Florida Keys to Hardwick, VT

[keysbum]

Looking to plan a road trip from The Florida Keys to Hardwick, Vt with a 4 year old. Any suggestions of great stops/attractions along the way would be so appreciated. We plan to make a stop in DC or Dewey beach at least one way.

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

How long do you have for the trip? Is this a one-way or round trip in that time frame? It would help us to make suggestions, if we had that info.


Donna

[Lifemagician]

With a four year old, one of the main focuses you need to have is to stop every few hours to give the child some time to spent that pent up energy from sitting in the car. Nearly all towns and cities, even the smallest village, or perhaps particularly the small settlements, have town and city parks. Often there will be a playground, swings and slides, even an old steam engine. You may also think of packing a ball or frisbee to use at rest areas, which nearly always have a grassed picnic area. Small things to make for a more memorable journey.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

...on a few comments already made. You will need an absolute minimum of four days to make a one way trip from Key Largo to Hardwick, maybe a little bit more if you are starting from Key West. Partly this is for the need, already noticed, to let your little one get out and play every few hours.

As for your major stop in the Mid-Atlantic region, I think the beach would be much easier on you and much more fun for your youngster than Washington DC. However, Dewey Beach is more of a young adult bar town sort of resort than what you may want, and I would instead recommend one of the more family-friendly "Quiet Resorts" south of there such as Bethany Beach or Fenwick Island. If you do decide on the Delaware shore as a stopping point, let me suggest that you get there by taking the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel from Virginia Beach to Cape Charles, and then continue northward via the Lewes-Cape May Ferry over to New Jersey.

Since you talk about making that stop "at least one way", I assume that this will be a round trip, so my other major recommendation would be that you plan on taking two completely different routes north- and south-bound. I-95 would basically work for one direction (with detours to the beach as noted), and an inland route would work well for the other, something like I-88 from Albany to Binghamton, I-81 down to Knoxville, and I-75 down into Florida.

Once you have finalized your basic routing, and let us know a bit about your interests, we can give you more specific recommendations for what there is that might appeal to you and your child.

AZBuck