Living and growing up in the Delaware Valley, it’s been my experience that every family takes at least one long road trip, exploring the highways up and down the east coast. These are family memories, and they can be wonderful or horrendous, depending on road conditions and weather. For instance, it isn’t very much fun to be stuck in a tent at the beach during a tropical storm, but your kids will have amazing memories of dolphins and wild horses on Assateague Island if the weather is perfect. This post will explore the best and worst highways up and down the East Coast in the hopes that your next family road trip will be unforgettable (in a good way!)
There are loads of apps that you can download from iTunes or the Google Play Store for stress-free
road trips. This article
points out 5 usefil apps for every road trip, including iExit, an app that shows the distance
from the highway to gas stations and bathrooms, Waze (which I recommend for every commute!) a traffic app that
shows the fastest route and includes speed traps, Roadtrippers, an app that allows you to see amusement parks,
adventure sports, historical markers and hiking along your route, Parkme, an app that helps you find the
cheapest available parking, and RepairPal,
an app that helps you get in touch with the closest roadside assistance and
repair (something we sincerely hope you will not need on any road trip!)
Everyone in the Delaware Valley has a favorite highway for
one reason or another, and short cuts to avoid rush hour traffic or periodic
construction. These apps will help
non-residents navigate some heavily trafficked, windy back roads around the
area.
Destination: Williamsburg, Virginia
The itinerary for a historical road trip starting from
Philadelphia and culminating in Williamsburg is one many families with older
children take each summer. Your
itinerary could go something like this:
Day 1-2
Begin with a trip to Philadelphia
– Full of Revolutionary history, your visit should include trips to Independence Hall where the
Declaration of Independence was written and signed, a tour of the Constitution Center, see the Liberty Bell, and visit the BenjaminFranklin Museum. Don’t miss one of
the top ten spots to get an authentic Philly Cheese Steak! On day 2, if you want to stop at Valley Forge, PA you can
see Washington’s winter camp and cannons from the Revolutionary war before
heading south on I-95 toward the Inner Habor.
Baltimore Inner
Harbor – also rich in history, particularly from the war of 1812, your
visit should include: a walk up the hill to Fort McHenry National Monument where Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star
Spangled Banner,” a tour of the USS Constellation,
and a visit to the Edgar Allan Poe House. There are lots of
kid-friendly things to do in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and great restaurants, too.
Day 3 and 4
Washington DC is
really easy to navigate by trolley. Park
the car and get a map showing the The
Old Town Trolley stops. With a 9am
start, you can see Ford's Theatre, the White House Visitors Center, the National
Archives, the National Gallery of Art East and West, Union Station, the U.S.
Capitol and the Supreme Court on Day 3.
On
Day 4 visit the Smithsonian Air and
Space Museum (do this early so your kids get a chance to ride the flight
simulator first thing!), the Jefferson Memorial, stops for quick walks around
the FDR & Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials, the Lincoln, Korean War, World
War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials, and Washington Monument. If you have time you can also visit the
National Zoo and National Cathedral. Remember, it is about a 3 hour drive down I-95 (through traffic) to get to Williamsburg.
Day 5 and 6
Williamsburg, Yorktown
and Jamestown – the Historic Triangle
Start at the visitor center in Williamsburg and walk the
streets, stopping in at all the shops, taverns, homes, jail, and court
house. There are periodic
demonstrations and carriage rides you may also enjoy. You will really get an idea of what life on
a pre-revolutionary war plantation or in the town of Williamsburg was
like. Everything and everyone is
authentic to that time period.
On day 6 head over to Jamestown to see the real location of the first permanent
British settlement in America. It’s a
quick drive or ferry ride over to Yorktown. You can take a tour on a historic sailing ship and reenact the
battle.
Day 7
It’s time for the dreaded drive home. The route: You can take the fast way back up
I-95 through all kinds of traffic, or you can head down to Virginia Beach and
then up the Eastern Shore. It's a little longer, but it’s also much more
relaxing and scenic. You can even extend
the trip and stop at Chincoteague and
Assateague Island to hit the
beach and see the wild horses.
Destination: Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey
Closer to home, there are some beautiful hikes and a very
scenic day trip up to the Delaware Water Gap,
which borders Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There are historic houses and mines to explore, over 100 miles of trails
to hike full of waterfalls and scenic vistas, biking trails, kayaking, boating
and fishing. Pack a picnic lunch and prepare to enjoy the view. The trip there is about 2 and a half hours
north on I-476 and the last half of the
trip is scenic and mountainous.
Destination: Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania
This trip should be done over 2 or 3 days just because the
drive is around 4.5 hours on the PA Turnpike. Fallingwater is the site where noted artist and architect Frank Lloyd
Wright's masterpiece demonstrates the power of design in harmony with
nature. It is perhaps the most famous house in the United States. You can
eat lunch in the town of Ohiopyle and stroll the Great Allegheny Passage trail
along the Youghiegheny River. There is some history nearby as well. The site of George Washington’s first battle
at Fort Necessity National Battlefield is about 25 minutes down PA-381.
Destination: Acadia National Park, Maine
This trip is a ten plus hour drive or a 3 hour and 45 minute
flight from Philadelphia airport. The really scenic way to do this trip is to
drive along the coast up to Maine and then go the quickest route back to Philadelphia
by way of New York City. Plan to spend the
last day of your trip taking in the sites of NYC before heading home to the
Philadelphia area.
On the way to Maine, here are some awesome places you may want
to stop and visit:
- For New England charm and a sample of a 19th-century village on the Mystic river in CT you may want to stop at Mystic Seaport. The museum devoted to the first Europeans and their encounters with the Pequot Indians is worthwhile.
- Not that long ago, Newport, Rhode Island was the “summer playground” of the wealthiest Americans. You can tour many of the famous mansions and their formal gardens, or visit the town’s quirky shops and great restaurants with great views of the Bay and Ocean. At this point in the trip you are very close to some of the offshore islands that are just a ferry ride away. You can walk around Block Island, RI or Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket, MA for a relaxing day at the beach. Be sure to visit the Cape Cod and Provincetown on your way to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail and visit Boston Harbor.
- Portsmouth, NH is a great stopping place while you visit John Paul Jones’s house and the restored seaport district, Strawbery Banke. You can also visit historic lighthouses like the one in York, ME; the Nubble that is truly quintessential of the New England Shore.
At Bar Harbor, ME, where Acadia National Park lives, you can hike Cadillac Mountain,
cruise on the windjammer schooner the
Margaret Todd, and walk the rocky coast on your way to Acadia National Park.
Destination Cape May, NJ
Our final destination has a song “On the Way to Cape May”
written about it, making it our most iconic Philadelphia-based road trip. Cape May is less
than 100 miles, or about a two-hour drive from the heart of center city. The historical charm of Cape May with it’s
expansive white beaches, iconic shops and restaurants, and the World War II Lookout tower make it an awesome summer road trip with something for the
whole family.
