Driving from Chicago to East Coast

[tiberio]

Looking at stopping in DC, Philly, NYC, and Boston. We will have two kids (12,11) with us. Love adventure and food. How many days are we good in each city? Also, anywhere else we should check out. Looking at a 2 week trip.

Thanks in advance.

[Charlie H]

Leaving D. C. for Philly, a slight detour would take you to Pennsylvania Dutch Country near Lancaster/Bird In Hand/Ronks, PA. Lot's to see and do and if you love food, you'll love Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

If you really plan to hit all those cities in only two weeks, then your timing is pretty much already determined. Depending on whether you will include the 'extra' weekend, you'll have 10 to 12 days to spread among the four cities. My personal tastes (and I've visited all four cities in some depth) would be to spend at least three days each in Washington and Boston, and make shorter stays in Philadelphia and New York.

In Washington, just visiting the various museums and monuments along the National Mall, the seats of government, and the National Zoo can easily fill more than three days. In Boston, there's the Freedom Trail which will take you to most of the historic sites such as Paul Revere's house, Old North Church, Old Ironsides, and the like, but I'd also encourage you to get out into the surrounding towns and areas, particularly Salem and Cape Ann. Cape Cod is also a possibility, but it is only reachable via two choke point bridges and is likely to be quite crowded. One option is to take the commuter ferry (no cars carried) from Boston to Provincetown on a day trip.

Philadelphia is a bit more compact, with most of the historic sites in a relatively small area of downtown centered on Independence Mall, but also check out Betsy Ross' house, Elfreth's Alley, Admiral Dewey's flagship the Olympia, and the Franklin Institute. New York would be my least recommended place for you to spend a lot of time. In my experience it's just not that kid friendly. It can also be a very tough place to drive and find parking in. While that's true to some degree of all the cities on your list, New York takes it to another level.

I'd also encourage you to make some smaller stops along the way, such as Fort Frederick State Park just east of Hancock MD; Dinosaur State Park and the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury ferry, both just south of Hartford CT; Niagara Falls; Cuyahoga Valley National Park south of Cleveland; and other locations depending on your/their tastes and interests.

AZBuck