probably take the motorhome and stay in campgrounds, so if you know any good ones that would be great. 

Ideas are welcome. 

Avoid NYC if you don't have a reason to go through it. Traffic, especially on I95 (and the GWB crossing), will not cooperate, no matter how many prayers and sacrifices you offer.

You could cut across southern NH and VT on 9, haul down I87 to Kingston, and pick up 209 along the backside of the Shawanagunk Ridge and down through the Delaware Water Gap. Small road, far enough away to avoid the worst of the NYC and Boston spillover (best to travel on non-weekend days - the city dwellers scatter into the "country" for the weekend and clog up the roads).

When?  You can camp at Lime Rock during the TransAm race over Memorial Day weekend.  Don't know how it works if you want just one night though.  http://limerock.com/memorial-day-weekend

This will be happening the end of July. 

If you're going to take I-81 as far as the NY line Hickory Run State Park here in PA has a nice campgrounds. It's really pretty that time of year.

Also depending on your route: I go to Stellafane VT every few years. Generally I stay at the Tree Farm Campground if I'm not on Stellafane's facility. The Stellafane museum and surrounding countryside is really fun to visit and what you described. Plus it's a dark sky area if you're into that.

Years ago, like when I was in middle school, I took a  school-based bus tour p the east coast. The two things I remember are how cool Monticello (Jefferson's home) was, and how beautiful it was in the Catskills along the Hudson north of the city. Monticello was cool from an architecture perspective and because TJ incorporated a lot of then-cutting-edge tech into the house.  Neat stuff for anyone into gadgets.

02Pilot said:

Avoid NYC if you don't have a reason to go through it. Traffic, especially on I95 (and the GWB crossing), will not cooperate, no matter how many prayers and sacrifices you offer.

You could cut across southern NH and VT on 9, haul down I87 to Kingston, and pick up 209 along the backside of the Shawanagunk Ridge and down through the Delaware Water Gap. Small road, far enough away to avoid the worst of the NYC and Boston spillover (best to travel on non-weekend days - the city dwellers scatter into the "country" for the weekend and clog up the roads).

I’d avoid I-87 altogether, from 9 to 7 in VT them 9H/9 in New York to Hudson and come down through Saugerties.  It’s not much more time and is a more scenic ride.

Toyman01 said:

The Wife and I are meeting my parents in Southport, Maine. The original plan was fly up, spend a week, fly back. 

I'm considering making the drive instead. 3-4 days up, a week in Maine, 3-4 days back. There is a lot to miss when you are 40k feet up.

The question is, what to see.

Avoiding New York city wouldn't hurt my feelings. I will definately miss it on the way up, but might go through it on the way back if I can make it through town on I95 on Sunday. I'd be more interested in beautiful countrysides and small towns. We would probably take the motorhome and stay in campgrounds, so if you know any good ones that would be great. 

Ideas are welcome. 

 

Hey, I'm right along 84 @ the CT/MA line, if you want to grab a burger or some food :)

In this area, I know that people at work with campers go to Charlie Brown in Eastford, CT and Moose Meadow in Willington.   The guy I asked said that there's another one in Willington that's supposed to have good fishing and canoes you can take out onto the lake called Wilderness Lake.   I haven't been to any myself, but that's the local recommendation.

If you guys like looking at old stuff, Sturbridge Village right across the line in Sturbridge Ma is pretty cool.  It's a functional village set in 1825, working farms, smiths, mills.   That kinda thing.  There's also some good restaurants in Sturbridge.

Take the inland route; up 40 through Asheville, then 81.  If you want, the drive up 77/64 through Beckley is lovely.  You'll cross the rusty rainbow (New River gorge).  I love that drive up through WV.

Then I would go up 79 to 68 at Morgantown.  Go a few exits east to Rt 119 and go up to Greensburg, then 22 through Johnstown to Altoona.  Then 99 North through State College.  Once you get there, you have a choice.  You can cut across 80 to get back to bigger roads, or you can keep going north into one of the most beautiful areas I know in PA.  Pretty much everything north of 80 in the middle of the state is completely rural.  No highways, just state forests, scenic beauty, amazing stuff.  Quehana, Sproul, Elk, Susquehannock state forests up there are breathtaking.  Central NY on 81 is lovely.  Depending on your timing, you might hit Binghamton for Spiediefest which has a classic car show and balloon rally.  It's the first weekend in August and it's a hoot.

