East Coast Road Trip

I am looking to do a road trip this summer starting in Maryland. My plan is to pretty much just get in the car and drive for about 4 or 5 days and then turn back towards Maryland and head for home.
I would like to see some of the USA that I have not seen before which means pretty much heading west. I would like to be able to stop at certain points along the way and see the sights. Things that most peope at some or another said they would like to visit there.
I do not really have a plan but I was thinking about starting out heading down through Virginia and into TN. Maybe see Nashville and then Graceland. But from here I am lost as far as what to see and where to head next.
I know that I would like to head back a different way then I came like maybe just kind of making a big circle. Just do not know where but I would like to be able to stop a different places and see the sights for a couple hours. The more sights the better. Of course time is an issue so I can not be gone for more than like 7 to 9 days.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. At least to get me started.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Your plan so far sounds like the way many of my own RoadTrips have started out. I think what you most need at this point is a solid idea of where four days, say, will get you from Maryland. With stops along the way to see the sights, I don't think you can count on getting to the Rockies. As an example, when I moved to Tucson, I made the drive from the DC area in 4 days, but made no stops on the way, So, I'm going to suggest that you make a pretty big loop and see the south, the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. From Memphis, you could head up river to St Louis and Chicago, go around Lake Michigan and back home by way of Niagara Falls. At about 2900 miles that would require you to cover just over 350 miles a day for 8 days and would let you see a considerable chunk of the country. But that's just one idea. You'll need to get out a map of the US, see what a loop that size looks like and then start looking for places on a similar sized loop that you'd like to go to. For further ideas, keep checking the forums for where other people are headed and see what appeals to you. And don't forget to check out all the other planning ideas, tools, and hints available to you with a simple click of the ROADTRIP PLANNING button at the top of the page. And happy planning!

AZBuck

Thanks.
I have been wanting to do this for some time but I an now just getting the time to be able to. I would like to see the Ole Miss River but is there anything that maybe just past it like say within 100 miles or so that I could and would want to see.
And of course are there any places that I just want to avoid completely. Thatmay help me decide how big or how small to make the circle.

Hi Max,

Buck gave you a lot of great tips. Here are some ideas of things to do in St. Louis and Kansas City. A great way to explore the "Ole Miss River" is to drive the Great River Road (a.k.a. Highway 61). Since you seem to be interested in Graceland, maybe you'd like to visit some of these similar music-related attractions :

-Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville, TN
-Stax Museum of American Soul, Memphis, TN
-International Bluegrass Museum in Owensburg, KY
-Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH
-American Classical Music Hall of Fame, Cincinnati, OH
-Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS
-American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, MO
-Rock n' Soul Museum, Memphis, TN
-UCM Museum, Abita Springs, LA
-Jerry Lee Lewis Family Museum, Ferriday, LA
-Scott Joplin House, St. Louis, MO
-St. Louis Walk of Fame (Chuck Berry, Ike & Tina Turner, Terry Clark, Scott Joplin, Miles Davis)
-Grand Emporium Blues Club, Kansas City, MO
-Chuck Berry hangouts, St. Louis, MO
-Everly Brothers Monument, Central City, KY
-Buddy Holly Memorials, IA
-Blueberry Hill Restaurant, St. Louis, MO

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is there anything that maybe just past it like say within 100 miles or so that I could and would want to see.

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Are you interested in some attractions in particular? Maybe if you tell us more about yourself we could help a little more!

Gen

Some of the things in the last thread were of some interest and of course anything sports related would be perfect too.
I also like anything that has to do with History. Any great historical sites would be a plus.
Is there a site or a map that I could buy and that you would recommend that has a lot of the major roadways that I could use to help plot the way. I would love to be able to work out where I am going to drive then decide from that point places to stop along the way. This may help me in knowing where I am going to be on certain days in relations to some of the stops you mentioned. I would like to travel up the Miss. River and then come back through Ohio and stop at the NFL Hall of Fame. That is somewhere I have always wanted to check out.
I am married with kids and this is just going to be trip for me to get away from everything.

Max, the first thing you need to do is to get yourself a good paper atlas of the US. These can be had for less than $10 at almost any discount, book, or map store. You can check here for some recommendations. Typically, these have a broad overview map of the entire country that will let you see a satellite view of your entire trip with the major road network, as well as more detailed state maps with most of the back roads and many of the more well known attractions.

If the basic idea of a loop through the South, Mississippi Valley and Midwest appeals to you, then you're hardly going to be able to travel a hundred miles without tripping over a Revolutionary or Civil War Battle site. Two that I heartily recommend are Shiloh in Tennessee and Vicksburg in Mississippi. Here's the link to the National Park Service's historic sites. But there are many, many others, so keep an eye out for the smaller sites as well. I once did a RoadTrip with a friend of mine up from Dallas to DC. He "collected" Civil War battle sites, and while he introduced me to Shiloh on that trip, we also poked into other, smaller battlefields that I had never heard of such as Poison Springs in Arkansas.

You don't say when you're going, but if it's in the summer time, by all means take in a ball game. I'm not talking about the Cardinals or Reds, but something on a smaller and more intimate scale. The south and midwest are home to AAA teams in Memphis and Nashville (incongruously, these are in the Pacific Coast League) and Indianapolis, Columbus, and Louisville (International League). There are also AA (Southern) and A (Midwest and South Atlantic) leagues scattered throughout your line of march. If you go in the fall, hit a Friday night High School game or a I-AA college game. There really is a difference in these smaller scale sporting contests from the high stakes, high admission pros and big time colleges, and I for one find it incredibly refreshing.

One final word of advice from an old married duffer. Be sure to thank your wife profusely for taking on the kids so you can have this time alone.

AZBuck