NYC to NOLA and back in November-December

[Gordin]

Hi!

I'm planning a road trip and I've got a draft of a plan, but need some advice on how to adjust it to make it more interesting and realistic. I've got 12 days, and I want to do the following:

NYC - Baltimore - something interesting/beautiful in VA/NC (?) - Atlanta - Montgomery - Pensacola (?) - NOLA - Birmingham - Nashville - Knoxville - ??? - NYC

I know it looks vague, but I struggle with details (maybe it wasn't such a good idea at all :( ). I'm mostly interested in seeing a different America from what I've seen doing trips along both coasts (Seattle to LA and Boston to DC), some nature, but also interested in history and basically any kind of culturally significant or just peculiar places (I want to visit Biltmore, for example, and civil rights museums/memorials in Alabama and Georgia).

I'll be grateful for any help. I did review some older threads for this areas, but they all either have a different focus, or a very different timeframe in mind.

P. S.

I'm from Russia but live in Ireland, if that matters. :)

[AZBuck]

Добро пожаловать. Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There is, of course, plenty in the way of both history, scenery, and nature on a route from New York to New Orleans and back again. There are also many more than just two possible routes. I might take issue with the northern end of your proposed routing simply because it has you traveling I-78/I-81 between New York and Wytheville VA twice.

You might want to look instead at dropping down through Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Gettysburg, the Delmarva Peninsula, and crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to experience the Historic Triangle of Virginia: Jamestown/Willimsburg/Yorktown. You could then even do the Outer Banks of North Carolina (scenery, wildlife refuges, Blackbeard, Wright Brothers, etc.) and maybe even Charleston (Fort Sumter, Patriot's Point, the Hunley) before heading inland through central Georgia giving Atlanta a pass but picking up Andersonville and FDR's Little White House instead. Then in Alabama, besides Montgomery and the Civil Right's Museum, check out Selma and nearby Old Cahawba. And on the Alabama/Mississippi coast, the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

On the way back, farther inland, look at first heading up to Jackson MS and using the Natchez Trace Parkway past Shiloh Battlefield into Nashville, and of course Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Jefferson's Monticello, and maybe even the Delaware Water Gap NRA on your way home.

I'm not insisting that you should do what I suggest rather than follow your own plans or even that you would necessarily have time to visit and enjoy all the places I've listed. But I do want you to be aware of how much more is available to you than you may have imagined

AZBuck

[Gordin]

Thanks a lot AZBuck!

You've really helped me shape this thing. Here's how I see it now:

Day 1
New York, NY
Baltimore, MD
Williamsburg, VA (night)
Day 2
Beaufort, NC (night)
Day 3
Charleston, SC (night)
Day 4
Atlanta, GA (night)
Day 5
Montgomery, AL (night)
Day 6-7-8
New Orleans, LA (2 going to Birmingham in the evening of day 8)
Day 9
Birmingham, AL (night of day 8)
Nashville, TN
Chattanooga, TN (night)
Day 10
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (night)
Day 11
Roanoke, VA (night)
Day 12
Gettysburg, PA (night)
Day 13
New York, NY

I'm still not sure if I'm not missing anything really cool and if Roanoke is the best place to make a stop between Smoky Mountains and Gettysburg and I'm generally open to any ideas and suggestions.

But I'm already super grateful to RTA and AZBuck for the advice and info. Спасибо!

[AZBuck]

Looks like you've designed yourself an excellent RoadTrip. Good routes, good venues along the way that appeal to you, well paced with a mix of mainly driving days and mainly exploring a local area days, no outlandishly long drives on any given day, and 'home' before it all starts to become work instead of a joy. Glad we could help.

AZBuck