Continue on up and cross into Canada.  Hang a right at go out to Montreal.  Friggin great town.

Coming back, I would come down the coast.  It's easy to bypass NYC, and the traffic isn't as bad as you would expect.  Philly and Baltimore are way worse, but they are still towns I would see.  I have no real affection for Philly, but there are some neat attractions.  Baltimore is lovely.  The aquarium is fantastic (they have hippos now) and Fells Point is adjacent to downtown and lovely.  Brick streets, great restaurants, lots of history.  Around the other side of the harbor is Fort Henry if you're into history.

If you have the time, I stronly suggest heading out to Annapolis and coming down the DelMarVa peninsula.  Chincoteague and Assateague are fun with wild ponies and a neat fishing community.

Wally said:

02Pilot said:

Avoid NYC if you don't have a reason to go through it. Traffic, especially on I95 (and the GWB crossing), will not cooperate, no matter how many prayers and sacrifices you offer.

You could cut across southern NH and VT on 9, haul down I87 to Kingston, and pick up 209 along the backside of the Shawanagunk Ridge and down through the Delaware Water Gap. Small road, far enough away to avoid the worst of the NYC and Boston spillover (best to travel on non-weekend days - the city dwellers scatter into the "country" for the weekend and clog up the roads).

I’d avoid I-87 altogether, from 9 to 7 in VT them 9H/9 in New York to Hudson and come down through Saugerties.  It’s not much more time and is a more scenic ride.

True. I suppose in a motorhome you're not likely to be making up a lot of time flying down the interstate. Hudson and Saugerties both have some good places to eat, but are definitely crowded on the weekends.

The Quechee Gorge is pretty neat. 

There are some trails you can walk down.

There is some really good fishing down there if you're willing to put in the work getting into some of the more inaccessible spots. Kayaking up from the Hartland Dam and then hiking upriver works well. 

Fort William Henry is a good if you're a revolutionary war buff. Fort Ticonderoga is a bit north of that. There is a ferry that goes from NY to Vermont over Lake Champlain. 

If you want to buy maple syrup while you're up there, just go to Price Chopper or another supermarket and get the same stuff they sell at the roadside stands for less money.

Another vote for 81, especially with a motorhome--it's about the only way to score campgrounds from VA/NJ border to the upper Northeast, and it's hella pretty. My in-laws used to be fond of taking I-80 out through the Delaware Water Gap to I-81 on their way from Mass. to Florida; Dad Suddard called it "the great circle route."

Curtis said:

Continue on up and cross into Canada.  Hang a right at go out to Montreal.  Friggin great town.

Montreal is fun, but if the op wants to ignore civilization then the Maritime provinces are great. I’m totally bias because I live here and travel New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island for work. But people shouldn’t forget there’s lots of Canada east of Montreal.

Typing this from the Magdalene islands for extra street cred.

If you pick the route Curtis suggested, drop me a line, I'd be happy to have a meal ready for ya and a quick tour of the shop.

We're close to the CT/NY border off of I-84, give a holler if you need anything!

Through the year-plus I spent commuting from SE PA to SE NH, I learned a few things about travelling there and back.

I agree with the sentiment on avoiding NYC unless it's stupid-early in the morning (like 5 AM early).  When it's really early, you can fly through - "flying" being the operative word.  A slow moving RV would be a target for aggressive stupidity.  After a few 5 AM runs, I learned how to drive through there like a regular (because I was...) and could spot an out-of-towner from a mile away. Usually because they weren't doing double the speed limit.

Be careful with your timing heading home from New England on a Sunday. Traffic heading south can be unreal. Fortunately for me, most of my driving to/from was against the vacation traffic.

My personal preference is to avoid CT entirely. From points far south: I-81 to I-84 to I-87N (NYS Thruway) to I-90 (Mass TPK) to I-495 to Maine.  The more I drive and the older I get, the more I'm willing to trade miles and time for a less stressful drive.

Portsmouth in NH would be a cool spot to stop for food, although RV parking could be a challenge.  If you don't have a tag car, I'd say park in the Walmart on Rt 1 south of town and then get an Uber into town.

RevRico said:

If you pick the route Curtis suggested, drop me a line, I'd be happy to have a meal ready for ya and a quick tour of the shop.

If you happen to find yourself near Harrisburg PA, drop me a line... but depending on when you come through I might be on vacation.