East Coast: 2 weeks trip from NC to NYC in September

[marlenes]

We are from Germany and we plan a 2 weeks trip for end of September. Our current plan is to start in North Carolina with Outerbanks -> Blue Ridge Parkway -> Richmond -> Washington -> Philadelphia -> Lancaster, PA -> maybe State New York. The trip will end in NYC (here we spend some more days, but we do not include this time).

Now the questions:
- Is the route to ambishious?
- Is Mid of September on the Outerbanks still okay? Maybe swimming (when there are no tropical storms) or is it totally off season and not worth that time of the year?
- When will Indian Summer start? Might there be first signs already end of September?

Thanks for your help

[AZBuck]

Willkommen! Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

September and October are two of my favorite months for travel, along with April and May, because then the days are warm while the evenings and nights are cool. Also fewer people will be traveling at those times since schools are in session. You can often find some very significant savings on lodgings during these 'shoulder' seasons. The general route that you have laid out can be covered at a fairly leisurely pace over two weeks, so no, I don't think that it is too ambitious at all. Water temperatures in the Outer Banks will hold quite nicely through September, averaging in the mid to upper 70s°F (mid 20s°C). The ocean won't really start to cool off until well into October. A hurricane is a possibility, and in the event of one I would strongly recommend that you leave the coast completely, but there will be ample warning of the approach of such a storm. 'Indian Summer' is not a reliable event or weather phenomenon at all, but merely a name given to any period of significantly warm weather in Autumn (October/November). All in all, I think you've picked a great location and a great time of year, and that you're in for a wonderful time.

AZBuck